Polish Communist Party (2002)

The Polish Communist Party or the Communist Party of Poland[2] (Polish: Komunistyczna Partia Polski, KPP) is a Polish communist party founded in 2002 claiming to be the historical and ideological heir of the Communist Party of Poland, and the pre-existing Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania. They also refer to the traditions of the Polish Workers' Party and partly of the Polish United Workers' Party.[2][3]

Communist Party of Poland

Komunistyczna Partia Polski
LeaderKrzysztof Szwej
since 11 December 2010
FoundedOctober 9, 2002
Headquartersul. Trzeciego Maja, 41–300 Dąbrowa Górnicza
NewspaperBrzask
Youth wingKomsomol of Poland
MembershipAbout 300 (2017)[1]
IdeologyCommunism
Marxism–Leninism
Anti-revisionism
Political positionFar-left
National affiliationThe Left (Affiliate)
European affiliationInitiative of Communist and Workers' Parties
International affiliationInternational Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties
ColoursRed
Website
kom-pol.org

History

The Communist Party of Poland was founded in July 2002 in Dąbrowa Górnicza by activists largely derived from the Union of Polish Communists "Proletariat", which had existed since 1990 and was liquidated by the state authorities due to formal procedures.[4][2]

The first congress of the party took place in December 2002, the second - in December 2006, the third - in December 2010[5], the fourth - in March 2015, and the fifth in July 2019.[6][7]

In the Polish parliamentary elections in 2005 and 2007, KPP members started from the lists of the Polish Labour Party (PPP). In the 2005 Polish presidential election, the party supported Daniel Podrzycki of the PPP (who died shortly before the election in a road accident).[8] Before the 2010 Polish presidential election, the chairman of the party Józef Łachut expressed at the Congress of the Left Alliance support for the candidacy of Grzegorz Napieralski from the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD).

In 2010 Polish local elections the party formed an election committee (Red Wrocław Election Committee) and put forward candidates for the Wrocław city council.[9] In the 2011 Polish parliamentary election, individual members of the KPP started to the Sejm from the lists of the SLD or PPP.

The Communist Party of Poland called for a boycott of the 2015 Polish parliamentary election.[10] In addition, she established contacts with the Polish Left. In the 2019 Polish parliamentary election, the KPP became part of The Left and put forward one candidate for the Sejm.[11] Before the 2020 Polish presidential election, the Communist Party of Poland supported the candidacy of Waldemar Witkowski from Labour Union.[12]

Party program

The Communist Party of Poland proclaims anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist slogans. It seeks to introduce socialism and take over political and economic power by the proletariat.[13] It also calls for the replacement of capitalist property by social ownership through the nationalization of industry, trade and natural resources. They advocate broad social rights (including free and universal education and free healthcare). The party is for equality and full separation of the Church and the state (including non-financing by the state of religious associations and withdrawal of religious instruction from public schools). They also postulates cessation of privatization and reprivatization and tax reform (progressive tax system, limitation of VAT), as well as property vetting. It criticizes the liquidation of the Polish People's Republic and the political transformation. The KPP is also against Poland's participation in the European Union and NATO.[14][15] In addition, the party strongly opposes the decommunization laws adopted by the Law and Justice government and the historical policy pursued by the Institute of National Remembrance.[16][17]

Chairmen
  • 14 December 2002 to 8 December 2006 - Marcin Adam[18]
  • 8 December 2006 to 11 December 2010 - Józef Łachut
  • 11 December 2010 – present - Krzysztof Szwej[5]

Structure and activists

The number of activists of the Communist Party of Poland over the years ranged from several hundred to over a thousand activists.[19][20]

The KPP's highest executive body is the National Executive Committee. The central control body of the party is the National Statutory and Audit Commission. The body appointed to deal with individual cases of party members arising from appeals against resolutions of organs, including resolutions on exclusion from it, is the National Peer Court.[21]

Newspaper

The official newspaper of the party is ''Brzask'', published in subscription and available on the Internet.[22]

The existence of communist parties in Poland and their activities are legal as long as they refer to the ideology of the communist system, bypassing totalitarian methods and practices. Similarly, communist symbolism is not prohibited in Poland.[23][24] The Polish Communist Party completely dissociates itself from the use of totalitarian methods.

In 2013, Law and Justice activist Bartosz Kownacki requested the party to be banned because of alleged propagation of totalitarianism.[25] As a result of the investigation, the prosecutor's office did not find any evidence of a crime and discontinued the investigation. From 2015 to 2019, a trial was underway regarding the alleged promotion of the totalitarian system by KPP activists in ''Brzask''. On January 18, 2019, the District Court in Dąbrowa Górnicza found editors of the magazine "Brzask" innocent of the alleged offenses.[26][27]

As part of solidarity with the KPP in connection with the court proceedings against it, in 2018 and 2019 protests under Polish embassies organized, among others The Communist Party of Greece, the Communist Party of Belgium and the Communist Party of Britain.[28][29] In Poland, solidarity with the KPP was declared by the Democratic Left Alliance and Workers' Democracy.[30]

gollark: A competent archai would just have engineered local politics several hundred years ago such that the faction never existed.
gollark: That sounds really unreasonably unsubtle.
gollark: Probably just to try and downplay it.
gollark: Troubling.
gollark: Everyone else just seems to assume it's a pizza because it's circular and yellow/reddish.

References
  1. "Komunistyczna Partia Polski pod lupą prokuratury". wyborcza.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  2. "Initiative of Communist & Workers' Parties - Communist Party of Poland". www.initiative-cwpe.org. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  3. "Łachut - My komuniści, skrojeni jesteśmy ze "specjalnego" materiału - lewica.pl". lewica.pl. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  4. Łoziński, Krzysztof (2003-06-16). "Sekta komunistów". Wprost (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  5. "Dąbrowa Górnicza: III Zjazd Komunistycznej Partii Polski". 1917.net.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-01-11.
  6. "V Zjazd KPP w Bytomiu". KOMUNISTYCZNA PARTIA POLSKI (in Polish). 2019-07-24. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  7. "Solidnet | CP of Poland, The fifth Congress of the Communist Party of Poland". www.solidnet.org. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
  8. "Pękają stereotypy | Dyktatura Proletariatu". web.archive.org. 2018-03-19. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  9. "Wybory Samorządowe 2010 - Geografia wyborcza - Rzeczpospolita Polska - województwo dolnośląskie - miasto Wrocław - Okręg/Komitet". wybory2010.pkw.gov.pl. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  10. "Komunistyczna Partia Polski - archiwum sierpień 2015". archive.is. 2015-10-24. Retrieved 2020-01-14.
  11. "Jedyny komunistyczny kandydat w wyborach". KOMUNISTYCZNA PARTIA POLSKI (in Polish). 2019-10-10. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  12. "Rozmowa z Grzegorzem Andrzejem Niskim – sekretarzem generalnym Unii Pracy ( dla Tak…, ale… ), 10 marca 2020 r." www.uniapracy.org.pl. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  13. "Komunistyczna Partia Polski pod lupą prokuratury". wyborcza.pl. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  14. "Program". KOMUNISTYCZNA PARTIA POLSKI (in Polish). 2016-10-04. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  15. "Manifest polskich komunistów". KOMUNISTYCZNA PARTIA POLSKI (in Polish). 2018-03-09. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  16. "Pomniki". KOMUNISTYCZNA PARTIA POLSKI (in Polish). 2018-12-05. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  17. "Wyklęci przez IPN". KOMUNISTYCZNA PARTIA POLSKI (in Polish). 2018-09-08. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  18. "Widmo komunizmy nadal krąży". eioba.pl (in Polish). 2006-11-11. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  19. "PiS idzie na wojnę z komunistami. Chce delegalizacji Komunistycznej Partii Polski". wyborcza.pl. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  20. Redakcja (2014-07-18). "Poseł PiS chce delegalizacji Komunistycznej Partii Polski. A komuniści wysyłają kolejne legitymacje". Dziennik Zachodni (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-01-11.
  21. "Rozdział VI: Centralne organy Partii". KOMUNISTYCZNA PARTIA POLSKI (in Polish). 2016-10-04. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  22. "cpofpolandBRZASK". Scribd. Retrieved 2020-01-11.
  23. "Koszulki z sierpem i młotem nie są zakazane". wyborcza.pl. Retrieved 2020-01-11.
  24. "Brudziński chce ścigać za sierp i młot, ale symbole komunistyczne są legalne. W przeciwieństwie do faszystowskich". oko.press. Retrieved 2020-01-11.
  25. "Poseł PiS doniósł na komunistów z Dąbrowy Górniczej. Wszyscy zostali skazani". katowice.wyborcza.pl. Retrieved 2020-01-11.
  26. "Komunizm nie ma nic wspólnego z totalitaryzmem". przeglad-socjalistyczny.pl. Retrieved 2020-01-11.
  27. "Sąd uniewinnił redakcję „Brzask"". KOMUNISTYCZNA PARTIA POLSKI (in Polish). 2019-01-20. Retrieved 2020-01-11.
  28. "Komunistyczna Partia Brytanii urządzi protest przed polską ambasadą. Przeciwko prześladowaniu komunistów w Polsce". Do Rzeczy (in Polish). 2018-01-03. Retrieved 2020-01-11.
  29. "Światowy komunizm krytykuje Ziobrę". www.rp.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-01-11.
  30. "Trwają represje wobec komunistów. Działacze KPP ciągani po sądach. Partii grozi delegalizacja". Portal STRAJK (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-01-11.
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