The Civic Platform is a centre to centre-right liberal conservative political party in Poland. Since 2021, it has been led by Donald Tusk, who previously led it from 2003 to 2014 and was President of the European Council from 2014 to 2019.
From 1989 through 1991, Poland engaged in a democratic transition which put an end to the Polish People's Republic and led to the foundation of a democratic government, known as the Third Polish Republic, following the First and Second Polish Republic. After ten years of democratic consolidation, Poland joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union on 1 May 2004.
Jarosław Aleksander Kaczyński is a Polish politician. He co-founded the Law and Justice (PiS) party in 2001 with his twin brother and has served as its long-time leader since 2003. He served as Prime Minister of Poland from 2006 to 2007, and has twice held the post of Deputy Prime Minister of Poland, first from 2020 to 2022, and a second time from June to November 2023. He is considered to have been the de facto leader of Poland, when PiS formed the government in 2005–2007 and again in 2015–2023, with direct political influence over the prime ministers Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, Beata Szydło and Mateusz Morawiecki.
Donald Franciszek Tusk is a Polish politician and historian who has been Prime Minister of Poland since 2023, having previously held the post from 2007 to 2014. From 2014 to 2019 Tusk was President of the European Council, and from 2019 to 2022 he was the president of the European People's Party (EPP). He co-founded the Civic Platform (PO) party in 2001 and has twice been its leader, first from 2003 to 2014 and again since 2021.
Poland has a multi-party political system. On the national level, Poland elects the head of state – the president – and a legislature. There are also various local elections, referendums and elections to the European Parliament.
Bronisław Maria Komorowski is a Polish politician and historian who served as President of Poland from 2010 to 2015.
Małgorzata Maria Kidawa-Błońska, née Grabska is a Polish politician, film producer, and sociologist currently serving as Marshal of the Senate. She was Marshal of the Sejm from 25 June 2015 to 11 November 2015 at the end of the Seventh term's composition of the lower house, after which being voted a Deputy Marshal of the Eighth and Ninth term, each time nominated by the opposition party Civic Platform, under the marshalcy of Marek Kuchciński and Elżbieta Witek, respectively.
The acting president of the Republic of Poland is a temporary post provided for by the Polish Constitution.
Presidential elections were held in Poland on 20 June 2010. As no candidate received a majority of votes in the first round, a second round was held on 4 July 2010. Bronisław Komorowski, the acting President of Poland and vice-chairman of the Civic Platform, defeated Jarosław Kaczyński, twin brother of recently deceased President Lech Kaczyński and chairman of Law and Justice (PiS). The global financial crisis, flooding in Poland and the Smolensk disaster were the main themes in the last months of the election campaign.
The Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland is an institution that assists the President of Poland with fulfilling his tasks as head of state. The Chancellery is headed with its chief, currently being Grażyna Ignaczak-Bandych.
Rafał Piotr Bruski is a Polish politician who is a president of Bydgoszcz, was a Voivode of Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (2007-2010) and a former Deputy-President of Bydgoszcz (2006-2007).
Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 9 October 2011. All 460 members of the Sejm and 100 senators of the Senate were elected. The ruling Civic Platform (PO) won a plurality of seats and Tusk became the first Polish prime minister to be appointed for a second consecutive term since the fall of communism. Both the Civic Platform and its junior partner, the Polish People's Party (PSL), agreed to continue their governing coalition after the election.
The 2010 Polish local elections were held in two parts, with its first round on 21 November and the second on 5 December. The first round included elections of deputies to provincial voivodeship sejmiks, as well for gmina and powiat councilors. The second round of elections were marked for mayors, borough leaders, and other positions decided by runoff elections. The local elections were seen as a test to the ruling Civic Platform and Polish People's Party coalition government under Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Presidential elections were held in Poland on 10 and 24 May 2015. In the first round of voting Law and Justice (PiS) candidate, lawyer and Member of the European Parliament, Andrzej Duda received the greatest number of votes with a share of 34.76%, followed by incumbent president Bronisław Komorowski, who ran as an independent with the endorsement of the Civic Platform (PO), which he had renounced his membership in after winning the 2010 elections. Independent candidate Paweł Kukiz came third with 20.80% of the votes. As no candidate had received more than 50% of the votes cast, a second round was held on 24 May between the two highest-placed candidates, Duda and Komorowski. This round was won by Duda with 51.5% of the votes, to Komorowski's 48.5%.
Andrzej Sebastian Duda is a Polish lawyer and politician who has been serving as President of Poland since 2015. Before becoming President, he served as Member of the Sejm (MP) from 2011 to 2014 and as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2014 to 2015.
Presidential elections were held in Poland on 28 June 2020. As no candidate received a majority of the vote, a second round was held on 12 July, in which incumbent president Andrzej Duda, running with the support of Law and Justice, faced off against Civic Platform vice-chairman and Mayor of Warsaw Rafał Trzaskowski. In the second round Duda was re-elected for a second term with 51% of the vote, becoming the first incumbent to win re-election since Aleksander Kwaśniewski in 2000.
The Civic Platform presidential primary, 2020 was the second presidential primary after the 2010 Civic Platform presidential primary. The primary was organized by the party following the decision by Donald Tusk not to run for president again and then served as Prime Minister from 2007 to 2014 after which he resigned to become President of the European Council. Prior to his withdrawal, Tusk was thought to be the presumptive nominee.
Krzysztof Żuk is a Polish economist, and since 2010, the mayor of the city of Lublin. He previously served as deputy mayor of Lublin from 2006 to 2007, was the chairperson of Świdnik City Council from 1990 to 1996, and the Undersecretary of State at the Polish Ministry of State Treasury from 2007 to 2009.
Presidential elections will be held in Poland by 18 May 2025 at the latest, though they can be held earlier should the office become vacated as a result of death, resignation or removal from office of the incumbent. Due to constitutional term limits allowing a president to serve only two terms, incumbent president Andrzej Duda is ineligible for re-election. Presidential elections in Poland must take place on a free day between 75 and 100 days before the term's end.
Piotr Tomasz Krzystek is a Polish jurist and politician. He has been the mayor of Szczecin since 2006.
