Lewica
Vorlage:Infobox political party
The Left (Vorlage:Lang-pl) is a left-wing[1][2] to centre-left[3] political alliance in Poland, founded to contest the 2019 parliamentary election. The alliance consists of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), Spring and Lewica Razem.[4] It is also externally supported by several small left-wing parties including Your Movement, the Polish Socialist Party, Yes for Łódź,[5] Urban Movement,[6] and the Polish Communist Party[7]. These parties stood candidates under the banner of Lewica, along with several independents. It is described as a big tent for the Polish left,[8] with Lewica itself describing itself as a coalition based on egalitarianism, social justice and secularism.[9]
Voter base
As Lewica is formed as a unification of the Polish left, it has attempted to diversify it's 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.[10][11][12]
Despite this, some sociologists deem that the unification of the parties could lead to an overall mobilization of leftist voters,[13] which could now feel that their vote for the coalition wouldn't be wasted.[14] 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 younger voters, which don't identify with any political force or even with the left, but instead desire "something new".[12][15]
Ironically, the party also recieved 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 bureaocrats 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.[15]
Ideology
The electoral program of the Left includes:[16][9]
- 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
Electoral performance
| Year | Popular vote | % of vote | Seats | Seat change | Government | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 2,319,946 | 12.56 Vorlage:Small | Vorlage:Composition bar | Vorlage:Increase 49 | Nein | Włodzimierz Czarzasty |
| Year | Popular vote | % of vote | Seats | Seat change | Government | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 415,745 | 2.28 Vorlage:Small | Vorlage:Composition bar | Vorlage:Increase 2 | Nein | Włodzimierz Czarzasty |
References
Vorlage:Reflist Vorlage:Polish political parties Vorlage:Poland-party-stub
- ↑ Poland ruling conservatives win re-election, 14. Oktober 2019. Abgerufen am 16. Oktober 2019 (britisches Englisch).
- ↑ Socialists set to make comeback in Polish elections next month. In: The Independent. 21. September 2019, abgerufen am 16. Oktober 2019 (englisch).
- ↑ Socialists set to make comeback in Polish elections next month. In: The Independent. 21. September 2019, abgerufen am 16. Oktober 2019 (englisch).
- ↑ What's Left in Poland? Can the 'three tenors' led by Adrian Zandberg, take on Poland's duopoly?
- ↑ Gill-Piątek: W Sejmie będę głosem skrzywdzonych przez system. In: KrytykaPolityczna.pl. 11. Oktober 2019, abgerufen am 15. Oktober 2019 (pl-pl).
- ↑ Super User: Anita Kucharska-Dziedzic. In: Lewica - Oficjalna strona jedynej postępowej siły w polskiej polityce! Abgerufen am 15. Oktober 2019 (pl-pl).
- ↑ Coschess Pisze: Jedyny komunistyczny kandydat w wyborach. In: KOMUNISTYCZNA PARTIA POLSKI. 10. Oktober 2019, abgerufen am 15. Oktober 2019 (pl-pl).
- ↑ Socialists set to make comeback in Polish elections next month. In: The Independent. 21. September 2019, abgerufen am 16. Oktober 2019 (englisch).
- ↑ a b Why vote for the left? In: LEWICA.
- ↑ Socialists set to make comeback in Polish elections next month. In: The Independent. 21. September 2019, abgerufen am 16. Oktober 2019 (englisch).
- ↑ Lewica: a united Polish left. In: www.ips-journal.eu. Abgerufen am 16. Oktober 2019 (englisch).
- ↑ a b Przemysław SADURA, Sławomir SIERAKOWSKI: POLITICAL CYNICISM: The Case of Poland. 2019 (krytykapolityczna.pl [PDF]).
- ↑ Poland's fragmented opposition coalesces into left, center blocs In: Reuters, 18. Juli 2019. Abgerufen am 16. Oktober 2019 (englisch).
- ↑ Socialists set to make comeback in Polish elections next month. In: The Independent. 21. September 2019, abgerufen am 16. Oktober 2019 (englisch).
- ↑ a b Aleks Szczerbiak: What are the prospects for the Polish left? In: London School of Economics series on Evidence-based analysis and commentary on European politics. 30. April 2018, abgerufen am 18. Oktober 2019 (amerikanisches Englisch).
- ↑ Program Wyborczy Lewicy.
- ↑ Robert Sosnowiecki: "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. In: @Wad_emecum. 15. Oktober 2019, abgerufen am 16. Oktober 2019 (polnisch).
- ↑ Jacek Sochan: Senatorowie Lewicy. In: Lewica - Oficjalna strona jedynej postępowej siły w polskiej polityce! Abgerufen am 15. Oktober 2019 (pl-pl).