Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe

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Polish People's Party or
Polish Peasant Party
Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe
PSL logo
abbreviation PSL
Party leader Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz
founding May 5th 1990
Headquarters Ulica Piękna 3A,
Warsaw
Alignment Christian democracy ,
conservatism ,
agricultural policy
Number of members approx. 124 thousand (as of: Dec. 2012)
European party EPP
EP Group EPP
Youth organization Forum Młodych Ludowców
Colours) green
Sejm
20/460
senate
2/100
Eu Parliament
3/52
Sejmiks
70/552
Website www.psl.pl

The Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe ( PSL for short ), German  " Polish People's Party " or " Polish Peasant Party " , is a political party in Poland that sees itself as representing the interests of the peasantry . Their socio-political orientation is moderately conservative , their economic and social policy, on the other hand, Christian-social or social-democratic. She is ambivalent, but rather positive, about European unification. In addition to the liberal-conservative Civic Platform (PO), it is the second member party of the European People's Party (EPP) in Poland. It is the only party in Poland that has been represented in the Sejm without interruption since the end of communist rule .

History until 1990

Today's PSL is based on the Związek Stronnictwa Chłopskiego ("Union of the Peasant Party"), which was created in 1893 and developed into Stronnictwo Ludowe in Rzeszów in 1895 and is called Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe from 1903 onwards . Since the peasantry was still the largest group of the population at that time, the party quickly gained great importance. Within the party, however, there were opposing wings that appeared as separate parties from 1914 onwards. The PSL-Piast represented a rather conservative direction, was close to the Catholic clergy and the middle peasantry and was particularly strong in Galicia, which was then still Austrian . She advocated careful land reform. The left wing, on the other hand, organized itself in the PSL Lewica . Another radical wing was the PSL-Wyzwolenie ("Liberation"), which was mainly active in the Russian part of Poland. The PSL-Piast was led by Wincenty Witos , who was Prime Minister several times after the First World War and Poland's independence until Józef Piłsudski came to power in 1926.

After the end of the Second World War in 1945, the PSL was founded again, now under Stanisław Mikołajczyk . In the immediate post-war period it became the largest party in the country; in May 1946 it had 800,000 members. Many former fighters of the Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa) joined her, including those from the urban bourgeoisie who had no connection to the peasant movement and the pre-war PSL, such as B. the young Władysław Bartoszewski . The party stood for an independent and democratic Poland. However, the PSL collapsed due to repression by the communist government, internal wing struggles, the fake “referendum” of 1946 and the falsified elections of 1947. While Mikołajczyk went into exile in the USA, the United People's Party ( Zjednoczone Stronnictwo Ludowe , ZSL) was formed in 1949 as a satellite party of the Communists and participated in the National United Front (comparable to the “ Democratic Bloc ” in the GDR).

After the elections in June 1989, the ZSL broke away from the communists and formed a coalition with the opposition Solidarność movement. Then it renamed itself back to PSL. Therefore, unlike the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR), it was able to retain its party structure and its party assets, so that it became the party with the most members and finances after the fall of the Wall.

History since 1990 and government participation

In the first election in 1991, the PSL received 8.7% of the vote and 48 of the 460 Sejm seats. That made it the fourth strongest force. There was also a spin-off, the PSL-Porozumienie Ludowe (PSL-PL, "Bauernallianz"), which got 5.5% and 28 seats. In an ad hoc coalition of various parties, PSL chairman Waldemar Pawlak briefly became Prime Minister of Poland in 1992 . However, he failed to form a government and was replaced after only a month.

In the 1993 elections , the PSL made significant gains: With 15.4% of the vote and 132 seats, it became the second strongest force. The PSL-PL, on the other hand, fell behind and clearly failed because of the five percent hurdle. Subsequently, the People's Party entered into a coalition with the Federation of the Democratic Left (SLD), the now social-democratic successor organization to the former communist state party. As a junior partner, the larger SLD left the office of head of government to the PSL from 1993 to March 1995 in order not to provoke greater resistance with an immediate return to power. Thereafter, until 1997, PSL politicians ( Roman Jagieliński , Aleksander Łuczak , Mirosław Pietrewicz and Jarosław Kalinowski ) were deputy prime ministers in the Oleksy and Cimoszewicz cabinets supported by the PSL and SLD . In addition, she temporarily provided the presidents of the two chambers of parliament: with Adam Struzik 1993–1997 the Senate Marshal and with Józef Zych 1995–1997 the Sejm Marshal . During this period, the PSL had to make significant concessions to the SLD, particularly in terms of agricultural policy . This sharp departure from the PSL's promises led to great disappointment among its voters. In addition, there were conflicts within the party between advocates of the subsidy policy and advocates of a more reform-oriented approach. At the same time, the competition formed: the spin-offs PSL-PL and Christian People's Party ( Stronnictwo Ludowo-Chrześcijańskie , SLCh) joined forces with a number of other small parties to form the Conservative Peasant Union ( Stronnictwo Konserwatywno-Ludowe , SKL), which was part of the Solidarność election campaign (AWS ) ran for the 1997 elections. The PSL collapsed dramatically. Her share of the vote fell by more than half to 7.3% and she lost over 100 seats in the Sejm. Then Pawlak was replaced as party chairman by Jarosław Kalinowski and the PSL went into opposition.

At the end of the 1990s and around the turn of the millennium, the PSL, as the political interest group for farmers, was in competition with the radical-populist and Eurosceptic Samoobrona party . Unlike the latter, the PSL did not participate in peasant protests against the agricultural policy of the conservative government of Jerzy Buzek . In a 1999 survey, only 9% of farmers said that the PSL represented their interests, while 27% said that about Samoobrona. Since 2007 the Samoobrona has not been represented in parliament and disappeared into insignificance at the latest after the death of its leader Andrzej Lepper .

In the 2001 parliamentary elections , the PSL stabilized at 9% and 42 seats. However, it was clearly behind the new competition from Samoobrona, which was able to gain strongly. She rejoined a government coalition with the SLD. Its chairman, Jarosław Kalinowski, was again Minister of Agriculture and Deputy Prime Minister. In 2003 the party resigned from the government due to substantive differences with the SLD. At first, the PSL was undecided about Poland's accession to the EU. But she then joined the pro-European EPP group in the European Parliament .

In the new elections in 2005 , the PSL suffered losses again and fell to 7% and 25 seats. She then entered into a four-party coalition with the national-conservative Law and Justice Party of the brothers Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński , the populist Samoobrona and the right-wing nationalist and Catholic-clerical League of Polish Families . At the end of 2005 three of the four MEPs of the PSL converted from the EPP parliamentary group to the Eurosceptic parliamentary group Union for Europe of the Nations (which also included the EU parliamentarians of the three other government parties). However, this was not discussed with the party leadership and led to the exclusion of the three elected representatives. These then re- founded the PSL-Piast , with which they tied in with Wincenty Witos' party from the interwar period.

The Kaczyński government collapsed just two years after the election. In the early elections , the PSL managed to return to the Sejm as the fourth strongest force with 8.91% of the vote. Together with the liberal-conservative PO, it formed the government of Poland under Prime Minister Donald Tusk . She also provided the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economics (2007 to 2012 with the re-former party chairman Waldemar Pawlak and from 2012 with the then chairman Janusz Piechociński ).

In the parliamentary elections in Poland in 2011 , the PSL received 8.36% of the vote and is represented as the fourth strongest force with 28 members in the Sejm and two members in the Senate. She continued the coalition with the PO under Prime Minister Tusk.

In the parliamentary elections in 2015 , she was able to secure the re-entry with 5.13%. Because of the poor result and because he could not obtain a mandate himself, Chairman Piechociński resigned. The new party leader was his younger vice Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz .

structure

Even in 2011, the PSL was by far the largest party in Poland with 130,000 members. Their strongholds are in the rural southeast of the country. It took over a hierarchical and formalistic structure from its predecessor, the ZSL. The internal party power is concentrated in the party leadership, the organs of the member representation, however, have only very limited influence. There is a high level of party discipline. As a rule, decisions by the party leadership are implemented without any significant resistance.

Due to their willingness to form coalitions with the most diverse parties and their resulting almost uninterrupted participation in government, the PSL is said to have a "post hunter" attitude. The party is also well networked with associations and organizations of self-government in rural areas. For example, former PSL chairman Waldemar Pawlak is president of the national association of volunteer fire brigades. In the rural parts of central and eastern Poland it has many mayors and municipal councilors.

The party's organizational structure is based on that of the state. The smallest unit is called koło ("circle") and comprises at least five members from a village, a municipality, a city or a district. If there are at least three of these local associations in a district, a district association is formed. The 16 voivodeship organizations stand above it. The highest organ of the party is the party congress, which, however, is only convened every four years.

Alignment

The People's Party sees itself primarily as representing the interests of the peasantry. In addition, it has no clearly defined ideology and is difficult to assign to a specific political direction. She herself describes her worldview as "agrarian" and positions herself in the middle of the political spectrum. Their positions on labor and social policy are related to both Catholic social teaching and social democratic traditions. In economic policy, she advocates regulatory intervention by the state. It would like to promote small and medium-sized enterprises , in which, according to the idea of ​​the party, the interests of the entrepreneurs can be balanced in a corporatist way with those of the employees and the state. She advocates an extensive welfare state and a worker-friendly labor policy.

In agricultural policy in particular, the PSL defends existing structures and is skeptical of profound change.

Party leader since 1990

Election results

Election results of the PSL.svg
Results in the parliamentary elections
year Sejm senate
be right Mandates Mandates
number % +/- number +/- number +/-
1991 972.952 8.70 (5.) -
48/460
 -
8/100
 -
1993 2,124,367 15.40 (2.)   6.70
132/460
   84
36/100
   28
1997 956.184 7.31 (4.)   8.09
27/460
   105
3/100
   33
2001 1,168,659 8.98 (5.)   1.67
42/460
   15
4/100
   1
2005 821,656 6.96 (6.)   2.02
25/460
   17
2/100
   2
2007 1,437,638 8.91 (4.)   1.95
31/460
   6
0/100
   2
2011 1,201,628 8.36 (4.)   0.55
28/460
   3
2/100
   2
2015 779.875 5.13 (6.)   3.23
16/460
   12
1/100
   1
Presidential election results
year candidate Ballot I annotation
be right %
1990 Roman Bartoszcze 1,176,175 7.21 (5.) II. Ballot missed
1995 Waldemar Pawlak 770.419 4.31 (5.) II. Ballot missed
2000 Jarosław Kalinowski 1,047,949 5.95 (4.) Against Aleksander Kwasniewski lost
2005 Jarosław Kalinowski 269,316 1.80 (5.) II. Ballot missed
2010 Waldemar Pawlak 294.273 1.75 (5.) II. Ballot missed
2015 Adam Jarubas 238,761 1.60 (6.) II. Ballot missed
2020 Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz 459.365 2.36 (5.) II. Ballot missed
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 10.81 -
58/561
 - ? - 851 - 4077 - ? -
2006 13.24   2.43
83/561
   25 13.80 ? 867   16 3890   187 253 ?
2010 16.30   3.06
93/561
   10 15.88   2.08 999   132 4381   491 ? ?
2014 23.88   7.58
157/555
   64 21.42   5.54 1702   703 4371   10 258 ?
Results of the elections to the European Parliament
year be right Mandates
number % +/- number +/-
2004 386.340 6.34 (7.) -
4/54
 -
2009 516.146 7.01 (4.)   0.67
3/50
   1
2014 480,846 6.80 (4.)   0.31
4/51
   1

Web links

Commons : Polish People's Party  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Reinhold Vetter: Where is Poland headed? The difficult legacy of the Kaczyńskis. Christoph Links Verlag, Berlin 2008, p. 133.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h Klaus Ziemer: The Political System of Poland. An introduction. Springer VS, Wiesbaden 2013, p. 210.
  3. ↑ Manfred Alexander, Kleine Geschichte Polens , Stuttgart 2008, pp. 253-254. ISBN 978-3-15-017060-1
  4. ↑ Norman Davies: In the Heart of Europe. History of Poland. 4th edition, CH Beck, Munich 2006, p. 119.
  5. ^ Reimer Wulff: East Central Europe in the 20th Century. In: Historical Contemporary Studies. Handbook for Political Education. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1970, p. 533.
  6. ^ A b Katarzyna Stokłosa: Poland and the German Ostpolitik 1945–1990. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2011, p. 39.
  7. ↑ Rafał Wnuk: The "Columbus Generation". Reflections on a collective biography. In: The Polish Home Army: History and Myth of the Armia Krajowa since World War II. Oldenbourg, Munich 2003, p. 783.
  8. ^ Andrzej Kaluza: The Polish party state and its political opponents 1944-1956. Klostermann, Frankfurt a. M. 1998, p. 88 ff.
  9. ↑ Martin Krzywdzinski: labor and social policy in Poland. Mediation of interests and political exchange in a contested political field. VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2008, p. 122.
  10. ^ Heiko Pleines: Blockades of Reform in Economic Policy. The role of economic actors in Poland, Russia and Ukraine. VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2008, p. 108.
  11. ^ Pleines: Blockades of Reform in Economic Policy. 2008, pp. 107-108.
  12. ↑ a b Krzywdzinski: labor and social policy in Poland. 2008, p. 123.
  13. ↑ a b c Ziemer: The Political System of Poland. 2013, p. 212.
  14. ↑ Krzywdzinski: labor and social policy in Poland. 2008, pp. 118, 123.
Parties and electoral alliances in the Sejm
Currently in the Sejm

Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (PiS) | Platforma Obywatelska (PO) | Kukiz'15 (K'15) | Nowoczesna (.N) | Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe (PSL) | Election Committee German Minority (MN)

Formerly represented in the Sejm

Twój Ruch (TR) | Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej (SLD) | Liga Polskich Rodzin (LPR) | Ruch Odbudowy Polski (ROP) | Akcja Wyborcza Solidarność (AWS) | Unia Pracy (UP) | Unia Demokratieyczna (UD) | Porozumienie Centrum (PC) | Konfederacja Polski Niepodległej (KPN) | Kongres Liberalno-Demokratieyczny (KLD) | Polska Partia Przyjaciół Piwa (PPPP)