Agreement (political party)

Agreement (Polish: Porozumienie)[6] is a conservative and liberal conservative political party in Poland. It was founded in November 2017, led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and Higher Education Jarosław Gowin,[7] as an expansion of Gowin's previous party, Poland Together, before changing its name. It is allied with the ruling party of Poland, Law and Justice (PiS), as part of the informal United Right coalition,[8] and all of its MPs and Senators sit in the Law and Justice parliamentary club.

Agreement

Porozumienie
LeaderJarosław Gowin
Vice ChairmenRobert Anacki
Magdalena Błeńska
Jadwiga Emilewicz
Zbigniew Gryglas
Marcin Ociepa
Karol Rabenda
Arkadiusz Urban
Founded4 November 2017
Preceded byPoland Together
Headquartersul. Wilcza 23 m. 29, 00–544 Warszawa
Youth wingYoung Right (Polish: Młoda Prawica)[1]
IdeologySocial conservatism[2]
Liberal conservatism[2]
Economic liberalism[3]
Christian democracy
Political positionCentre-right[2][4] to right-wing[5]
National affiliationUnited Right
European Parliament groupEuropean Conservatives and Reformists
ColoursBlue
Sejm
18 / 460
Senate
2 / 100
European Parliament
1 / 52
Regional Councils
19 / 552
City Presidents
2 / 107
Website
pjg.org.pl

History

On 13 October 2017, Gowin announced at a press conference regarding ex-Kukiz'15 and Republican MP Magdalena Błeńska's decision to join Poland Together that it would be transformed into a new party including elements of the Republicans, former members of Janusz Korwin-Mikke's Liberty party, and local politicians at its 4 November congress.[9][10] According to Poland Together members, the decision was partly taken to strengthen Gowin's position within the United Right and to avoid confusion with the left-wing Razem party.[11] Several days later, it was revealed that the ex-Civic Platform mayor of Kalisz, Grzegorz Sapiński,[12] and the Christian Local Government Movement founded by former Łódź mayor Jerzy Kropiwnicki would also join the new party.[13] Ex-Polish People's Party senator Józef Zając joined Poland Together on 30 October in anticipation of the new party's official launch.[14]

At the 4 November Poland Together congress, the name of the new party was revealed as Porozumienie.[15] Gowin announced that Błeńska, Zając, and ex-Modern MP Zbigniew Gryglas would join the Alliance, with Błeńska and Gryglas becoming deputy leaders,[16] as well as the creation of programmatic, local government, and economic councils to advise the leadership of the new party.[8]

On 9 January 2018, in terms of the reconstruction in the Council of Ministers's composition, Jadwiga Emilewicz, a Vice Chair of the Agreement, became the head of the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Technology, and Anna Streżyńska, a politician sympathizing with Gowin's party, was recalled as Minister of Digital Affairs. 12 days later, the deputy Mieczysław Baszko entered the Agreement and simultaneously relinquished his membership of the Polish People's Party parliamentary club.[17]

On 6 February, due to the legal court's objection to registering the name "Agreement", the leadership of the party suggested that "Jarosław Gowin's Agreement" be the full name of the movement, which was not legally approved until 22 June.[18]

In March 2018, Vice chairman Marek Zagórski, a deputy who had thus far served the government as Secretary of State in the Ministry for Digital Affairs, renounced his membership of the party, shortly entering the Law and Justice due to assuming the office of Minister for Digital Affairs itself.[19]

In April 2018, six months prior to the following local elections, in addition to Jakub Banaszek being announced to candidate for the office of city mayor in Chełmno, the United Right reported two candidates of Gowin's party to run for mayoralty of voivodeship capital cities — Jacek Żalek (Białystok) and Michał Wypij (Olsztyn). Ultimately, Jakub Banaszak was the only candidate to assume the office of Mayor[20], even though Michał Zalewski and Andrzej Wnuk, politicians sympathizing with the party with no formal membership, obtained offices in Toruń and Zamość, respectively. In total, two other members of the party became heads of urban-rural communes, with 7 other candidates being elected heads of rural communes. Simultaneously, the Agreement obtained 19 seats in 11 out of 16 Regional Assembles. Released by reason of a Law and Justice deputy winning a local election, one seat in the Sejm was given to Kamil Bortniczuk, an activist of the Agreement.[21]

In 2019 European Parliament election, representatives of the Agreement were placed on the Law and Justice electoral list one more time, receiving one point in each constituency. Adam Bielan, a Vice Marshal of the Senate, was given the first place in a district covering an extensive territory of Masovian Voivodeship, resulting in him being the only party member to obtain a seat.[22] Candidacies put up by Gowin's party took 2,25 per cent of the vote, and therefore 4,95% of the vote cast for the Law and Justice.

In July 2019, candidacies for the Sejm reported by the Agreement were registered in every constituency on the Law and Justice's lists, in addition to five party members running for senatorial seats in single-member districts. In total, 18 members of Gowin's party sat in the lower house, and 2 out of 5 took seats in the upper.[23]

In November, the Agreement signed up another coalition agreement with the Law and Justice and the United Poland. Representatives of the party entered the 2nd cabinet of Mateusz Morawiecki, assuming the ministerial offices belonging to them in the previous composition. Jarosław Gowin was appointed one of three Deputy Prime Ministers and Jadwiga Emilewicz; Minister of Development. Moreover, the number of party members serving as Secretaries and Undersecretaries of State in ministries notably expanded.

In the 2020 presidential election, the Agreement supported the incumbent President Andrzej Duda's candidacy, and activists of the party, inter alia Adam Bielan, entered his electoral committee. In April 2020, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Agreement's leadership strongly insisted on implementing an appropriate amendment to the Constitution of the Republic of Poland so that Andrzej Duda's term would be prolonged by two years, with no chance for re-election in return. The Agreement's MPs issued appeals for all the parliamentary parties' approval, invoking the legal requirement of a 2/3 supermajority to enact their postulate. Despite the Law and Justice's positive recognition, Jarosław Gowin announced his resignation from his ministerial functions as a result of no political support for the postponement from any of the opposite clubs, simultaneously asserting that the coalition be maintained.[24] On the recommendation of his party, the office of Deputy Prime Minister devolved upon Jadwiga Emilewicz, one of the Vice Chairs of the Agreement.[25] Within following days, Wojciech Murdzek assumed the temporarily vacant position of Minister of Science and Higher Education.[26]

Structure and members

The leadership of the Agreement is classified into the Central Committee, headed by the Presidium, and the Central Covenant. Voivodship subdivisions were rescinded during the reorganization in 2017 in favor of ones coinciding with Sejm constituencies.

Presidium of the Central Committee

Deputies

All the deputies of the Agreement were elected from the Law and Justice list in terms of an informal electoral coalition and belong to the Law and Justice parliamentary club.[27]

Senators

All the senators of the Agreement were elected in terms of an informal electoral coalition with the Law and Justice and sit in the parliamentary club of this party.[27]

Members of the European Parliament

All the MEPs of the Agreement were elected from the Law and Justice electoral list in terms of an informal coalition.[27]

Ideology

The party defines itself as a "modern conservative" party, with strong emphasis on economic liberalism and reducing bureaucracy, and claims to be moderately conservative on social and cultural issues. It believes that local government should be encouraged and supported by the central government.[3]

Youth wing

Young Right is a centre-right Polish association with a conservative-liberal profile. It was established in 2016. Jan Strzeżek is the chairman of the Young Right.

Election results

Presidential
Election year Candidate 1st round 2nd round
# of overall votes % of overall vote # of overall votes % of overall vote
2020 Supporting Andrzej Duda
gollark: It would not then be fair to assume that differences are down to some inherent badness of Sri Lanka, but that doesn't make comparisons invalid.
gollark: You can absolutely compare the economy of Sri Lanka and developed place #something. We have many metrics for this.
gollark: Dismissing problems because other things have problems is the problem.
gollark: The problem there is not the comparing though!
gollark: I did retroactively.

References
  1. Kolanko, Michał. ""Porozumienie" stało się faktem". rp.pl. Rzeczpospolita. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  2. "Deputy PM wooing the urban middle class". Poland In. 13 January 2019.
  3. Gałązka, Dariusz (22 November 2017). "Nowa partia Gowina w Gdańsku. "Przyjęliśmy formułę nowoczesnego konserwatyzmu"". wyborcza.pl. Gazeta Wyborcza. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  4. "Polish conservative leader hails new centre-right Alliance party". Radio Poland. 4 November 2017.
  5. "United Right joint programme in few weeks – Deputy PM". Polish Press Agency. 13 January 2019.
  6. S.A, Telewizja Polska. "Explainer: Whatever happened to Polish liberal conservatives?". polandin.com. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 14 October 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "Jarosław Gowin przedstawił nazwę nowej partii. Odczytano list prezesa PiS". wprost.pl. Wprost. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  9. Baran, Violetta. "Jarosław Gowin o nowej formacji: w polityce najważniejsza jest gospodarka". wp.pl. Wirtualna Polska. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  10. "Gowin: "4 listopada podczas kongresu Polski Razem zostanie zaprezentowana nowa formacja polityczna"". wpolityce.pl. Wpolityce.pl. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  11. Łakomski, Grzegorz. "Gowin tworzy nową partię przez Ziobrę i… Zandberga". wp.pl. Wirtualna Polska. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  12. Durman, Natalia. "Kolejna osoba w nowej partii Gowina". wp.pl. Wirtualna Polska. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  13. Durman, Natalia. "Kolejny ruch dołącza do Gowina". wp.pl. Wirtualna Polska. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  14. Roszak, Mateusz; Tustanowska, Anna. "Gowin: do Polski Razem dołącza senator Józef Zając". pap.pl. Polish Press Agency. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  15. "Polish conservative leader hails new centre-right Alliance party". thenews.pl. Polskie Radio. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  16. "Informacja po Konwencji Zjednoczeniowej Partii Porozumienie (komunikat)". centrumprasowe.pap.pl. Polish Press Agency. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  17. "Poseł Baszko przechodzi z PSL do Porozumienia". 300polityka.pl. Michał Olech. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  18. "OŚWIADCZENIE w sprawie artykułu pt. „Przegrał w sądzie przez o. Rydzyka" opublikowanego w dzienniku Fakt". pjg.org.pl. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  19. "Marek Zagórski będzie ministrem cyfryzacji". wprost.pl. Artur Grabek. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  20. Wschodni, Dziennik. "Wybory 2018 – Chełm. Wyniki drugiej tury głosowania. Jakub Banaszek nowym prezydentem!". Dziennik Wschodni (in Polish). Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  21. "Postanowienie Marszałka Sejmu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 15 listopada 2018 r. w sprawie obsadzenia wygasłego mandatu w okręgu wyborczym nr 21 z siedzibą Okręgowej Komisji Wyborczej w Opolu". prawo.sejm.gov.pl. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  22. "Wybory do Parlamentu Europejskiego 2019". pe2019.pkw.gov.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  23. "Informacje na portalu Twitter". Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  24. "Jarosław Gowin: Podaję się do dymisji". wprost.pl. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  25. "Prezydent powołał nową wicepremier. Emilewicz zastąpiła na tym stanowisku Gowina". polsatnews.pl. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  26. "Wojciech Murdzek Ministrem Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego". prezydent.pl. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  27. http://pjg.org.pl/poslowie_i_senatorowie/
  28. "Klub Parlamentarny Prawo i Sprawiedliwość". sejm.gov.pl. Sejm.
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