Civic Coalition (Poland)

Last updated

Civic Coalition
Koalicja Obywatelska
AbbreviationKO
Leaders
Founded7 March 2018
Headquartersul. Wiejska 12a,
00-490 Warsaw
Ideology
Political position Centre-right [3]
Members
Colors
  •   Red
  •   Blue
  •   Orange (customary)
Sejm
157 / 460
Senate
42 / 100
European Parliament
21 / 53
Regional assemblies
210 / 552
Voivodes
11 / 16
Voivodeship Marshals
10 / 16
City Presidents
40 / 107
Mayors
63 / 906
Wójts
27 / 1,463
Powiat Councils
1,056 / 6,170
Gmina Councils
1,649 / 39,416
Website
koalicjaobywatelska.pl

The Civic Coalition (Polish : Koalicja Obywatelska, KO) [a] is a political alliance currently ruling in Poland. The alliance was formed in 2018 around Civic Platform, in opposition to the then-ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party.

Contents

History

The Civic Coalition was originally created by the Civic Platform and Modern parties for 2018 local elections. [8] In June 2019, it was announced that the Civic Coalition would be slated to participate in the 2019 Polish parliamentary election and Civic Platform and Modern would form a joint parliamentary club. [9] The Greens announced at the end of July 2019 that they would participate in the elections as part of the Coalition. [10] In August 2019, the Silesian Autonomy Movement and other member organisations of the Silesian Electoral Agreement joined the Coalition. [11]

2018 local elections and present

In the 2018 local elections, the Civic Coalition received 26.97% of votes (second place after Law and Justice), winning 194 seats. In 8 voivodeships, it obtained the best result, and in the Pomerania the majority of seats. The coalition fared worse in the powiat and mayoral election. In the first round of 11 candidates of the Civic Coalition won elections for mayors of cities (including Rafał Trzaskowski in Warsaw). In addition, 15 candidates of the Civic Coalition went through to the second round, of which 8 were elected. Candidates of Civic Coalition were elected presidents of 19 cities, while it was placed second to the national-conservative Law and Justice in four. [12]

The committee has shown stronger electoral performances in large cities, such as, Warsaw, Poznań, Gdańsk, Wrocław, Łódź, and Kraków. Better than average results were achieved in West and North Poland (Recovered Territories). In the Opole Voivodeship, Civic Coalition received high support among the German minority. However, it has weaker support in the villages and in the conservative eastern Poland. [13]

In the 2019 parliamentary elections, the Coalition received most of its votes in major cities (as in 2018 local elections) and areas surrounding them. For the 2019 election, the coalition entered an agreement with the Silesian Regional Party and Silesian Autonomy Movement, and activists and politicians associated with these Silesian parties were included on the Civic Coalition's electoral lists. [14] The electoral pact between the Civic Coalition and Silesian regionalists declared three demands – the strengthening of regional government, an increase in the share of tax revenues allocated to local governments, and the recognition of Silesian language as a regional language. [15]

Civic Platform already cooperated with the Silesian Autonomy Movement on a local level – in 2015, both parties entered a local coalition in the Silesian Voivodeship Sejmik. [16] In March 2023, Civic Coalition again pledged to recognize Silesian as a regional language. [17]

After exit polls for the 2023 parliamentary elections showed KO having taken a strong enough second place finish to oust the ruling Law and Justice party, KO leader Donald Tusk said, "I have been a politician for many years. I'm an athlete. Never in my life have I been so happy about taking seemingly second place. Poland won. Democracy has won." [18] This is the largest part of the 15 October Coalition.

On 25 October 2025, the three main components of the coalition, Civic Platform, Modern, and Polish Initiative, merged into a new party. [19] It was announced that this party would itself be named Civic Coalition.

Ideology

Civic Coalition presents itself as a coalition of centrist, moderately left-wing and moderately right-wing forces. [20] Shortly after its foundation, media outlets variously described the party as centre-left, [21] centrist, [22] and centre-right. [23] After the 2023 Polish parliamentary election, the coalition came to be described as centre-right by The Guardian, [24] Euractiv, [25] EUobserver, [26] The Telegraph, [27] Heinrich Böll Foundation, [28] and the Financial Times. [29] Afterwards, it has been consistently described as centre-right by political scientists and other academics. [3]

The coalition's positions on social issues range from progressivism to Christian democracy. It is mainly oriented towards the principles of liberal conservatism [1] and liberalism, [30] and it aims to protect liberal democracy in Poland. [31] The coalition was also described as anti-immigration, mostly because of the rhetoric of its dominating party, centre-right Civic Platform. The coalition also supports Poland's membership in the European Union and NATO. [32]

Composition

NameIdeologyPositionEuropean affiliationLeader(s) MPs Senators MEPs Sejmiks
Civic Coalition
TBA
138 / 460
36 / 100
19 / 53
159 / 552
The Greens Green politics Centre-left to left-wing EGP Przemysław Słowik
Urszula Zielińska
2 / 460
0 / 100
0 / 53
1 / 552
AGROunia Agrarian socialism Left-wing Michał Kołodziejczak
1 / 460
0 / 100
0 / 53
0 / 552
Yes! For Poland Regionalism Centre-left Rafał Trzaskowski
2 / 460
1 / 100
0 / 53
4 / 552
Independents Left-wing to centre-right
20 / 460
0 / 100
2 / 53
8 / 552
[b]

Support

NameIdeologyPositionEuropean affiliationLeader(s) MPs Senators MEPs
League of Polish Families Social conservatism Right-wing Witold Bałażak
0 / 460
0 / 100
0 / 53

Election results

Presidential

ElectionCandidate1st round2nd roundResult
Votes%Votes%
2020 Rafał Trzaskowski 5,917,34030.4610,018,26348.97Lost
2025 6,147,79731.3610,237,28649.11Lost

Sejm

Party groupings, who received most votes in powiats (Civic Coalition in orange) in 2023 2023 powiaty.svg
Party groupings, who received most votes in powiats (Civic Coalition in orange) in 2023
ElectionLeaderPopular vote% of voteSeatsSeat changeGovernment
2019 Grzegorz Schetyna 5,060,35527.4 (#2)
134 / 460
New PiS
2023 Donald Tusk 6,629,40230.7 (#2)
157 / 460
Increase2.svg23 PiS Minority (2023)
KOPL2050KPNL (2023–present)

Senate

ElectionLeaderPopular vote% of voteSeatsSeat changeMajority
2019 Grzegorz Schetyna 6,490,30635.66 (#2)
43 / 100
Increase2.svg17KOKPSLD
2023 Donald Tusk 6,187,29528.91 (#2)
41 / 100
Decrease2.svg2KOPL2050KPNL

European Parliament

2024 elections to the European parliament (constitutencies) PiS (blue), KO (orange) European Parliament election in Poland, 2024.svg
2024 elections to the European parliament (constitutencies) PiS (blue), KO (orange)
ElectionLeaderPopular vote% of voteSeatsSeat changeEP Group
2019 Grzegorz Schetyna 5,249,93538.47 (#2)
14 / 52
New EPP
As part of the European Coalition coalition, which won 22 seats in total.
2024 Donald Tusk 4,359,44337.06 (#1)
21 / 53
Increase2.svg 7 EPP

2018 local elections

2018 Polish local elections to regional assemblies (voivodeships) PiS (blue), KO (orange) Wybory samorzadowe 2018 Sejmiki wojewodztw mapa.svg
2018 Polish local elections to regional assemblies (voivodeships) PiS (blue), KO (orange)
VoivodeshipSeatsGovernance
Lower Silesian
13 / 36
Opposition (2018–2024)
Coalition (2024–)
Kuyavian-Pomeranian
14 / 30
Coalition
Lublin
7 / 33
Opposition
Lubusz
11 / 30
Coalition
Łódź
12 / 33
Opposition
Lesser Poland
11 / 39
Opposition
Masovian
18 / 51
Coalition
Opole
13 / 30
Coalition
Subcarpathian
5 / 33
Opposition
Podlaskie
9 / 30
Opposition
Pomeranian
18 / 33
Coalition
Silesian
20 / 45
Opposition (2018–2022)
Coalition (2022–)
Świętokrzyskie
3 / 30
Opposition (2018–2023)
Coalition (2023–)
Warmian-Masurian
12 / 30
Coalition
Greater Poland
15 / 39
Coalition
West Pomeranian
13 / 30
Coalition
All seats
194 / 552

2024 local elections

2024 Polish local elections to regional assemblies (constitutencies) PiS (blue), KO (orange) 2024 Polish voivodeship sejmik elections.svg
2024 Polish local elections to regional assemblies (constitutencies) PiS (blue), KO (orange)
VoivodeshipSeatsGovernance
Lower Silesian
15 / 36
Coalition
Kuyavian-Pomeranian
14 / 30
Coalition
Lublin
6 / 33
Opposition
Lubusz
14 / 30
Coalition
Łódź
12 / 33
Coalition
Lesser Poland
12 / 39
Opposition
Masovian
20 / 51
Coalition
Opole
14 / 30
Coalition
Subcarpathian
6 / 33
Opposition
Podlaskie
8 / 30
Coalition
Pomeranian
20 / 33
Majority
Silesian
20 / 45
Coalition
Świętokrzyskie
6 / 30
Opposition
Warmian-Masurian
13 / 30
Coalition
Greater Poland
15 / 39
Coalition
West Pomeranian
15 / 30
Coalition
All seats
210 / 552


See also

Notes and references

Notes

  1. The Civic Coalition's name that was used in the 2019 parliamentary election was the "Coalition Electoral Committee Civic Coalition PO .N iPL Greens" (Polish: Koalicyjny Komitet Wyborczy Koalicja Obywatelska PO .N iPL Zieloni).
  2. Roman Jasiakiewicz (Kuyavia-Pomerania), Iwona Jelonek (Silesia), Marek Kopel (Silesia), Igor Łukaszuk (Podlaskie), Antoni Pikul (Podlaskie), Tadeusz Sławek (Silesia), Anna Synowiec (Lubusz), Henryk Szymański (Greater Poland)

    References

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      • Anna Noryskiewicz (16 October 2023). "Poland election could oust conservative party that has led country for 8 years". CBS News. The opposition liberal-conservative Civic Coalition of former Prime Minister Donald Tusk was the second-strongest force with 31.6% of the vote and 163 seats.
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