The Civic Platform is a 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.
The Weimar Triangle is a regional alliance of France, Germany, and Poland created in 1991 in the German city of Weimar. The group is intended to promote co-operation between the three countries in cross-border and European issues.
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.
Presidential elections were held in Poland on 9 October and 23 October 2005. The outgoing President of Poland, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, had served two five-year terms and was unable to stand for a third term. Lech Kaczyński defeated Donald Tusk to become President of Poland.
Radosław Tomasz Sikorski, also known as Radek Sikorski, is a Polish politician, journalist and statesman who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland in Donald Tusk's cabinet since 2023, previously holding the office between 2007 and 2014. He was a Member of the European Parliament between 2019 and 2023. Earlier he was Marshal of the Sejm from 2014 to 2015. He previously served as Deputy Minister of National Defence (1992) in Jan Olszewski's cabinet, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (1998–2001) in Jerzy Buzek's cabinet and Minister of National Defence (2005–2007) in the cabinets of Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz and Jarosław Kaczyński.
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. She is first to serve as the chairperson of both houses of the Polish Parliament.
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.
Krzysztof Brejza is a Polish politician, currently serving as member of the European Parliament (MEP). He was member of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, representing the Bydgoszcz district. Between 2005 and 2006 he was a member of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Regional Assembly.
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.
Rafał Kazimierz Trzaskowski is a Polish politician and the current city mayor of Warsaw. He is also a political scientist specializing in European studies. He publicly supports European integration, the introduction of same-sex marriage, ecological transformation and a greater role for local governments in voivodeships.
The Civic Coalition is a catch-all political alliance currently ruling in Poland. The alliance was formed around Civic Platform in opposition to the then-ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party.
In the run up to the 2023 Polish parliamentary election, various organisations carried out opinion polling to gauge voting intention in Poland. Results of such polls are displayed in this article. The date range for these opinion polls are from the previous parliamentary election, held on 13 October 2019, to the day of the election, held on 15 October 2023.
The European Coalition was a short-lived electoral alliance and list in Poland. It was established on the verge of 2019 European Parliament election by a group of former prime ministers and former foreign ministers, including Jerzy Buzek, Ewa Kopacz, Grzegorz Schetyna and Radosław Sikorski. They declared the will to construct "one broad list in European Parliament election, the aim of which would be to restore Poland's strong position in the European Union". The Coalition is to be pro-European and centrist.
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.
Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 15 October 2023 to elect members of the Sejm and Senate. A referendum containing four questions concerning economic and immigration policy of the government was held simultaneously.
The Polish Initiative is a progressive political party in Poland. It was formed as an association in 2016, and was registered as a political party in 2019. Its leader is Barbara Nowacka, and it is a part of the Civic Coalition. It supports principles of social liberalism, social democracy and secularism. It has been described as centre-right, centrist, centre-left or left-wing.
Presidential elections will be held in Poland on 4, 11 or 18 May 2025, 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 limiting 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 day free from work between 75 and 100 days before the term ends.
Local elections were held in Poland on 7 April 2024 to elect members for all 16 regional assemblies, 314 county (powiat) councils, and 2477 municipal (gmina) councils, heads (wójt) of municipalities and mayors of cities, as well as 18 district councils of Warsaw. While Law and Justice remained the strongest party, the Civic Coalition and its partners saw some improvement, providing them with majorities in up to 11 of the 16 regional assemblies. The second round to elect heads of municipalities, mayors and city presidents was held on 21 April in places where no candidate obtained more than 50% of votes.
Paweł Mariusz Rabiej is a politicat and opinion journalist. He is one of the co-founders of the Modern centrist party, and was its spokesperson from 2016 to 2017. From 2018 to 2020 he was a deputy mayor of Warsaw, Poland.
