Platforma Obywatelska

Citizens Platform
Platforma Obywatelska
abbreviation	PO
Party leader	Borys Budka
founding	January 24, 2001
Spin-off from	Akcja Wyborcza Solidarność , Unia Wolności
Headquarters	Ulica Wiejska 21, Warsaw
Alignment	Christian democracy , liberal conservatism , catch-all party
Number of members	approx.17,000 (as of December 2015)
European party	EPP
EP Group	EPP
Youth organization	Stowarzyszenie "Młodzi Demokraci"
Colours)	Azure Orange 
Sejm	119/460
senate	43/100
Eu Parliament	14/52
Sejmiks	153/552
Website	www.platforma.org

The Platforma Obywatelska ( listen ^{? / I} , short name: PO ), German citizens' platform , is an ideologically conservative , economically liberal and European- friendly party in Poland . Because of its broad spectrum, it is characterized by some political scientists with the label “ideology-free”. In 2016, the new party leader Grzegorz Schetyna emphasized in an interview for the weekly Do Rzeczy that he wanted to return to the liberal-conservative origins of his party.  

From 2009 to 2012 the PO politician Jerzy Buzek was President of the European Parliament , between 2010 and 2015 the party with Bronisław Komorowski provided the state president and in 2014 the then party chairman Donald Tusk was elected President of the European Council .

It formed the government from 2007 to 2015 in a coalition with the Polish People's Party (PSL). Both parties belong to the European People's Party (EPP).

history

Emergence

Initially founded as an association, the Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej party emerged on January 24, 2001 and was registered on March 5, 2002. Co-founders were Andrzej Olechowski and Maciej Płażyński , both previously members of the Conservative Electoral Solidarity ( Akcja Wyborcza Solidarność , AWS), and Donald Tusk , previously member of the Liberal Freedom Union ( Unia Wolności , UW). Tusk left the Unia Wolności after his defeat by Bronisław Geremek for the party chairmanship. The aim of the initiators was to create a new, strong center-right party after the bourgeois camp had clearly lost influence over the years before the post-communist League of the Democratic Left ( Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej , SLD). Their electorate therefore includes supporters of the Christian Democratic, conservative and liberal spectrum. The PO strengthened itself after the founding party congress through defected politicians from AWS and UW as well as direct cooperation with the Stronnictwo Konserwatywno-Ludowe .

2001-2005

With a view to the 2001 parliamentary elections , it was decided to hold primary elections for the list candidates . Demoscopes predicted a clear lead of the social democratic coalition, consisting of SLD and UP , so that the citizens' platform entered into a cooperation with AWS , UW , PiS and ROP . As a result, a common electoral list for the Senate was created. Members of the Unia Polityki Realnej were also on the candidate lists for the Sejm . The PO came out of the 2001 parliamentary elections with 12.7 percent of the vote and immediately became the second largest party in the Sejm , the Polish lower house. Shortly after the elections, members of the Stronnictwo Konserwatywno-Ludowe split off because of disputes . The party leadership spoke out against a coalition with the SLD. During its opposition activity , the PO was critical of the Miller cabinet and, in particular, of Finance Minister Grzegorz Kołodko's plans to legalize partial repayment of evaded taxes. In the run-up to the local government elections in 2002 , a decision was made to form a joint coalition with the PiS party. The so-called POPiS took first place in two voivodeships despite poor poll results . In 2003 there were changes in the top management. Maciej Płażyński renounced his party membership. His offices as chairman of the party and parliamentary group were taken over by Donald Tusk. Jan Rokita later occupied the group chairmanship . Rokita was also a member of Parliament's committee to investigate the Rywin affair . On June 20, 2003, MPs voted for a vote of confidence against Leszek Miller's government . The party supported Poland's accession to the European Union , but in continuation of the Treaty of Nice . In the 2004 European elections it was the strongest force with 24.1% and 15 seats. The PO politician Jacek Saryusz-Wolski was then elected Vice President of the European Parliament. After the vice-chairman Zyta Gilowska was accused of nepotism , she left the PO in May 2005.

2005-2007

A gradual decline in the number of voters for the Social Democrats made it possible to take on government responsibility. The Platforma Obywatelska went into the election campaign with Jan Rokita as the top candidate. However, the PO did not achieve its goals of becoming the strongest party in the Sejm in 2005 and forming a government there with the national-conservative Law and Justice party ( Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS). With 133 seats it was only the second largest parliamentary group in the Sejm; the PiS, on the other hand, had won 158 mandates. A planned coalition with the national conservatives failed because of differences in personnel decisions. The PiS then formed a minority government and finally formed a coalition with the left-wing populist farmers' party Samoobrona and the clerical-nationalist League of Polish Families ( Liga Polskich Rodzin , LPR). For the presidential election in 2005 the PO elected its party leader Donald Tusk as a candidate for the presidency. Tusk, who was the strongest candidate in the first ballot with 38.8 percent of the vote, lost the necessary runoff against the PiS presidential candidate, Lech Kaczyński , previously Warsaw city ​​president , with 46.5 to 53.5 percent of the votes. In May 2006 Tusk succeeded in being re-elected chairman with a large majority. He outperformed his rival candidate Andrzej Machowski with a voting ratio of 533 to 97. In the 2006 local government elections , the PO was able to assert itself as the strongest party and, thanks to alliances with the PSL, was able to co-govern in 15 of 16 voivodships . The prestigious office of mayor of Warsaw also went to candidate Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz .

Coalition Governments (2007-2015)

→ Main article : Cabinet Tusk I

In the early parliamentary elections in 2007 , the PO finally succeeded in winning with its top candidate Tusk again. She received 41.51 percent of the vote, with which she was able to win 209 of the 460 seats in the Sejm. This made it by far the strongest force in the Sejm at the time and, together with the PSL, which had received 8.91 percent of the vote or 31 seats, formed a government coalition under Tusk as prime minister. In the same election, the PO also won 60 out of 100 seats in the Senate , the Polish upper house, and thus an absolute majority. In his government statement, Donald Tusk promised tax cuts, lower unemployment, higher salaries in education and health care and the fight against corruption. In addition, he promised to end the deployment of Polish soldiers abroad in the Iraq war .

In the initial phase, tensions arose between President Lech Kaczyński and Prime Minister Tusk, mainly on foreign policy. Tusk sought better relations with Russia at the time, although the relationship with the United States should be more distant than the previous government had. The prime minister refused to deploy US anti-aircraft missiles , although the 2008 Caucasus War reversed its decision. Although the Tusk administration subsequently signed an agreement with President George W. Bush , this was not followed up by his successor, Barack Obama . Another potential for conflict arose from the question of who should represent the country in the European Union . After Kaczyński was forbidden to travel to Brussels on the presidential plane, he took a charter flight .

Both legislative periods were largely shaped by the global economic crisis. The goal of joining the euro zone in 2011 could not be achieved. Tusk emphasized several times that Poland was the only EU country not to go through a recession in 2009. Between 2008 and 2014 the economy grew with an EU peak of 23.8%. In spite of this, a budget deficit of 8% was generated in 2009 and the EU convergence criterion was clearly exceeded with a maximum of 3%. As a result, eight years of PO government have been characterized by restrained spending policies and reforms. The increase in the VAT rate from 22 to 23 percent went against previous announcements after tax cuts. Despite protests from trade unionists , the PO succeeded in gradually raising the retirement age from 60 for women and 65 for men to 67 years each. Defense Minister Bogdan Klich was able to count the abolition of conscription among his successes. The introduction of compulsory schooling for six-year-olds by Education Minister Katarzyna Hall was controversial . Previously, it was up to the legal guardians to enroll their child at the age of six or seven. The citizens' platform experienced further burdens from the outbreak of the so-called Afera hazardowa (German: gambling affair ). The anti-corruption bureau had recorded famous PO politicians who, after meeting business people, pushed through changes to the gambling law in favor of casino owners. The affair was overshadowed by the plane crash near Smolensk . Tusk renounced his candidacy in the next presidential election . After an internal party primary, the Platforma Obywatelska with Bronisław Komorowski as its candidate. In the run-off election that became necessary, he finally emerged victorious with 53.01 percent of the vote and thus became the fourth democratically elected head of state in Poland after the fall of communism . The plane crash deepened the rifts between the two largest parties. Tusk and his party were held jointly responsible by the PiS for the crash of the presidential machine. The cabinet met with rejection with the confiscation of private pension funds. Nationalization made it possible to lower the debt ratio, but critics felt that the private pension system was at risk of collapse.

→ Main article : Cabinet Tusk II

A bus during the election campaign

Despite losing votes, the PO won the 2011 parliamentary elections with 39.18 percent of the vote and thus 207 seats in the Sejm and an additional 63 seats in the Senate. Thus, a government coalition could be formed again with the PSL, whereby Tusk became the first Polish Prime Minister under whom a government coalition in Poland succeeded in re-election after 1989.

Previous announcements to abolish church funding or privileges for farmers could not be implemented. During the second legislative period, administrative procedures, access conditions to the labor market were deregulated and building law was simplified. According to Transparency International, Poland improved from 58th place (2008) to 35th place in 2014 in the area of trade freedom . The crisis-ridden mining industry did not succeed in reforming the sector, although the difficult financial situation of the sector is partly due to the low coal price. Due to protests, plans to close deficit mines were not pursued. With the European Football Championship 2012 , the PO was able to distinguish itself as a good organizer. There are also many infrastructure projects associated with this, such as the completion of the A2 between Warsaw and Berlin . In the eight years of government responsibility, the network of motorways and expressways has increased by around 2,100 km. Restrictive regulations of the predecessor Jan Szyszko , which led to the excessive use of noise barriers , could be softened by a new regulation. At the end of 2014, there was a civilization leap on the railway with the Pendolino . Despite improvements in the railway infrastructure, the EU structural funds could not be used as efficiently as in road construction.

The PO-led government fell into a serious crisis in June 2014 when recordings of private conversations between its cabinet members in luxury restaurants were published, which in vulgar language contradicted the government's stated political principles and guidelines.

→ Main article : Kopacz cabinet

Prime Minister Donald Tusk survived a vote of confidence in the Sejm that same month and the party was able to stabilize again under the new Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz, who ruled from September (Donald Tusk moved to Brussels as EU President ).

After the incumbent incumbent, supported by the PO, Bronisław Komorowski, lost his re-election in the presidential election in May 2015 and documents from the public prosecutor's investigations into the wiretapping affair were later leaked on Facebook in June , Prime Minister Kopacz dismissed three ministers and others in an attempt to restore confidence in the upcoming parliamentary elections in autumn subordinate officials. The former Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski resigned as a protagonist in this wiretapping affair as Sejm Marshal . In the parliamentary elections in October 2015 , the PO lost its government majority to its national-conservative rival Law and Justice (PiS) and has been in opposition ever since.

In the opposition (since 2015)

As a result of the defeat in the 2015 parliamentary elections, chairwoman Ewa Kopacz did not run for the party chairmanship in the regular elections. The new leader of the party was Grzegorz Schetyna in January 2016 . In the same year, the party came under pressure because of the reprivatisation affair in Warsaw and had to distance itself from the deputy party chairman Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz . Before the parliamentary elections in Poland in 2019 , Schetyna was sharply criticized from within his own ranks for drawing up the list of candidates on his own without consulting the party committees.

On January 25, 2020, Borys Budka was elected as the new chairman with 79% of the vote.

rhetoric

According to Katarina Bader , the citizens' platform is an originally populist party with anti-establishment rhetoric that has transformed into a “ catch-all party ”. In the declaration of principle, the three party founders justified their commitment by protesting against the badly described "loot distribution" policy, which they promised to end. In the early days, the party repeatedly resorted to populist mobilization strategies, portrayed the established parties as a corrupt, “democracy-damaging” unit and included demands in its program that corresponded to the public mood, but ran counter to the PO's original party program.

Party leader

No.	image	Surname	Term of office
1.		Maciej Płażyński	October 18, 2001– June 1, 2003
2.		Donald Tusk	June 1, 2003 - November 8, 2014
3.		Ewa Kopacz	November 8, 2014 - January 26, 2016
4th		Grzegorz Schetyna	January 26, 2016– January 25, 2020
5.		Borys Budka	Since January 25, 2020

Election results of the PO

Parliamentary elections in Poland 2015 : results by constituency

Presidential election in Poland 2015 (first ballot)

Results in the parliamentary elections

year	Sejm					senate
	be right			Mandates		Mandates
	number	%	+/-	number	+/-	number	+/-
2001	1,651,099	12.68 (2.)	-	65/460	-	-	-
2005	2,849,259	24.14 (2.)	▲ 11.46	133/460	▲ 68	34/100	-
2007	6.701.010	41.51 ( 1. )	▲ 17.37	209/460	▲ 76	60/100	▲ 26
2011	5,629,773	39.18 ( 1. )	▼ 2.33	207/460	▼ 2	63/100	▲ 3
2015	3,661,474	24.09 (2.)	▼ 15.09	138/460	▼ 69	34/100	▼ 29

Presidential election results

year	candidate	Ballot I		Ballot II		annotation
		be right	%	be right	%
2005	Donald Tusk	5,429,666	36.33 ( 1. )	7,022,319	45.96 (2.)	Against Lech Kaczynski lost
2010	Bronislaw Komorowski	6,981,319	41.54 ( 1. )	8,933,887	53.01 ( 1. )	Won against Jarosław Kaczyński
2015	Bronislaw Komorowski	5,031,060	33.77 (2.)	8,112,311	48.45 (2.)	Against Andrzej Duda lost
2020	Rafał Trzaskowski	5,917,340	30.46 (2.)	10.018.263	48.97 (2.)	Against Andrzej Duda lost

Results in the municipal elections

year	Sejmiks				Powiats				Gminas		City presidents, mayors, community leaders
	be right		Mandates		be right		Mandates		Mandates		Mandates
	%	+/-	number	+/-	%	+/-	number	+/-	number	+/-	number	+/-
2002	Coalition with PiS				?	-	48	-	160	-	?	-
2006	27.18	-	186/561	-	19.76	?	779	▲ 731	1784	▲ 1624	46	?
2010	30.89	▲ 3.71	222/561	▲ 36	20.91	▲ 1.15	1315	▲ 536	2719	▲ 935	?	?
2014	26.29	▼ 4.60	179/555	▼ 43	12.32	▼ 8.59	747	▼ 568	1473	▼ 1246	54	?

Results of the elections to the European Parliament

year	be right			Mandates
	number	%	+/-	number	+/-
2004	1,467,775	24.10 ( 1. )	-	15/54	-
2009	3,271,852	44.43 ( 1. )	▲ 20.33	25/50	▲ 10
2014	2,271,215	32.13 ( 1. )	▼ 12.30	19/51	▼ 6

Web links

Commons : Platforma Obywatelska  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of the PO (Polish)
• Analysis of the PO of the German Poland Institute (PDF; 597 kB)

bibliography

• ^↓ Wojciech Roszkowski : Najnowsza historia Polski 1980–2002. Warszawa: Świat Książki, 2003. ISBN 83-7391-086-7 .
• ^↓Antoni Dudek: Historia polityczna Polski 1989–2012. Kraków: Znak, 2013. ISBN 978-83-240-2130-7 .
• ^↓Krzysztof Kowalczyk, Jerzy Sielski :: Partie i ugrupowania parlamentarne III RP. Toruń: Dom wydawniczy DUET, 2006. ISBN 83-89706-84-9 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ wmeritum.pl, Platforma Obywatelska traci swoich członków , December 25, 2015
2. ↑ Thomas Urban , Schwerer Abschied vom Heldenmythos , in: Süddeutsche Zeitung , May 21, 2012, p. 46.
3. ↑ Pozycjonowanie oferty Platformy Obywatelskiej wobec Prawa i Sprawiedliwości w wyborach parlamentarnych w 2011 roku. In: Marzena Cichosz, Dariusz Skrzypiński (eds.): Segmentacja, targeting, pozycjonowanie na rynku politycznym. Wrocław: Towarzystwo edukacji obywatelskiej, 2014, ISBN 978-83-929260-8-5 , p. 152.
4. ↑ Czy to już koniec PO jaką znamy? Schetyna: Platforma skręci w prawo. In: Newsweek . August 8, 2016, accessed October 12, 2016 (Polish). 
5. ↑ Dwie kotwice platformy. In: Gazeta Wyborcza . August 10, 2016. Retrieved October 12, 2016 (Polish). 
6. ↑ European Union Governments ( Memento from June 12, 2009 in the web archive archive.today ). Accessed October 3, 2015.
7. ↑ ^↓ pp. 425-426
8. ↑ Harce prawyborcze. In: Polityka . February 16, 2010, accessed October 15, 2016 (Polish). 
9. ↑ ^↓ p. 215
10. ↑ ^↓ p. 439
11. ↑ Harce prawyborcze. In: Rzeczpospolita . July 4, 2009, Retrieved October 15, 2016 (Polish). 
12. ↑ ^{a b ↓} p. 271.
13. ↑ Trzech tenorów założyło platforme 10 lat temu w "Olivii". In: Polskie Radio . January 24, 2011, accessed October 15, 2016 (Polish). 
14. ↑ ^↓ p. 488
15. ↑ ^{a b ↓} p. 104
16. ↑ ^↓ p. 452
17. ↑ ^↓ p. 105
18. ↑ ^↓ p. 106
19. ↑ Tusk został szefem Platformy Obywatelskiej. In: Dziennik . October 12, 2007, accessed October 15, 2016 (Polish). 
20. ↑ Najwięcej radnych w skali kraju ma PSL. (No longer available online.) In: Gazeta Wyborcza . November 15, 2006, archived from the original on October 15, 2016 ; Retrieved October 15, 2016 (Polish). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
21. ↑ wybory Prezydenta Miasta - głosowanie ponowne. In: Państwowa Komisja Wyborcza. Retrieved October 15, 2016 (Polish). 
22. ^ Official final result announced on October 23, 2007 by the state electoral commission. ( Memento of August 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Retrieved October 3, 2015.
23. ^ Official final result announced on October 23, 2007 by the state electoral commission. ( Memento of the original from October 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 3, 2015. 
24. ↑ ^{a b c d} Dorobek ośmiu lat rządów Platformy. In: bankier.pl. October 19, 2015, accessed October 15, 2016 (Polish). 
25. ↑ Tusk's ministers resign over gambling affair. In: Spiegel Online . October 7, 2009, accessed October 15, 2016 . 
26. ↑ Debt exploding: Poland confiscates private pension funds. In: German economic news. September 8, 2013, accessed October 15, 2016 . 
27. ↑ Człowiek, który zasłonił Polskę ekranami akustycznymi wraca do rządu. In: Rynek Infrastructure. November 13, 2015, accessed October 15, 2016 (Polish). 
28. ↑ Osiem lat gospodarki pod rządami Platformy i ludowców. In: Gazeta Wyborcza . September 5, 2015, accessed October 15, 2016 (Polish). 
29. ↑ Paul Flückiger, Der Warschauer Immobilienkandal , November 30, 2017, Deutsche Welle
30. ↑ Warsaw mayor's husband, daughter return unlawful cash from property restitution , January 9, 2018, The Times of Israel (in English)
31. ↑ Po pierwsze, partia. Po drugie, podtapianie dawnych sojuszników. Co mówią nam listy Koalicji Obywatelskiej? gazeta.pl, August 1, 2019.
32. ↑ Gazeta Wyborcza, January 26, 2016
33. ↑ Katarina Bader: Medialization of the parties, politicization of the media. Interdependencies between media and politics in post-socialist Poland. Springer, Wiesbaden 2013, pp. 280-298.