Freedom Union (Poland)
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The Freedom Union (, UW) was a liberal democratic political party in Poland.


History

It was founded on 20 March 1994 out of the merger of the Democratic Union (''Unia Demokratyczna'', UD) and the
Liberal Democratic Congress The Liberal Democratic Congress ( pl, Kongres Liberalno-Demokratyczny (KLD)) was a conservative-liberal political party in Poland. The party, led by Donald Tusk, had roots in the Solidarity movement. It advocated free market economy and in ...
(''Kongres Liberalno-Demokratyczny'', KLD). Both of these parties had roots in the
Solidarity trade union ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...
movement. It represented European democratic and liberal tradition, i.e., it advocated
free market economy A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand, where all suppliers and consumers ar ...
and individual liberty, rejected extremism and fanaticism, favoured
European integration European integration is the process of industrial, economic integration, economic, political, legal, social integration, social, and cultural Regional integration, integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integrat ...
(in the form of
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
membership), rapid
privatisation Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
of the enterprises still owned by the Polish state and decentralisation of the government. In the 1991
general elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
, the KLD received 7.5% of the vote and 37 seats in the
Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of t ...
(out of 460 seats) and the UD got 12.3% of the votes and 62 seats. In 1993 the KLD got 4.0% of the votes and was left without seats; the UD got 10.6% of the votes and 74 seats. In 1997 the UW got 13.4% of the votes and 60 seats. In January 2001 some members of the FU decided to move to join the new
Civic Platform Civic Platform ( pl, Platforma Obywatelska, PO)The party is officially the Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (''Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''). is a political party in Poland. It is currently led by Donald Tusk. It w ...
(''Platforma Obywatelska''), which got 12.7% of the votes and 65 seats in the September 2001 general elections whilst the FU failed to cross the 5% threshold required to gain entry to the lower house of Parliament, receiving only 3.1%. Surprisingly, the FU managed to cross the required 5% threshold in the 2004 European Parliament elections, receiving 7% of votes and 4 of 54 seats reserved for Poland in the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
as part of the
European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe a ...
, of which it was a member. The initiative by the FU leadership to found the centre/social-liberal
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...
(''Partia Demokratyczna – demokraci.pl'') attracted a lot of attention. It was cofounded by
Władysław Frasyniuk Władysław Frasyniuk (born 25 November 1954 in Wrocław) is a Polish politician, former activist of Solidarity trade union, and former chairman of the Partia Demokratyczna - demokraci.pl political party. He served as a member of the Sejm (Pol ...
and economy minister
Jerzy Hausner Jerzy Krzysztof Hausner (born 6 October 1949, in Świnoujście) is a Polish politician and economist. He is a Member of the 4th Sejm (Parliament) of the Republic of Poland. Life Jerzy Hausner has graduated from Kraków University of Economics. ...
, joined by prime minister
Marek Belka Marek Marian Belka (; born 9 January 1952 in Lódź) is a Polish professor of economics and politician who has served as Prime Minister of Poland and Finance Minister of Poland in two governments. He is a former Director of the International Mo ...
. Former FU member
Tadeusz Mazowiecki Tadeusz Mazowiecki (; 18 April 1927 – 28 October 2013) was a Polish author, journalist, philanthropist and Christian-democratic politician, formerly one of the leaders of the Solidarity movement, and the first non-communist Polish prime min ...
also joined the initiative. Legally the centrist Democratic Party, founded 9 May 2005, is the successor of the FU.


Election results


Sejm


Senate


Presidential


Regional assemblies


European Parliament


Former leader

*
Władysław Frasyniuk Władysław Frasyniuk (born 25 November 1954 in Wrocław) is a Polish politician, former activist of Solidarity trade union, and former chairman of the Partia Demokratyczna - demokraci.pl political party. He served as a member of the Sejm (Pol ...
– Party chairman


Members of Polish Parliament (Sejm)

* None since 2001


Former Members of Polish Senate

* Olga Teresa Krzyżanowska – caucus vice-chairperson * Dorota Simonides *
Kazimierz Kutz Kazimierz Julian Kutz (16 February 1929 – 18 December 2018) was a Polish film director, author, journalist and politician, one of the representatives of the Polish Film School and a deputy speaker of the Senate of Poland. Biography Kazimierz ...
* Andrzej Jan Wielowieyski – caucus chairman * Grażyna Staniszewska (until 13 June 2004, elected to the European Parliament)


Members of the European Parliament of the former Freedom Union

* Bronisław Geremek, historian and politician, ex-minister of foreign affairs * Jan Kułakowski, journalist, ex-Poland-EU negotiator *
Janusz Onyszkiewicz Janusz Adam Onyszkiewicz (, born 18 December 1937) is a Polish mathematician, alpinist, politicianEuropa Publications, "The International Who's Who 2004", Routledge, 2003pg. 1258/ref> and was a vice-president of the European Parliament's Foreign ...
, mathematician and politician, vice-president of the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
* Grażyna Staniszewska, politician, senator


Other prominent members

*
Jan Rokita Jan Władysław Rokita (, born 18 June 1959, in Kraków) is a Polish liberal politician, a member of the Sejm, the lower chamber of the Polish parliament. He was chairman of the parliamentary club of the Civic Platform party from 2003 to 2005. H ...
– now
Civic Platform Civic Platform ( pl, Platforma Obywatelska, PO)The party is officially the Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (''Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''). is a political party in Poland. It is currently led by Donald Tusk. It w ...
*
Donald Tusk Donald Franciszek Tusk ( , ; born 22 April 1957) is a Polish politician who was President of the European Council from 2014 to 2019. He served as the 14th Prime Minister of Poland from 2007 to 2014 and was a co-founder and leader of the Civic Pla ...
– now
Civic Platform Civic Platform ( pl, Platforma Obywatelska, PO)The party is officially the Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (''Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''). is a political party in Poland. It is currently led by Donald Tusk. It w ...
*
Janusz Lewandowski Janusz Antoni Lewandowski (; born 13 June 1951) is a Polish politician and economist belonging to the Gdańsk liberals group, and a former member of the European Parliament (elected on 13 June 2004), Chairman of the Committee on Budgets. On 27 ...
– now
Civic Platform Civic Platform ( pl, Platforma Obywatelska, PO)The party is officially the Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (''Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''). is a political party in Poland. It is currently led by Donald Tusk. It w ...
*
Jacek Kuroń Jacek Jan Kuroń (; 3 March 1934 – 17 June 2004) was one of the democratic leaders of opposition in the People's Republic of Poland. He was widely known as the "godfather of the Polish opposition," not unlike Václav Havel in Czechoslovakia. Ku ...
– died 17 June 2004


See also

*
Liberalism in Poland Liberalism has been a notable ideology in Poland for hundreds of years. Polish liberalism emphasizes the preservation of democracy and opposition to authoritarianism. Liberalism was first developed in Poland as a response to the Polish–Lithuania ...
* Liberalism *
Contributions to liberal theory Contribution or Contribute may refer to: * ''Contribution'' (album), by Mica Paris (1990) ** "Contribution" (song), title song from the album *Contribution (law), an agreement between defendants in a suit to apportion liability *Contributions, a ...
*
Liberalism worldwide This article gives information on liberalism worldwide. It is an overview of parties that adhere to some form of liberalism and is therefore a list of liberal parties around the world. Introduction The definition of liberal party is highly deba ...
*
List of liberal parties This article gives information on liberalism worldwide. It is an overview of parties that adhere to some form of liberalism and is therefore a list of liberal parties around the world. Introduction The definition of liberal party is highly deba ...
*
Liberal democracy Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into diff ...


References

{{UWHeads 1994 establishments in Poland 2005 disestablishments in Poland Centrist parties in Poland Christian democratic parties in Europe Defunct liberal political parties Defunct political parties in Poland International Republican Institute Liberal parties in Poland Political parties disestablished in 2005 Political parties established in 1994 Social liberal parties