Poland

IN THE YEARS following World War II and the establishment of a communist regime in Poland, all center and right-wing parties were banned and declared illegal. Many right-wing activists were arrested and some were executed. No rightist organization could function legally in Poland until the Velvet Revolution of 1989. Small independent groups that tried to organize various activities were broken up, their members arrested, beaten up, and often thrown out of their jobs (or studies).

The changes in Poland (and in the former Soviet Bloc in general) in 1989 opened the possibility to organize and register all types of political parties, with the exception of those that had racist and fascist elements in their programs. In effect, a large number of parties were registered on a local and a national scale. Many claimed to be right-wing. Since there was no right-wing tradition, many of the newly formed parties saw their anticommunism as being their “rightness,” certainly duly opposite to communism. On the other hand, some politicians looked for conservative ideas abroad, and many of them copied the right-wing party programs from before World War II. Historians agree that not all of this was adequate for Poland in the 1990s.

The characteristic features of the Polish right wing are lack of tradition, lack of stable programs, and lack of stability of the parties themselves. Of the four or five parties that can be considered right-wing or center-right-wing, only one has existed since the fall of communism in 1989 and paradoxically was not represented in parliament by 2004. The programs of these parties vary greatly and it is very hard to show more than one or two common elements. These are Christian values, [Page 819]national values, and the observance of relatively strict law enforcement. They differ on economic concepts as well as on Poland's role in the European Union (EU).

The oldest and decidedly the most right-wing party is Unia Polityki Realnej—UPR (Union of Realistic Politics). UPR is a party with the most market-oriented program of all Polish parties. It strongly opposes bureaucracy, and postulates low taxes, free trade, and privatization of all sectors of the Polish economy. UPR strongly backs Polish alliance with the United States and is anti-EU, considering the latter to be a cumbersome, bureaucratic machine. Its most well known politician is Janusz Korwin-Mikke. UPR is not represented in the 2004 parliament; since 1993 it has not passed the necessary threshold.

Liga Polskich Rodzin—LPR (League of Polish Families)—was formed just before the elections in 2001. Its program is conservative, anti-EU, stressing national values and the social teaching of the Catholic Church. LPR often pronounces extremely populist slogans. The leader of the party, Marek Kotlinowski, remains in the shadow of Roman Giertych, who is the party's most quoted and visible spokesman. In this way, Giertych continues a long family tradition of nationalistic, Catholic politics dating back to the 19th century. LPR has a small representation in the parliament and backing from about 8 percent of the electorate.

Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc—PiS (Law and Justice)—is another right-wing party, which was established by the Kaczynski brothers (Jaroslaw and Lech) just before the 2001 elections. Unlike members of LPR, both brothers were engaged in politics since 1989, changing parties several times. PiS is a Christian-Democratic party with a very conservative program based on the concept of a well-ordered legal state. To achieve this, PiS mentions the need to rediscuss the death sentence in Poland. PiS is represented in the parliament and can count on about 10 percent backing.

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