The Left (Poland)

The Left (Polish: Lewica) is a left-wing[12] to centre-left[13][11] political alliance in Poland, founded to contest the 2019 parliamentary election. The alliance consists of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), Spring and Lewica Razem.[14] It is also externally supported by several small left-wing parties including Your Movement, the Polish Socialist Party, Yes for Łódź,[15] Urban Movement,[16] and the Polish Communist Party.[17] These parties stood candidates under the banner of Lewica, along with several independents. It is described as a big tent for the Polish left,[18] with Lewica itself describing itself as a coalition based on egalitarianism, social justice and secularism.[19]

The Left

Lewica
LeaderWłodzimierz Czarzasty
Adrian Zandberg
Robert Biedroń
Parliamentary LeaderKrzysztof Gawkowski
FoundedAugust 2019
IdeologySocial democracy[1]
Secularism[2][3][4][5][6]
Pro-Europeanism[7]
Factions:
Democratic socialism[8][9]
Social liberalism[10]
Political positionCentre-left[11] to left-wing[12]
Member organisationsDemocratic Left Alliance
Spring
The Left Together
Sejm
49 / 460
Senate
2 / 100
European Parliament
7 / 52
Regional assemblies
11 / 552
City Presidents
9 / 107

Voter base

As Lewica is formed as a unification of the Polish left, it has attempted to diversify its platform and appeal to a broader range of voters, rather than relying only on the votes of former officials and civil servants during the PPR period, which had been and continues to be one of the Democratic Left Alliance's largest voting blocs. This attempt, however, was met with limited success by the fact that the coalition's pro-LGBT rights platform failed to appeal to working class and economically left-leaning Poles, which tend to favour a more socially conservative policy (especially as both economically interventionist and social conservative positions were already being provided by the right-wing PiS party). At the same time, the more liberally-oriented city-dwelling population, which could favour the party's proposed socially progressive policies, found little appeal in the party's platform of economic interventionism.[20][21][22]

Despite this, some sociologists deem that the unification of the parties could lead to an overall mobilization of leftist voters,[23] which could now feel that their vote for the coalition wouldn't be wasted.[24] In addition, the party's platform, which differs greatly from the platforms of the other major Polish political parties, has managed to find some support among disillusioned secular voters, which don't identify with any political force or even with the left, but instead desire "something new".[22][25]

Ironically, the party also received a considerable boost in support among older voters after the ruling PiS party passed a "degradation law", which cut retirement pensions and disability benefits for thousands of former bureaucrats during the PPR period, whose main income was now directly threatened by the new government policy. This led to an expansion and consolidation of the otherwise shrinking of the Democratic Left Alliance's previously described voting bloc.[25]

Ideology

The electoral program of the Left includes:[26][19]

  • investments in renewable energy sources and energy efficiency,
  • rewilding, including reforestation and restoration of wetlands,
  • appointment of the Commissioner for Animal Rights, prohibition of fur farming, use of animals in circuses and cage farming,
  • universal national crop insurance against drought and flooding,
  • cameras on police uniforms recording in continuous mode,
  • moving 1/4 of ministries and government agencies outside Warsaw,
  • abolishing the Institute of National Remembrance and the National Day of Remembrance of the "cursed soldiers",
  • increasing R&D expenditure to 2% of GDP,
  • sick leave pay and sickness benefit amounting to 100% of the basic salary plus bonuses and allowances,
  • establishing a minimum wage at 60% of the average wage,
  • minimum wage of 3500 PLN in the public sector,
  • widening the competences of the National Labour Inspectorate,
  • a maximum fee for a prescription drug of 5 PLN,
  • increasing public healthcare expenditure to 7.2% of GDP in 2024,
  • introducing health and sex education in schools,
  • extinguishing the reprivatization claims,
  • establishing a public enterprise to provide one million flats in the years 2021-2031,
  • in vitro fertilization reimbursement,
  • fully paid and compulsory leave with a minimum of 12 weeks for both parents of a newborn,
  • transparency of church funding and abolishing the Church Fund,
  • Separation of Church and State
  • liberalising Poland's abortion law,
  • gender quotas in the Council of Ministers,
  • introducing same-sex marriage and civil partnerships.

Composition
Party Ideology Position Leader MPs[27] Senators[28] MEPs Sejmiks
Democratic Left Alliance Social democracy
Pro-Europeanism		 Centre-left Włodzimierz Czarzasty
24 / 460
0 / 100
5 / 51
11 / 552
Spring Social democracy
Social liberalism
Green politics		 Centre-left Robert Biedroń
19 / 460
1 / 100
2 / 51
0 / 552
The Left Together Social democracy
Democratic socialism
Pro-Europeanism		 Left-wing Collective leadership
6 / 460
0 / 100
0 / 51
0 / 552
Affiliate organisations
Polish Socialist Party Democratic socialism Left-wing Wojciech Konieczny
0 / 460
1 / 100
0 / 51
0 / 552
Your Movement Social liberalism
Anti-clericalism
Pro-Europeanism		 Centre to
Centre-left		 Marzenna Karkoszka
Kamil Żebrowski
0 / 460
0 / 100
0 / 51
0 / 552
Polish Communist Party Communism
Marxism–Leninism		 Far-left Krzysztof Szwej
0 / 460
0 / 100
0 / 51
0 / 552
Polish Internet Party

Direct Democracy
Social liberalism

 Centre to Centre-left Piotr Zemelka
0 / 460
0 / 100
0 / 51
0 / 552

Electoral performance

Sejm
Year Popular vote % of vote Seats Seat change Government Leader
2019 2,319,946 12.56 (#3)
49 / 460
 n/a Opposition Włodzimierz Czarzasty

Senate
Year Popular vote % of vote Seats Seat change Government Leader
2019 415,745 2.28 (#4)
2 / 100
 n/a Opposition Włodzimierz Czarzasty

Presidential
Election year Candidate 1st round 2nd round
# of overall votes % of overall vote # of overall votes % of overall vote
2020 Robert Biedroń 432,129 2.22 (#6) --- ---
gollark: Which is kind of a must-have for me.
gollark: I'm not sure if that includes actually having the display be on, though.
gollark: They say 5 days or so with good software.
gollark: It's not much costlier than a normal watch, and is cooler.
gollark: Plus, inevitably, shipping and whatnot. I'm in the UK, so getting hold of much of this sort of thing seems quite hard.

References
  1. "Partia Razem. Nowa partia dla prekariuszy" (in Polish). Gazeta Wyborcza. Retrieved 2015-09-26.
  2. Syska, Michał. Strengthening Social Democracy in the Visegrad Countries (PDF). Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.
  3. "Interview with Adrian Zandberg, Partia Razem".
  4. "POLITICS Spring in Poland: Liberal View on Robert Biedron's New Political Party".
  5. "Key election points".
  6. "Why vote for the Left?".
  7. "Polish conservatives in final push to secure re-election". Irish Times. 11 October 2019. Today’s left-wing Lewica alliance has presented an anti-PiS, pro-EU programme espousing LGBT rights and loosening Poland’s restrictive abortion laws.
  8. "Razem's Open Letter to Bernie Sanders".
  9. "Poland's election - what you need to know".
  10. "„Frühling" macht der linken Mitte Hoffnung".
  11. "Poland election: Voters give verdict on four years of right-wing populists". The Independent. 13 October 2019. The latest voting intention poll by Kantar has PiS and its allies on 43 per cent, the centre-right liberal Civic Platform on 28 per cent, and the left-of-centre Lewica on 13 per cent.
  12. "Poland ruling conservatives win re-election". 2019-10-14. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  13. "Socialists set to make comeback in Polish elections next month". The Independent. 2019-09-21. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  14. "What's Left in Poland? Can the 'three tenors' led by Adrian Zandberg, take on Poland's duopoly?".
  15. "Gill-Piątek: W Sejmie będę głosem skrzywdzonych przez system". KrytykaPolityczna.pl (in Polish). 2019-10-11. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  16. User, Super. "Anita Kucharska-Dziedzic". Lewica - Oficjalna strona jedynej postępowej siły w polskiej polityce! (in Polish). Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  17. Pisze, Coschess (2019-10-10). "Jedyny komunistyczny kandydat w wyborach". KOMUNISTYCZNA PARTIA POLSKI (in Polish). Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  18. "Socialists set to make comeback in Polish elections next month". The Independent. 2019-09-21. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  19. "Why vote for the left?". LEWICA.
  20. "Socialists set to make comeback in Polish elections next month". The Independent. 2019-09-21. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  21. "Lewica: a united Polish left". www.ips-journal.eu. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  22. SADURA, Przemysław; SIERAKOWSKI, Sławomir (2019). POLITICAL CYNICISM: The Case of Poland (PDF).
  23. "Poland's fragmented opposition coalesces into left, center blocs". Reuters. 2019-07-18. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  24. "Socialists set to make comeback in Polish elections next month". The Independent. 2019-09-21. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  25. Szczerbiak, Aleks (2018-04-30). "What are the prospects for the Polish left?". London School of Economics series on Evidence-based analysis and commentary on European politics. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  26. "Program Wyborczy Lewicy".
  27. Sosnowiecki, Robert (2019-10-15). ""PRAWDZIWE" ;) uwzględniające partie wyniki wyborów: PiS - 199 PO - 123 SLD - 24 PSL - 20 Wiosna - 19 Porozumienie - 18 SP ZZ - 18 Nowoczesna - 8 Ruch Narodowy - 6 (w tym G.Braun) Kukiz'15 - 6 Razem - 6 Korwin - 5 "UED" -4 (Biernacki,Lubczyk,Protasiewicz,Tomczak) Zieloni -3 MN -1". @Wad_emecum (in Polish). Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  28. Sochan, Jacek. "Senatorowie Lewicy". Lewica - Oficjalna strona jedynej postępowej siły w polskiej polityce! (in Polish). Retrieved 2019-10-15.
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