New breakaway party formed within Poland’s ruling coalition

A new right-wing party was formed yesterday by a breakaway faction from one of the groups within Poland’s national-conservative ruling coalition. The Republican Party (Partia Republikańska) received the blessing of coalition leader Jarosław Kaczyński, who attended and spoke at its launch.

The development is the latest is a series of shifts within the governing camp, as Kaczyński seeks to shore up his parliamentary majority following over a year of internal disputes.

The new party was announced at a conference in Warsaw on Sunday by Adam Bielan, an MEP who was formerly a leading figure in Agreement (Porozumienie), which is a junior partner in the United Right ruling coalition.

Earlier this year, Bielan led a rebellion against Agreement’s leader, Jarosław Gowin, arguing that he had not legitimately renewed his position as party chairman. Rumours suggested that Kaczyński, leader of the Law and Justice (PiS) party that dominates the coalition, had encouraged the rebels.

“We are not ashamed of the United Right; we are proud of our good relations with the government and PiS,” declared Bielan on Sunday, quoted by Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. “Let those who negotiate with the opposition and want to break up the United Right be ashamed.”

His words were a thinly veiled reference to Gowin, who last year held talks with the opposition and who rumours continue to suggest could take his party out of the ruling camp and try to force early elections.

In an interview with Onet published on Saturday, Gowin, who serves as deputy prime minister, admitted that there are tensions within the coalition, but claimed that there is still more uniting than dividing them.

However, he also openly criticised his partners. A recent attack on Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya by Ryszard Terlecki, the head of the PiS parliamentary caucus, was “very harmful”, said Gowin.

He also warned that an anti-LGBT campaign that has been led by PiS and United Poland (Solidarna Polska), another junior coalition partner, “damages the image of Poland”.

During his speech on Sunday, Bielan declared that the Republican Party would represent those who believe “in the idea of freedom: individual and national freedom, as well as socially sensitive economic freedom”.

He also stressed the importance of “tradition”, as represented by “our language, faith, culture and our place in this part of Europe…They constitute the foundations of the Polish state [and] are where our identity comes from”.

Bielan continues to insist that Gowin is not the legitimate leader of Agreement, and says that the new Republican Party will merge with Agreement.

The launch of Bielan’s party – which has six members of parliament, most of whom have broken away from Agreement – was attended by Kaczyński. As PiS chairman, he is Poland’s de facto leader, and his support for the new party is symbolically significant.

“Only the United Right can implement a programme for a strong, independent and sovereign Poland,” declared Kaczyński, quoted by Do Rzeczy.

The unity of the ruling coalition has been undermined over the last year by rebellions from both Agreement and United Poland. In another effort to protect his thin parliamentary majority, Kaczyński last week announced an agreement with another small right-wing party, Kukiz’15.

Main image credit: Slawomir Kaminski / Agencja Gazeta

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.