POLITICAL PARTIES
The transformations of 1989 brought fundamental change to the political and party system in Poland. The Polish United Workers' Party, which had previously enjoyed hegemony for its Communist ideology, was obliged to relinquish this status in favour of political pluralism. Initially, the political divide was a clear-cut line between groups and parties that emerged from the Solidarity movement, and the post-Communist groups. Currently, this division has become somewhat vaguer and of lesser effect, and in many ways the Polish political scene now resembles European and world patterns.
Thus, the political parties in Poland represent a broad range of public consensus, with groups which may be classified as social-democratic, liberal, conservative, national, rural-interest, or populist. There are also radical groups with a negligible amount of public sympathy. Some observers of the Polish political scene have endeavoured to define a traditional division into left-wing, right-wing, and centre, but in practice very few of the existing parties may be accurately described in terms of such definitions.
The biggest political parties in Poland are:
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The Civic Platform (PO) |
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The Law and Justice Party (PiS) |
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Palikot's Movement (RPP) |
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The Polish Peasants' Party (PSL) |
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The Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) |
