Polish Initiative

{{Infobox political party

| name = Polish Initiative

| native_name = Inicjatywa Polska

| logo = Polish Initiative logo.svg

| colorcode = {{party color|Polish Initiative}}

| leader = Barbara Nowacka

| foundation = {{start date and age|2016|02|20|df=y}}

| registered = 2019

| headquarters = Warsaw

| split = {{ubl|Your Movement|Democratic Left Alliance}}

| ideology = {{ubl|Social liberalism|Social democracy|Progressivism|Pro-Europeanism}}

| position = Centre-left

| national = Civic Coalition
Senate Pact 2023 (for 2023 Senate election)

| europarl = European People's Party Group

| colours = {{ubl|{{Color box|{{party color|Polish Initiative}}|border=darkgray}} Red|{{Color box|white|border=darkgray}} White}}

| seats1_title = Sejm

| seats1 = {{Composition bar|2|460|hex={{party color|Polish Initiative}}}}

| seats2_title = Senate

| seats2 = {{Composition bar|0|100|hex={{party color|Polish Initiative}}}}

| seats3_title = European Parliament

| seats3 = {{Composition bar|1|53|hex={{party color|Polish Initiative}}}}

| seats5_title = Regional Assemblies

| seats5 = {{Composition bar|2|552|hex={{party color|Polish Initiative}}}}

| seats6_title = City Presidents

| seats6 = {{Composition bar|1|107|hex={{party color|Polish Initiative}}}}

| website = {{URL|http://ipl.org.pl/}}

| country = Poland

}}

The Polish Initiative (Polish: Inicjatywa Polska {{IPA|pl|i.ɲi.t͡sjaˈtɘ.va ˈpɔl.ska|}}, iPL) 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,{{Cite book |last1=Bátora |first1=Jozef |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Bz-EAAAQBAJ&dq=%22centre-right%22%22Inicjatywa+Polska%22&pg=PT228 |title=Differentiation and Dominance in Europe's Poly-Crises |last2=Fossum |first2=John Erik |date=2024-05-15 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-003-86036-5 |language=en}} centrist,{{Cite book |last1=Lang |first1=Sabine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xnKfEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22centrist%22%22polish+initiative%22&pg=PA281 |title=Party Politics and the Implementation of Gender Quotas: Resisting Institutions |last2=Meier |first2=Petra |last3=Sauer |first3=Birgit |date=2022-12-01 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-031-08931-2 |language=en}} centre-left or left-wing.

History

The association Polish Initiative was created on February 20, 2016,{{Cite web|url=https://www.pap.pl/en/news/news,472667,polish-initiative---new-left-wing-association.html|title=Polish Initiative - new left-wing association | Polska Agencja Prasowa SA|website=www.pap.pl}} by Barbara Nowacka, a former member of the Your Movement and the United Left electoral alliance for the 2015 parliamentary election.{{Cite web|last=Naklicka|first=Tatiana|date=2018-10-12|title=Inicjatywa Polska|url=https://wiadomosci.wp.pl/inicjatywa-polska-6305183255386241c|access-date=2021-12-28|website=wiadomosci.wp.pl|language=pl}} It was registered as a political party in 2019.{{Cite web|title="Inicjatywa Polska" - Pozycja 38713 - Numer 143/2019 (5782) z 25 lipca 2019 r. - Internetowy Monitor Sądowy i Gospodarczy|url=https://www.imsig.pl/pozycja/2019/143/38713,%22Inicjatywa_Polska%22|access-date=2021-12-28|website=www.imsig.pl}}

In 2018, the Initiative joined the Civic Coalition for the local elections. Two of its candidates were elected to the Voivodeship sejmiks.

The association joined the European Coalition for the 2019 European Parliament election.{{Cite web|url=http://300polityka.pl/live/2019/05/14/koalicja-europejska-rozszerza-sie-o-nowe-ugrupowania-m-in-ued-ip-i-kod/|title=Koalicja Europejska rozszerza się o nowe ugrupowania, m.in. UED, IP i KOD|date=May 14, 2019}} However, because of being in the process of the registration as a political party, its members did not compete in the election.{{Cite web|url=https://fakty.interia.pl/polska/news-koalicja-europejska-bez-barbary-nowackiej,nId,2852810|title=Nowackiej zabrakło wśród liderów opozycji. Dlaczego?|website=fakty.interia.pl}}

The party joined the Civic Coalition for the 2019 parliamentary election. Two of the party candidates, including its leader Barbara Nowacka and two candidates recommended by the party, were elected to the Sejm. The Coalition won 134 in total, losing to the ruling party Law and Justice.{{Cite web|url=https://sejmsenat2019.pkw.gov.pl/sejmsenat2019/pl/wyniki/sejm/pl|title=Wybory do Sejmu i Senatu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej 2019 r.|website=sejmsenat2019.pkw.gov.pl}}

The Polish Initiative supported the Civic Coalition's candidate Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska in the 2020 presidential election. Later, the Polish Initiative announced that it would as a party not take part in the election on 10 May, due to change of electoral rules because of the COVID-19 pandemic.wybory.gov.pl/prezydent20200628/ However, after the election was moved it supported Rafał Trzaskowski, who became the Civic Coalition's candidate after the resignation of Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska. Trzaskowski later lost in the second round to the incumbent Andrzej Duda.{{Cite web|url=https://wybory.gov.pl/prezydent20200628/|title=Wybory Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej w 2020 r.|website=wybory.gov.pl}}

Ideology

The Polish Initiative is a progressive,{{Cite web|title=Four questions on the Polish parliamentary elections|url=https://www.cer.eu/insights/four-questions-polish-parliamentary-elections|access-date=2021-12-28|website=Centre for European Reform|language=en}} social liberal,{{Cite web|title=Die polnische Opposition vor den Parlamentswahlen 2023: Liegt ein Machtwechsel in der Luft?|url=https://www.kas.de/de/laenderberichte/detail/-/content/die-polnische-opposition-vor-den-parlamentswahlen-2023-liegt-ein-machtwechsel-in-der-luft|access-date=2023-03-24|date=1 February 2023|website=Konrad Adenauer Foundation|language=de}} and social-democratic party.{{Cite web|title=Invitation: Poland has voted – Europe after the elections|url=https://wielkopolska.eu/news-mainmenuen-85/3664-invitation-poland-has-voted-europe-after-the-elections|access-date=2021-12-28|website=Wielkopolska.eu|language=pl-pl}} It sits on the centre-right, centrist, centre-left{{bulleted list|{{Cite web|title=Poland|url=https://europeelects.eu/poland/|access-date=2021-12-28|website=Europe Elects|language=en-US}}|{{Cite web|date=2021-04-07|title=Poland accused of abandoning domestic violence victims|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/07/poland-accused-of-abandoning-domestic-violence-victims|access-date=2021-12-28|website=the Guardian|language=en}}|{{Cite web|last=Wilczek|first=Maria|date=2021-12-07|title=Polish opposition parties unite to sign agreement on restoring rule of law|url=https://notesfrompoland.com/2021/12/07/polish-opposition-parties-unite-to-sign-agreement-on-restoring-rule-of-law/|access-date=2021-12-28|website=Notes From Poland|language=en-US}}|{{Cite web|title=Depresja polskiej demokracji. 13. grudnia pod siedzibą PiS|url=http://dawidcizewski.natemat.pl/196701,depresja-polskiej-demokracji-13-grudnia-pod-siedziba-pis|access-date=2021-12-28|website=naTemat.pl|language=PL-pl}}|{{Cite web|title=Jak zblokowana opozycja robi durniów z polskich wyborców|url=https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/462375-jak-zblokowana-opozycja-robi-durniow-z-polskich-wyborcow|access-date=2021-12-28|website=wpolityce.pl}}|{{cite web|url=https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/462375-jak-zblokowana-opozycja-robi-durniow-z-polskich-wyborcow|title=Jak zblokowana opozycja robi durniów z polskich Wyborców|access-date=10 June 2023}}}} or left-wing on the political spectrum.{{bulleted list|{{Cite web|date=2018-10-09|title=Why do Poland's local elections matter?|url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2018/10/09/why-do-polands-local-elections-matter/|access-date=2021-12-28|website=EUROPP}}|{{Cite web|last=S.A|first=Telewizja Polska|title=New opposition grouping adds social tinge to liberal economics|url=https://tvpworld.com/37662128/new-opposition-grouping-adds-social-tinge-to-liberal-economics|access-date=2021-12-28|website=tvpworld.com|language=en}}|{{Cite book|last=Murawski|first=Michał|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1086506859|title=The Palace complex : a Stalinist skyscraper, capitalist Warsaw, and a city transfixed|date=2019|isbn=978-0-253-03999-6|location=Bloomington, Indiana|oclc=1086506859}}|{{Cite web|date=2019-06-14|title=Jest nowa partia lewicowa - Inicjatywa Polska|url=https://www.bankier.pl/wiadomosc/Jest-nowa-partia-lewicowa-Inicjatywa-Polska-7689617.html|access-date=2021-12-28|website=Bankier.pl|language=pl}}|{{Cite web|date=2019-12-16|title=Inicjatywa Polska stawia warunki Kidawie-Błońskiej. Takimi żądaniami sabotują kampanię|url=https://www.tvp.info/45815242/partia-barbary-nowackiej-poprze-kandydatke-po-na-prezydenta-jezeli-ta-opowie-sie-np-za-aborcja-i-zwiazkami-partnerskimi|access-date=2021-12-28|website=www.tvp.info|language=pl}}}}

The party supports the decentralisation of power and increasing the power of local governments. It also supports European integration. On social issues, it is against any forms of discrimination, with an emphasis on gender discrimination. The party also advocates for the separation of church and state.{{Cite web|url=http://ipl.org.pl/?page_id=126|title=O nas – Inicjatywa Polska}} The party also supports increasing the funding of the Polish healthcare system.{{Cite web|last=Naklicka|first=Tatiana|date=2018-10-12|title=Inicjatywa Polska|url=https://wiadomosci.wp.pl/inicjatywa-polska-6305183255386241c|access-date=2021-12-28|website=wiadomosci.wp.pl|language=pl}}

Election results

=Presidential=

class=wikitable ! rowspan=2\|Election year ! rowspan=2\|Candidate ! colspan=2\|1st round ! colspan=2\|2nd round
# of overall votes ! % of overall vote ! # of overall votes ! % of overall vote
2020 \| supported Rafał Trzaskowski \| 5,917,340 \| 30.5 (#2) \| 10,018,263 \| 48.9 (#2)

class=wikitable

! rowspan=2|Election year

! rowspan=2|Candidate

! colspan=2|1st round

! colspan=2|2nd round

# of overall votes

! % of overall vote

! # of overall votes

! % of overall vote

2020

| supported Rafał Trzaskowski

| 5,917,340

| 30.5 (#2)

| 10,018,263

| 48.9 (#2)

=Sejm=

rowspan="2" \|2019 \| Barbara Nowacka \| 113,278 \| 0.6 \| {{Composition bar\|6\|460\|hex={{party color\|Polish Initiative}}}} \| New \| {{no2\|PiS}}
class=wikitable ! Election year ! Leader ! Votes ! % ! Seats ! +/– ! Government
colspan="7" \|As part of Civic Coalition, which won 134 seats in total.
rowspan="4"\| 2023 \| rowspan="3"\| Barbara Nowacka \| rowspan="3"\| 252,021 \| rowspan="3"\| 1.2 \| rowspan="3"\| {{Composition bar\|4\|460\|hex={{party color\|Polish Initiative}}}} \| rowspan="3"\| {{decrease}} 2
{{no2\|PiS Minority (2023)}}
{{yes2\|KO–PL2050–PSL–NL}} (2023-present)
colspan="7" \|As part of Civic Coalition, which won 157 seats in total.

=European Parliament=

class=wikitable style="text-align:center;"
Election ! Leader ! Votes ! % ! Seats ! +/– ! EP Group
rowspan="2" \|2024 \| Barbara Nowacka \| 4,359,443 \| 37.06 (#1) \| {{Composition bar\|1\|53\|hex={{party color\|Polish Initiative}}}} \| New \| EPP
colspan="6" \|As part of Civic Coalition, which won 21 seats in total.

class=wikitable style="text-align:center;"

Election

! Leader

! Votes

! %

! Seats

! +/–

! EP Group

rowspan="2" |2024

| Barbara Nowacka

| 4,359,443

| 37.06 (#1)

| {{Composition bar|1|53|hex={{party color|Polish Initiative}}}}

| New

| EPP

colspan="6" |As part of Civic Coalition, which won 21 seats in total.

=Regional Assemblies=

class=wikitable
Election year ! Percentage of vote ! Number of overall seats won ! +/–
rowspan="2" \|2018 \| 27.0 (#2) \| {{Composition bar\|2\|552\|hex={{party color\|Polish Initiative}}}} \|
colspan="5" \|As part of Civic Coalition, which won 194 seats in total.

class=wikitable

Election year

! Percentage of
vote

! Number of
overall seats won

! +/–

rowspan="2" |2018

| 27.0 (#2)

| {{Composition bar|2|552|hex={{party color|Polish Initiative}}}}

colspan="5" |As part of Civic Coalition, which won 194 seats in total.