Kukiz'15 is a

right-wing populist Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right-wing nationalism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics and populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti- elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establ ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

led by

Paweł Kukiz Paweł Piotr Kukiz (born 24 June 1963) is a Polish politician, singer and actor. He is the leader of Kukiz'15, a non-partisan political alliance campaigning for single-member districts, and was a candidate in the 2015 presidential election, in whi ...

. It was formed in 2015 as a loose movement that registered itself as an association in 2016 and later as a political party in 2020. Initially, it was connected with

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

parties such as

National Movement Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

although since 2016 they have moderated its political outlook. During the 2018 local elections, it coordinated with the

socially conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...

Right Wing of the Republic The Right Wing of the Republic ( pl, Prawica Rzeczypospolitej) is a political party in Poland founded by former ''Marshal of the Sejm'' Marek Jurek on 20 April 2007 after he had left Law and Justice on 16 April 2007, when the Sejm failed to pass ...

and in 2019 they joined the

Polish Coalition The Polish Coalition ( pl, Koalicja Polska, KP) is a political alliance in Poland. It is led by the Polish People's Party. It was formed in 2019. In the 2019 parliamentary election, the Polish Coalition placed fourth, winning 30 seats in tot ...

. Due to its

eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform ...

stances, its membership was terminated from the coalition and in May 2021 they announced their support for the ruling United Right coalition.

Political positions

Kukiz'15 was initially connected with the

party, although Kukiz'15 itself wasn't characterized as far-right but rather

national-conservative National conservatism is a nationalist variant of conservatism that concentrates on upholding national and cultural identity. National conservatives usually combine nationalism with conservative stances promoting traditional cultural values, ...

, conservative-liberal, and

anti-establishment An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine ''New Statesman'' ...

. After 2016, they ceased operations with far-right organizations and politicians. Since its inception, it has lacked programmatic coherence and thus has been described as a

big tent A big tent party, or catch-all party, is a term used in reference to a political party's policy of permitting or encouraging a broad spectrum of views among its members. This is in contrast to other kinds of parties, which defend a determined i ...

party. In its program, they have expressed support for

direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate decides on policy initiatives without legislator, elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently establishe ...

. Its leader and the party has expressed

stances, and has been described as a

, and

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

party, that sits on the

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...

and

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

on the political spectrum. The key postulates upon foundation of the party were: * Eliminating the monopoly of political parties in parliament ("destroying

particracy Particracy, also known as partitocracy, partitocrazia or partocracy, is a form of government in which the political parties are the primary basis of rule rather than citizens and/or individual politicians. As argued by Italian political scient ...

") * Electoral reform, eliminating

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

in favour of

first past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

mixed electoral system A mixed electoral system or mixed-member electoral system combines methods of majoritarian representation, majoritarian and proportional representation (PR). The majoritarian component is usually first-past-the-post voting (FPTP/SMP), whereas the ...

. * Separation of government, courts and parliament. * Protection of civic liberties. * Introduction of obligatory referendums.

History

The movement was founded after Kukiz stood in the 2015 presidential election, winning 21% of the vote and coming in third during the election's first round. Kukiz's primary issue during the election was the replacement of Poland's

electoral system with single member constituencies, which was the subject of a referendum in September 2015. The movement was particularly popular among young people: Kukiz won 42% among voters aged 18 to 29 in the 2015 presidential election. In the 2015 parliamentary election, Kukiz'15 cooperated with the far-right

, which gained 5 of Kukiz' 42 parliamentary seats. In April 2016, the National Movement leadership decided to end its collaboration with Kukiz'15 and instructed its MPs to leave the Kukiz'15 parliamentary club, but only one MP followed party instructions. These ones, who stayed in Kukiz'15, together with a few other Kukiz' MPs, formed National Democracy (Endecja). There was a Sejm scandal in April 2016.

Kornel Morawiecki Kornel Andrzej Morawiecki (3 May 1941 – 30 September 2019) was a Polish politician, the founder and leader of Fighting Solidarity (Polish: ''Solidarność Walcząca''), one of the splinters of the Solidarity movement in Poland during the 1980s ...

of Kukiz'15 left his Sejm member card in the voting device when he felt sick and went out from the debating hall and then Małgorzata Zwiercan voted for him. After this he left Kukiz'15 and launched a new party

Free and Solidary Free and Solidary ( Polish: ''Wolni i Solidarni'', WiS) was a small political party in Poland. Founder Kornel Morawiecki, the Senior Marshal of the Sejm, led the party until his death in 2019. The party was plagued with poor electoral perfo ...

(''Wolni i Solidarni'') along with two other Kukiz'15 MPs. In February 2017, three Kukiz'15 MPs left the group and became a parliamentary representation of the association "Republicans" (''Republikanie''). In February 2018, Paweł Kukiz apologised for having introduced the nationalists into the Sejm. In May 2018, Kukiz'15 has coordinated with the

social conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social instituti ...

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

. In August 2019 Kukiz'15 joined the Polish Peasants Party (PSL) to set up a joint list for the 2019 parliamentary election named

. This alliance helped both parties overcome the 5%-threshold and Kukiz kept 6 MPs in the Sejm. Because of that alliance, the

Real Politics Union The Real Politics Union ( pl, Unia Polityki Realnej, UPR) is a national conservative and economically liberal political party in Poland. In the past it was right-libertarian and classical liberal. Popular support and funding UPR was founded in ...

ended cooperation with Kukiz'15. However, the ideological differences between the Pro-European PSL and the Eurosceptic Kukiz MPs led to a quick fallout. In November 2020, a

PiS Pis ( oc, Pis) is a commune in the Gers department in southwestern France. Geography Localisation Hydrography The river Auroue forms most of the commune's eastern border. Population See also *Communes of the Gers department The fol ...

motion was put to a vote on the support for the Polish government in the EU budget negotiations (in which Poland and Hungary used their veto). 5 of the 6 Kukiz MPs voted in support. This led the PSL and Kukiz'15 to part ways. On 20 June 2021, the reactivation of the congress of the Republicans, which were instrumental in the creation of Kukiz'15 in 2015, took place.

Karol Rabenda Karol may refer to: Places * Karol, Gujarat, a village on Saurashtra peninsula in Gujarat, west India * Karol State, a former Rajput petty princely state with seat in the above town Film/TV *'' Karol: A Man Who Became Pope'', a 2005 miniseries *' ...

announced that some Agreement members will join the Republican association and restructure it into a party, and that the newly formed party will subsequently join the

governing coalition A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

as a full member. In response, the

Law and Justice Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński. It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct su ...

chairman

Jarosław Kaczyński Jarosław Aleksander Kaczyński (; born 18 June 1949) is a Polish politician who is currently serving as leader of the Law and Justice party (known by its Polish acronym PiS), which he co-founded in 2001 with his twin brother, Lech Kaczyński, ...

made a speech praising the new reformed party. After

Jarosław Gowin Jarosław Adam Gowin (born 4 December 1961) is a Polish conservative politician and editor. Gowin served as Minister of Justice in the cabinet of Prime Minister Donald Tusk between 2011 and 2013, and as Minister of Science and Higher Education ...

's scepticism with the "Polish Deal" proposal (an economic recovery plan for countering the

COVID-19 recession The COVID-19 recession, also referred to as the Great Lockdown, is a global recession, global economic recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The recession began in most countries in February 2020. After a year of global economic slowdown ...

in Poland) and media law changes that would inevitably force the American company

Discovery, Inc. Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual television, factual and lifestyle television bra ...

to sell its

TVN Group TVN Group (''TVN S.A.'') is a Polish media and entertainment group established in 1995 as ''TVN Sp. z o.o''. The CEO of TVN Group is Katarzyna "Kasia" Kieli, president and managing director of TVN Warner Bros. Discovery. Its TV channel, TVN, i ...

, Gowin was publicly removed from his position as deputy prime minister, resulting in realignment of the composition of the coalition. As result, Adam Bielan's "Agreement rebels" new party joined the coalition as replacements, and the remaining Kukiz '15 MP's led by Paweł Kukiz declared their support for the coalition, except Stanisław Tyszka.

Deputies

All deputies were elected on

list *

- leader of the party. * Jarosław Sachajko * Stanisław Żuk

Election results

Sejm

{, class=wikitable , - ! Election year ! Number of
votes ! Percentage of
vote ! Number of
overall seats won !+/– !Government , - !

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, 1,339,094 , 8.81 (#3) , , New , , - ! rowspan="3" ,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, rowspan="2" , 1,578,523 , rowspan="2" , 8.6 (#4) , rowspan="2" , , rowspan="2" , 36 , , - , {{partial2, Government Support (2021-) , - , colspan="5" , As part of

, which won 30 seats in total.

Regional assemblies

{, class=wikitable , - ! Election year ! % of
vote ! # of
overall seats won ! +/– , - !

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, 5.7 (#5) , {{Composition bar, 0, 552, hex={{party color, Kukiz'15 , {{steady

European Parliament

{, class=wikitable , - ! Election year ! # of
vote ! % of
vote ! # of
overall seats won ! +/– , - !

, 503,564 , 3.69 (#5) , {{Composition bar, 0, 52, hex={{party color, Kukiz'15 , {{steady

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 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, ''Supported

Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz Władysław Marcin Kosiniak-Kamysz (born 10 August 1981) is a Polish physician and politician. Since 2015, he has served as the chairman of the Polish People's Party (PSL). From 2011 to 2015, he was Minister of Labor and Social Affairs in the go ...

'' , 459,365 , 2.4 (#5) , colspan="2" style="background:lightgrey;",

Footnotes

{{Reflist

External links

*{{official website, URL=http://k15.org.pl/ {{in lang, pl
Official website (old)
{{in lang, pl {{Polish political parties {{Authority control 2015 establishments in Poland Christian democratic parties in Europe Conservative liberal parties Conservative parties in Poland Direct democracy parties Political parties established in 2015 Political parties in Poland Right-wing populist parties