National Movement (Poland)

National Movement (Polish: Ruch Narodowy), abbreviated to RN, is a political party, first formed as an electoral alliance of right-wing and far-right nationalist political movements in Poland, which have signed an ideological agreement, including nationalists from National Radical Camp and the All-Polish Youth, and conservative-libertarianist^[1] Real Politics Union, the only political party taking part in the agreement. The party was formed after the Polish Independence March in 2012.

National Congress Meetings

The First Congress of the National Movement took place on June 8, 2013 in Warsaw. Guest of honor at the congress was Rafał Ziemkiewicz. Representatives of the groups co-create the movement signed the declaration of ideological National Movement.

The Second Congress of the National Movement took place May 3, 2014 in Warsaw. Honorary guests of the congress were Leszek Zebrowski, Stanislaw Michalkiewicz and Márton Gyöngyösi of the Hungarian Jobbik.^[2] Also the guest list included the party's other international allies: Roberto Fiore of Forza Nuova (Italian: New Force)', and the leaders of the Spanish Democracia Nacional. The congress passed the following demands of the program:^[3]

• combination of income tax and social insurance contributions
• elimination of Social Security
• "Citizen Retirement Programme" (providing a flat-rate pension, independent of earlier earnings and hours of work)
• tax-free sum granted for each child in the family
• reduction of income tax levied on micro, small and medium-sized businesses
• restoration of turnover tax in lieu of corporate income tax
• the establishment of a constitutional debt which limits public finances
• full transparency of public finances (including contracts and salaries in the public sector)
• re-equip the Polish Army
• the introduction of a universal territorial defense unit and a watchtower in every borough
• widen the access to weapons
• ensure the constitution guarantees national ownership of Polish land
• denunciation of the Treaty of Lisbon and replace it with a "Sovereignty Treaty"
• termination of the energy-climate agreements and the European Fiscal Compact
• promotion of Polish history in the world (including the fight against the term "Polish concentration camps")
• public combat of the ideology of gender
• striving for energy independence (support for the extraction of shale gas and nuclear power plants)

Ideology

As adopted in the January 2013 declaration of ideology, the decision-making council of the National Movement has indicated its three main components: identity (nation, family, people), sovereignty (the state, culture, economy) and freedom (of speech, management, people); identified the awareness and commitment of the young generation of Poles as the strength of the National Movement and pledged to work on the transformation of the homeland, emphasized the idea of the nation, understood as a cultural community formed by generations.^[4] National Movement advocates fight for the sovereignty of the country, to repair the political and economic state and defending the freedom of its citizens, as well as the realization in the sphere of culture and politics of traditional values.^[5] The purpose of the Movement is a fundamental social change - the so-called. "Overthrow of the republic of the Round Table". Declares itself as a social movement which is a network of community initiatives for state sovereignty and national identity.

In the absence of hierarchical and organizational dependencies, the movement will be guided by the common symbols, and the demands of the electorate.^[6] One of the symbols is the image of the nationalist right, which formed in the struggle for Polish independence. For most of the activists of the Movement such symbols are also soldiers of the army of the underground National Armed Forces (NSZ), who fought during World War II and after the war against the German and Soviet occupation. National Armed Forces, founded by the military part of the underground organization nationalist camp in 1942, also declared obedience to submit to the Army. Among the soldiers of the National Armed Forces of the Supervisory Board sees its historical similarity and should continue to operate. Fundamental important dates to the Movement is the day commemorating the creation of the National Armed Forces attributable to 22 September, the anniversary of Captain Witold Pilecki's death sentence and 1 March - National Day of Remembrance "Soldiers accursed" (from 2011 official holiday) and attributable to the November 11 march Independence. National Movement is also trying to commemorate the anniversary of the imposition of martial law and the 1981 workers' uprising in Poznań in 1956.

National Movement, a coalition of independent groups, presents a conservative position on social issues. According to the program, decided at the second congress of 2014 the movement traditional ally of the Catholic Church and will strive to uphold traditional Christian values. The movement also refers to the tradition and heritage of ancient Rome.^[7] The progress of civilization, which was to take place in Poland thanks to EU funds, is treated as a partial compensation for the losses that Poland suffered in connection with the unilateral opening of the market in the pre-accession period, while Polish banking sector depends on foreign capital.^[8]

Economy

The outline of the economic program was presented by Krzysztof Bosak during the second congress of the Movement. According to the RN, it is possible to combine a wide range of economic freedoms with constructive approach to the state, furnished on the basis of the principles of thrift and subsidiarity.^[9] The establishment of the Institute for National Strategy, will bring together experts and work out a modern program for the National Movement.

The movement is opposed to the introduction of the euro in Poland.

Foreign policy

The National Movement is assumed to be an eurosceptic grouping.

In a joint statement with the Hungarian Jobbik on the situation in Ukraine, they have indicated a desire to deepen cooperation between the two groups. They announced the Polish-Hungarian exchange of lists of candidates for election to the European Parliament in 2014 (which ultimately did not happen).^[10] Hungarian and Polish nationalists believe that national governments devote national interests in favour of eurofederalism. In this particular case, both national movements called together the national authorities of their countries for political and diplomatic efforts to protect endangered the rights of national minorities in Ukraine due to the revolutionary mood in the east, including promoting the symbolism and characters associated with the Ukrainian ethnic chauvinism that in the context of historical experience violently celebrated national minorities in these lands.

Participation in elections

Elections to the European Parliament in 2014

The National Movement announced their desire to take in the elections to the European Parliament on the 7th January 2014 which were to be held in the same year. The movement's policies for these elections were: Building a "Europe of Homelands" instead of a "European Federal State" through annulling the Lisbon Treaty, the fight against the promotion of gender ideology, promoting Polish historical policy at the EU level, striving for the rights of Poles abroad (especially in Lithuania) withdrawal from the climate package, as well as promoting Polish mining and coal-based energy [13]. The National Movement fielded candidates in all constituencies.^[11] In the elections 98 626 people voted for the National Movement, which gave it 1.4% of the vote (9th place overall).^[12]

Senate by-elections in 2014

In the by-election to district No. 47 of the Senate on September 7, 2014, the candidate of the National Movement, Krzysztof Bosak, received 6.42% of votes, which placed him in 3rd place out of 6 candidates.^[13]

Presidential elections in 2015

In the Polish presidential election in 2015 the party fielded a candidate, Marian Kowalski, a columnist and bodybuilder. He was eliminated in the first-round with only 77,630 votes, a 0.52% share.^[14][15]

Parliamentary elections 2015

In the Polish parliamentary election, 2015 the RN cooperated with Kukiz'15, about one quarter of Kukiz' parliamentary seats are held by members of the "National Movement“.^[16]

References