Poland is due to hold parliamentary elections in 2027, and a leadership battle has torn apart the centrist Polska 2050 party in Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s coalition in January, Politico reports.
On the 18th of February, 15 members of parliament left the party after a fight over former leader Szymon Hołownia’s seat turned sour. The losing faction accused Hołownia’s successor and the party’s new leader, Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, of stifling criticism.
The defectors, along with Pełczyńska-Nałęcz’s rival Paulina Hennig-Kloska, have pledged to stick with the Tusk-led coalition, but their political future, as well as that of the ruling coalition, is uncertain ahead of the crucial elections.
Tusk’s government has struggled to pass laws and fulfill promises aimed at moving closer to Brussels, hampered by the opposition right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party and the veto power of Polish President Karol Nawrocki, a PiS supporter.
Tusk’s Civic Coalition is leading PiS in opinion polls, but
its coalition partners, especially Polska 2050, are unpopular.
The party has been polling at 2-3% for months, and to enter parliament, it needs at least 5% of the vote. Tusk said that despite the turmoil within Polska 2050, the party’s warring factions remain loyal to the government. The prime minister said that last year they had experienced much greater turmoil, both internationally and at the European and Polish levels, and had managed to emerge from it in good shape.
Led by Climate and Environment Minister Hennig-Kloska, 15 MPs have formed a new parliamentary faction called Centrum. The minister said the faction would find space to work and fulfill the promises made in the 2023 campaign. She added that there had been no room for dialogue, honest cooperation and achieving political goals within Polska 2050.
Meanwhile, the remaining part of the Polska 2050 faction, also consisting of 15 MEPs, is supporting the Minister for EU Funds and Regional Policy, Pełczyńska-Nałęcz. After her victory in the race for the party leadership, the Polska 2050 leadership voted to freeze personnel changes in order to ease tensions before the party’s planned March meeting. Former colleagues have now called it an attempt to silence them.
The party’s disarray has also divided its representation in the Senate, as well as in the European Parliament.
MEP Michał Kobosko left Polska 2050 on the 16th of February.
The party has been in deep crisis since Hołownia’s disastrous presidential bid last year. The Polska 2050 candidate received less than 5% of the vote, and was even beaten by far-right maverick Grzegorz Braun. The failed presidential bid also ended the party’s alliance with the Polish People’s Party.
Hołownia had fared much better in the previous presidential election, and used that as a springboard to establish Polska 2050. At the time, the politician said his party was a third option between the Civic Coalition and PiS, which has dominated Polish politics for the past two decades. Hołownia has now criticised the MPs who left the party, saying they hate Polska 2050’s new leader.
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