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Civic Platform (PO)

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Civic Coalition (KO) was set to win European elections in Poland on Sunday, an exit poll showed 09 June 2024. With war raging in Ukraine and a migrant crisis on the Belarus border, Tusk framed the vote in Poland as a choice between a safe future in a country at the heart of the European Union or a more perilous one if the nationalist Law and Justice(PiS) party, known for its conflicts with Brussels, won. "We have shown that our choices, our efforts, have a much broader dimension than just our national issues, we have shown that we are a beacon of hope for Europe," he told supporters after the exit poll results were announced.

According to the IPSOS exit poll, KO won 38.2% of votes, ahead of PiS who had 33.9%. KO's partners in the pro-European coalition government which took power in December, the centre-right Third Way and the Left, got 8.2% and 6.6% respectively. The far-right Confederation party scored 11.9%. If confirmed, the result would mark the end of a decade-long run of first-place election finishes for PiS.

The Civic Platform (PO) was the party that had been in power the longest of all the parties in the Third Polish Republic. The eight-year period of government in a coalition with the Polish People's Party (PSL) gave a huge field to analyze not only its demands, but also real actions. The Civic Platform Association was established in 2001 on the initiative of Maciej Plazynski, Andrzej Olechowski and Donald Tusk. A year later, PO was registered as a political party.

PO was the dominant force on the Polish political scene in 2007-2015. Donald Tusk was the longest-serving head of government in the history of free Poland. In 2014, the function of the Prime Minister was taken over by Ewa Kopacz, the former Minister of Health in the Tusk government, as well as the Speaker of the Sejm. PO took power after the 2007 parliamentary elections. These elections were held after the earlier adoption of a resolution to shorten the term of office of the Sejm.

The victory in 2011 allowed the PO to take the helm of power for the next four years. In 2010, the PO candidate - Bronislaw Komorowski - won the presidential election, which meant that people associated with the party would take over full executive power in Poland for the next 5 years. PO was the largest opposition party, criticizing the moves of the current government the loudest.

The PO entered the elections in 2007 under the slogan “For a better life. everyone!” The program does not lack numerous references to solidarity - both with a small "s" (as an idea that unites society) and "Solidarity" (as a social movement). The PO often emphasized the need to pursue a policy based on compromise, consent and mutual respect . In the social dimension, it was supposed to mean a break with internal divisions and what politicians themselves sometimes refer to as the "Polish-Polish war".

The PO was in favor of maintaining the so-called abortion compromise , i.e. the possibility of performing a legal abortion in three exceptional cases. In 2007, the majority of the party's deputies voted against the amendment to the constitution guaranteeing the protection of human life from conception. In 2016, PO unequivocally criticized the civic bill introducing a significant tightening of the provisions on abortion (in practice, its adoption would mean a complete ban on abortion).

In 2013, the Sejm voted on three bills regulating the issue of civil partnerships. One of the drafts was submitted by the members of the PO themselves (the others: Ruch Palikot and SLD). The draft PO introduced the possibility of entering into a union before a notary public, which was to result in the creation of a community of property. It also gave the right to obtain medical information about the partner and to decide on burial. However, it did not provide for the possibility of adopting children by homosexual couples. The project was rejected not only by the votes of MPs from PiS, Solidarna Polska and the coalition PSL - 46 PO MPs (mainly from the so-called conservative wing, whose informal leader was Jaroslaw Gowin at the time) also expressed their opposition.

Regulation of the issue of civil partnerships was announced by both the governments of Donald Tusk and Ewa Kopacz. However, all initiatives ended in failure due to ideological divisions within the party or the opposition of a coalition partner. The relationship of the group to partnerships can therefore be described as ambiguous.

In 2013, the Sejm voted on three bills regulating the issue of civil partnerships. One of the drafts was submitted by the members of the PO themselves (the others: Ruch Palikot and SLD). The draft PO introduced the possibility of entering into a union before a notary public, which was to result in the creation of a community of property. It also gave the right to obtain medical information about the partner and to decide on burial. However, it did not provide for the possibility of adopting children by homosexual couples. The project was rejected not only by the votes of MPs from PiS, Solidarna Polska and the coalition PSL - 46 PO MPs (mainly from the so-called conservative wing, whose informal leader was Jaroslaw Gowin at the time) also expressed their opposition. Regulation of the issue of civil partnerships was announced by both the governments of Donald Tusk and Ewa Kopacz. However, all initiatives ended in failure due to ideological divisions within the party or the opposition of a coalition partner. The relationship of the group to partnerships can therefore be described as ambiguous.

Although the rhetoric of the party's members sometimes includes references to history and national identity, they usually create an image of the party as 'looking into the future'. The platform opposes the vision of "Poland for Poles", nationalism and xenophobia. It declares openness to newcomers from other regions of Europe and the world. "The Poland we want is a Poland without intolerance, without xenophobia and without nationalism. A country friendly to all people who want to build their happiness here, also to thousands of Ukrainians who support the Polish economy and labor market with their hard work" said PO MP Michal Szczerba.

In the years 2007-2014, Radoslaw Sikorski was responsible for the foreign policy of the government, and in the office of Ewa Kopacz - Grzegorz Schetyna. The priority of both ministers (especially Sikorski) was close cooperation with the United States , mainly within the framework of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. In 2010, in the Sejm, Sikorski declared his desire to strengthen Poland's position as a "strong NATO link".

Although relations with Russia changed after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, for most of the period of PO-PSL rule, the PiS opposition criticized the government for its alleged "pro-Russianness" (accusations intensified by the Smolensk catastrophe). Back in 2010, Sikorski was in favor of Russia joining NATO structures. Under the influence of Vladimir Putin's policy, Poland has joined the global trend of increasing defense spending. One of Bronislaw Komorowski's last moves as president was to sign a law increasing the budget of the Ministry of National Defense from 1.95% to 2% of GDP (which was a NATO requirement). In 2009, an amendment to the act was adopted, which definitively abolished the obligation to perform military service . Under the rule of PO, the army was fully professionalised.