United Poland

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United Poland
Solidarna Polska
Leader Zbigniew Ziobro
Secretary-General Andrzej Dera
Founded 24 March 2012
Ideology Right-wing socialism
Social democracy
Trade Unionism
National Catholicism
Social conservatism
Political position Right-wing
European affiliation Movement for a Europe of Liberties and Democracy
European Parliament group Europe of Freedom and Democracy
Colours Red, Blue
Sejm
17 / 460
Senate
1 / 100
European Parliament
4 / 51
Website
www.solidarna.org.pl
Politics of Poland
Political parties
Elections

United Poland (Polish: Solidarna Polska), abbreviated to SP, is a right-wing political party in Poland. The party was founded in 2012 by Law and Justice (PiS) MEP Zbigniew Ziobro, who led the party's conservative Catholic-nationalist faction.[1]

After Ziobro and fellow MEPs Tadeusz Cymański and Jacek Kurski were ejected from PiS for disloyalty on 4 November 2011,[2] Ziobro's supporters within PiS formed a new group in the Sejm.[3] Despite claims that the new group was not attempting to form a new party, the MPs were expelled from Law and Justice.[4]

On 26 December, their MEPs left the European Conservatives and Reformists to join the Europe of Freedom and Democracy group in opposition to the ECR's more liberal stance on gay marriage, its support for the EU's climate change policy, and its advocacy of cuts to the Common Agricultural Policy.[5]

The party was officially launched on 24 March 2012. At the time, opinion polls put the party on just 2%.[2]

Another right-wing group Right Wing of the Republic has offered co-operation with the United Poland.[6]

Ideology

The party is very socially conservative. It is opposed to abortion and euthanasia, and supports extending maternity leave to nine months.[2] Its staunch opposition to gay marriage was cited as a main reason it left the ECR group in the European Parliament.[5]

Economically the party follows a line of Progressive conservatism[7] calling for government intervention in the economy, especially tax policy. The party has called for a 'fat cat' tax on big companies, including supermarkets, and backs higher taxes on those that earn over 10,000 złotych (€2,400) a month. It opposes the construction of a nuclear power plant in Poland.[2][8]

Representatives

Members of the European Parliament

Members of the Senate

  • Maciej Klima (constituency 34)

Members of the Sejm

Footnotes

  1. "Party members 'furious' following conservative defeat". TheNews.pl. 11 October 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2012. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "New Polish conservative party launched". TheNews.pl. 26 March 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2012. 
  3. "Conservative MPs form 'Poland United' breakaway group after dismissals". TheNews.pl. 8 November 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2012. 
  4. "MPs axed by Law and Justice opposition". TheNews.pl. 15 November 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2012. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 Brand, Constant (2 January 2012). "Polish MEPs leave ECR group". European Voice. Retrieved 31 May 2012. 
  6. Powstanie nowa partia na prawicy? Ziobro i Jurek już rozmawiają, portal onet.pl z 18 grudnia 2011.
  7. Patrick Dunleavy, Paul Joseph Kelly, Michael Moran. British Political Science: Fifty Years of Political Studies. Oxford, England, UK; Malden, Massachusetts, USA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2000. Pp. 107-108.
  8. Gospodarka (Polish)

External links

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