Your Movement

In July 2010, Janusz Palikot—then still a member of Civic Platform (PO)—suggested that the late President Lech Kaczyński was himself to blame for the Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash in Smolensk, Russia. In the aftermath of the resulting controversy, Palikot announced plans to create his own social movement.{{cite web|last=Wybranowski|first=Wojciech|title=Wirtualny Ruch Poparcia Janusza Palikota|url=http://www.rp.pl/artykul/16,507885.html|publisher=rp.pl}} On 2 October, he organized the "Modern Poland" congress in Warsaw, attended by several thousand. At the congress, Palikot announced his 15-point program.{{cite news|last=Gądek|first=Jacek|title=Kabaret eksperymentalny Janusza P. z biskupami pasibrzuchami w tle|newspaper=Onet Wiadomości |date=2 October 2010|url=http://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/kabaret-eksperymentalny-janusza-p-z-biskupami-pasi,1,3709724,wiadomosc.html|publisher=onet.pl}}

On 6 October, Palikot resigned from PO,{{cite web|last=Palikot|first=Janusz|title=I Resign (Janusz Palikot's blog)|url=http://palikot.blog.onet.pl/Skladam-rezygnacje,2,ID415472696,n}} along with Kazimierz Kutz.

On 9 January 2011, Palikot gave his MP ID card to the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity to be auctioned off.{{cite web|title=Palikot przed kamerami oddaje legitymację poselską na aukcję WOŚP|url=http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/Wiadomosci/1,80271,8921425,Palikot_nie_jest_juz_poslem___legitymacje_oddal_na.html|publisher=gazeta.pl|access-date=April 6, 2011}}

On 1 June 2011, Palikot formally registered his movement as a political party called Palikot Movement (RP).

In the October 2011 parliamentary election, the party received 10 percent of the vote and won 40 seats in the Sejm,{{cite book|author1=Elena Semenova|author2=Michael Edinger|author3=Heinrich Best|title=Parliamentary Elites in Central and Eastern Europe: Recruitment and Representation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LZxWAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA81|date=13 December 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-93533-9|page=81}} making it the third party in the chamber behind Civic Platform and Law and Justice (PiS), one of the best debut performances for a party since the end of communism.{{cite web | url = http://wybory2011.pkw.gov.pl/wsw/en/000000.html | title = Elections 2011 - Election results | publisher=National Electoral Commission | access-date = 2011-11-13 }} After the election, one of the MPs of Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), Sławomir Kopyciński, decided to leave his party and join Palikot Movement.{{cite web | url = http://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/polityka/artykuly/362577,posel-kopycinski-z-sld-przeszedl-do-ruchu-palikota.html | title = Poseł Kopyciński z SLD przeszedł do Ruchu Palikota | date = 2011-10-20 | access-date = 2011-11-13 | publisher=.dziennik.pl | language = pl}}

Anna Grodzka, the first ever transgender MP in European history, was elected from the party lists in 2011.{{Cite web | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/poland/8817279/Transgender-woman-poised-for-seat-in-Polands-new-parliament.html | title = Transgender woman poised for seat in Poland's new parliament | date = 2011-10-10 | access-date = 2012-02-05 | publisher=The Daily Telegraph}} Also, Robert Biedroń became the first openly gay MP in Polish political history. One parliamentarian, Roman Kotliński, is a former priest of the Catholic Church.

On 8 March 2012, Łukasz Gibała, head of the Krakow structures of the governing PO, joined Palikot Movement, becoming the 43rd MP of the party. His transfer was somewhat significant in that he is the nephew of the Minister of Justice Jarosław Gowin.

On 3 February 2013, Palikot Movement and Racja PL started collaboration with Social Democracy of Poland, Labour United and Union of the Left to form an electoral alliance named Europa Plus to contest the upcoming European Parliament elections.{{Cite web|url=http://www.warsawvoice.pl/WVpage/pages/article.php/23648/news|title = The Warsaw Voice}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.tvn24.pl/wiadomosci-z-kraju,3/palikot-rp-i-sdpl-razem-do-europarlamentu,304143.html|title = Palikot: RP i SDPL razem do europarlamentu}} The project was led by Marek Siwiec, Aleksander Kwasniewski and Janusz Palikot.

On 6 May 2013, Palikot Movement registered its first local party committee abroad, which had been formed by Poles residing in Brussels, Belgium.{{cite web |title=Tak sie zmienia swiat |url=http://palikot.blog.onet.pl/2013/05/15/tak-sie-zmienia-swiat/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150330162233/http://palikot.blog.onet.pl/2013/05/15/tak-sie-zmienia-swiat/ |archive-date=30 March 2015 |access-date=2013-06-02 |publisher=blog pl}}

On 25 May 2014, in the 2014 European election, Europa Plus received 3.6% of the vote, below the 5% electoral threshold, thus failed to elect any MEPs.{{cite web|url=http://pe2014.pkw.gov.pl/pl/ |title=Pkw | Pkw |publisher=Pe2014.pkw.gov.pl |access-date=2014-07-16}} On 29 May 2014, Europa Plus was disbanded.{{cite web|author=Veröffentlicht von Lars Leschewitz |url=http://polen-heute.de/buendnis-europa-plus-ende-77251/ |title=Bündnis Europa Plus am Ende |date=29 May 2014 |publisher=Polen-heute.de |access-date=2014-07-16}}

On 6 October 2013, the party was renamed and refounded as Your Movement (TR).

In July 2015, TR and the SLD, Labour United (UP) and The Greens (PZ) formed the United Left (ZL) electoral alliance to contest the upcoming parliamentary election.{{Cite web|url=http://www.thenews.pl/1/9/Artykul/214270,Polish-left-to-unite-for-general-election|title = Polish left to unite for general election}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.thenews.pl/1/9/Artykul/215243,United-Left-to-unveil-programme-in-midAugust|title = United Left to unveil programme in mid-August}}

In the 2015 Polish parliamentary election (held on 25 October 2015), the United Left list was led by Your Movement's Barbara Nowacka and received only 7.6% of the vote, below the 8% threshold, leaving TR without parliamentary representation.

In the 2019 Polish parliamentary election, the party stood under the banner of The Left.

The party disbanded in January 2023.{{Cite web |last=Strzelińska |first=Karina |date=2023-06-13 |title=To koniec. "W styczniu podjęliśmy decyzję" |url=https://wiadomosci.wp.pl/twoj-ruch-ulegnie-samorozwiazaniu-partia-palikota-przestaje-istniec-6908512140487232a |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=wiadomosci.wp.pl |language=pl}}

Sources described Palikot Movement as liberal,{{cite book|author=Corrine Deloy|chapter=A Summary of Political and Legal Europe|editor1=Thierry Chopin|editor2=Foundation Schuman|editor3=Michel Foucher|title=Schuman Report on Europe: State of the Union 2012|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jt2Agf0PJx0C&pg=PA119|access-date=19 July 2013|year=2012|publisher=Springer Science+Business Media|isbn=978-2-8178-0318-0|page=119}}{{cite book|author=Roger Schoenman|title=Networks and Institutions in Europe's Emerging Markets|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3a6BAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA190|year=2014|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-03134-0|page=190}} anti-clerical,{{cite book|author=Wayne C. Thompson|title=Nordic, Central and Southeastern Europe 2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cJM0z-eATfQC&pg=PA340|access-date=19 July 2013|year=2012|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-61048-891-4|page=340}} and pro-European.{{cite book|author=Wayne C. Thompson|title=Nordic, Central, and Southeastern Europe 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lQWYAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA328|year=2013|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4758-0489-8|page=328}} Media variously described Palikot Movement as economically liberal,libertarian,{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2011/09/polish-politics?page=1|title=From goggle box to ballot box|date=Sep 27, 2011|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=30 October 2011}}{{cite web|url=http://www.wbj.pl/article-56388-palikots-surprise.html|title=Palikot's surprise|date=10 October 2011|publisher=Warsaw Business Journal|access-date=30 October 2011}} liberal,{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-poland-election-palikot-idUSTRE79957R20111010|title=Liberal maverick to push for secular Poland after win|last=Borowski|first=Chris|date=Oct 10, 2011|publisher=Reuters|access-date=30 October 2011}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.thenews.pl/1/9/Artykul/56350,Palikot-moves-into-third-in-race-for-parliament|title=Palikot moves into third in race for parliament}}{{cite web|url=http://www.wbj.pl/article-61566-palikot-founds-europa-plus-movement.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130130031556/http://www.wbj.pl/article-61566-palikot-founds-europa-plus-movement.html|archive-date=2013-01-30|title=Palikot founds Europa Plus Movement|date=2013-01-14|publisher=Warsaw Business Journal}} anti-clerical,{{cite web|url=http://www.demotix.com/news/499935/anti-clerical-protest-gdansk|title=Anti-Clerical protest in Gdansk|date=4 November 2010|publisher=.demotix.com|access-date=30 October 2011}} and populist.{{Citation |first=Nicholas |last=Kulish |title=Provocateur's Strong Showing Is a Sign of a Changing Poland |newspaper=The New York Times|date=10 Oct 2011 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/world/europe/polands-palikot-movement-signals-a-changing-society.html |access-date=13 Oct 2011}}{{Citation |title=A glance at main parties in Poland's elections |publisher=Associated Press |date=9 Oct 2011 |url=http://hosted2.ap.org/vabrm/nationalworld/Article_2011-10-09-EU-Poland-Election-Glance/id-7e0bbcd254e6443081581cca7b2b7cb2 |access-date=13 Oct 2011}} The British Financial Times newspaper described the economic views of the Palikot Movement membership as heterogenous, ranging from libertarianism to social democracy.{{Cite news|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/681003bc-355a-11e1-84b9-00144feabdc0.html|title = Palikot movement gives voice to Polish diversity|newspaper=Financial Times|date = 17 January 2012}} According to the political scientist Aleks Szczerbiak, the party struggled with its political identity and was an economically and socially liberal, centrist party rather than a left-wing one. Political scientist Michał Syska argued that ultimately Your Movement was "related to Thatcherism rather than social democracy in its economic postulates", considering the left-wing label inadequate.{{cite web |url=https://feps-europe.eu/publication/93-poland-the-ep-campaign-is-a-good-time-to-introduce-new-actors-onto-the-party-scene-by-micha-syska/ |title=Poland: the EP campaign is a good time to introduce new actors onto the party scene |first=Michał |last=Syska |date=9 October 2014 |website=Foundation for European Progressive Studies}}

Palikot's Movement was described as a "liberal populist party whose progressive policies on some social and cultural issues are combined with a commitment to neoliberal economic reform." It had a neoliberal economic programme - its most famous economic proposal was introducing flat tax rates instead of the progressive taxation that Poland had at the time. The party also argued that students should pay for their studies and wished to make university tuition paid instead of free.{{cite web |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/can-europe-make-it/false-promise-of-new-left-in-poland/ |title=The false promise of a new left in Poland |date=21 August 2013 |first=Gavin |last=Rae |website=openDemocracy}} The party supported "liquidating any barriers to business activity", abolition of tax and social security privileges for groups like the farmers, raising the employment age and restricting retirement privileges. It also proposed a creation of a "probusiness parliamentary commission".{{cite journal |title=Poland's Palikot Movement: Voice of the disenchanted, missing ideological link or more of the same? |first1=Ben |last1=Stanley |first2=Mikołaj |last2=Cześnik |journal=Party Politics |date=4 December 2014 |doi=10.1177/1354068814560911 |volume=14 |issue=1 |publisher=Sage Publishing |page=3}}

Socially, the party wanted to prohibit religion lessons in schools, eliminate religious symbols in public buildings, and introduce sexual education in schools. It was described as "vehemently anti-clerical". Additionally, it also supported abortion on demand, legalizing soft drugs, and introduction of same-sex civil unions. It also spoke for centralization of Polish administration and government, as it sought to reduce the number of Sejm seats, eliminate the Senate, and decrease the number of councilors of the local government, while liquidating some branches of local government completely.{{cite journal |title=New Prospects for Alternative Politics? |first=Martin |last=Bútora |journal=Alternative Politics? The Rise of New Political Parties in Central Europe |editor1=Bútorová Zora |editor2=Gyárfášová Oľga |editor3=Mesežnikov Grigorij |location=Bratislava |year=2013|pages=28–30}} It also proposed a ban on the participation of the clergy in state ceremonies.

Your Movement was described as social-liberal,{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UskqBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA117|page=117|title=Transforming the Transformation? The East European Radical Right in the Political Process|quote=...[T]he left-liberal end of the political spectrum...has been occupied by the Palikot Movement (recently renamed Your Movement, Twój Ruch)...|last1=Pytlas|first1=Bartek|last2=Kossack|first2=Oliver|chapter=Lighting the fuse: The impact of radical right parties on party competition in Central and Eastern Europe|editor-last=Minkenberg|editor-first=Michael|publisher=Routledge|date=2015|isbn=978-1-317-54939-0}} anti-clerical and pro-European.{{cite book|author=Adam Jarosz|editor1=Nikolaus Werz|editor2=Martin Koschkar|title=Regionale politische Kultur in Deutschland: Fallbeispiele und vergleichende Aspekte|chapter=Regionale politische Kulture in Polen|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7UaGCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA284|year= 2015|publisher=Springer Science+Business Media|isbn=978-3-658-10468-9|page=284}} Anti-clericalism was considered the core belief of the party - it was also described as anti-Catholic and antireligious.{{cite journal |title=Polarization but Not Pillarization: Catholicism and Cultural Change in Post-Transformation Poland |first=Wojciech |last=Sadlon |volume=12 |issue=7 |doi=10.3390/rel12070457 |year=2021 |journal= Religions|page=457 |doi-access=free }} The party placed an emphasis upon supporting LGBT rights.{{cite book|author=Phillip Ayoub|title=When States Come Out|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dS7xCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA81|year=2016|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-11559-0|page=81}} At the same time, the party's commitment to social progressivism was called into question - the leader of the party, Janusz Palikot, suggested that the Polish feminist activist and MP Wanda Nowicka "perhaps desired to be raped" when she refused to step down from her post.{{cite web |title=No country for losers? Gender, (in)equality, and the discursive construction of subjects and values in Polish politics |first=Barbara |last=Gawęda |year=2017 |publisher=University of Edinburgh |page=3 |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/429733473.pdf}} Its ideology was considered a type of liberal populism that combined economic liberalism with social progressivism, which often isolated the party from left-wing parties such as the social-democratic SLD.{{cite journal |title=A European Victory for the Eurosceptics? |url=https://www.isp.org.pl/uploads/drive/oldfiles/pliki/popPolicyBriefEuropeanvictoryfortheEurosceptics.pdf |first=Melchior |last=Szczepanik |date=5 November 2013 |publisher=Instytut Spraw Publicznych |journal=Policy Brief |pages=3–4}}

• Civil libertarianism
• Drug liberalization
• LGBT rights
• LGBT rights in Poland
• Polish Initiative
• Secular humanism
• Secular liberalism

{{reflist|2}}

• {{in lang|pl}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20210705103545/http://twojruch.eu/ Your Movement official website]
• {{in lang|pl}} [http://sejm.gov.pl/Sejm7.nsf/klubposlowie_1.xsp?klub=TR Your Movement caucus in the Sejm]

{{Polish political parties}}

Category:2010 establishments in Poland

Category:Anti-clerical parties

Category:Centrist parties in Europe

Category:Neoliberalism

Category:LGBTQ political advocacy groups in Poland

Category:Liberal parties in Poland

Category:Political parties established in 2010

Category:Populist parties

Category:Progressive parties

Category:Secularism in Poland

Category:Secularist organizations

Category:Social liberal parties

Category:Pro-European political parties in Poland