Poland’s New Hope and Empire Strikes Back parties merge in attempt to sidestep electoral law

Feb 23, 2026 | Law, Politics

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Last weekend witnessed an unusual development in Polish politics, as parties named New Hope and Empire Strikes Back (both the titles of Star Wars films) merged with one another.

The manoeuvre is part of an attempt by one of Poland’s main far-right groups, led by Sławomir Mentzen (pictured above), to circumvent the decision by a court to deregister his party as punishment for failing to comply with financial reporting obligations.

New Hope (Nowa Nadzieja) is a conservative libertarian party led by Mentzen. Formerly known as KORWiN, after its founder Janusz Korwin-Mikke, it is part of the broader far-right Confederation (Konfederacja) alliance that has 16 seats in Poland’s parliament.

However, in November last year, Warsaw’s district court ordered that New Hope be removed from the register of political parties at the request of the National Electoral Commission (PKW) as a punishment for failing to submit its 2024 financial report on time.

Because New Hope launched an appeal, the ruling has not yet been implemented. However, with the party pessimistic about its chances of success, it has launched a contingency plan.

 

In January, Confederation spokesman and close Mentzen associate Wojciech Machulski registered a new political party called Empire Strikes Back (Imperium Kontratakuje).

Now, at a behind-closed-doors congress on Saturday, the two parties merged, with New Hope’s structures and assets incorporated into Empire Strikes Back. The next step will be that Empire Strikes Back formally changes its name to New Hope, thereby creating a “new” party identical to the old one.

That manoeuvre will “give us freedom to operate, a formal leeway that makes the dispute with the National Electoral Commission irrelevant for us, and allows us to continue functioning as New Hope”, the party’s deputy leader, Bartłomiej Pejo, told the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

Mentzen, meanwhile, says that the fact his party was both forced to and was able to carry out such a move shows that Poland’s rules around political parties are “a complete joke”. He noted that when companies miss deadlines to file financial reports, they are not deregistered.

When Confederation was formed in 2018, it was an alliance of three main groups: the libertarian KORWiN/New Hope; the nationalist National Movement (Ruch Narodowy), led by Krzysztof Bosak; and a group of radical-right monarchists led by Grzegorz Braun.

They together won 7% of the vote in the 2023 parliamentary elections, finishing fifth. Last year, however, Braun and his Confederation of the Polish Crown (KPP) were expelled from the broader Confederation group after he announced a rival presidential to official candidate Mentzen.

At May’s election first round, Mentzen, whose campaign was characterised by beer-fuelled rallies and a savvy social media campaign. finished third with 14.8% of the vote, followed by Braun on 6.3%.

Both Confederation and KPP continue to enjoy strong support in polls, at around 13% and 8% respectively, according to averages compiled by the eWybory website.


Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Maciej Wasilewski / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

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