Left Together () is a left-wing political party in Poland. It was formed in 2015 as "Together", and it was one of the eight nationwide committees standing in the 2015 parliamentary election. It was a member of the Progressive International, and it has cooperated with DiEM25 since 2016. In 2022, Razem ended cooperation with both organizations, criticising their "lack of an unequivocal declaration of recognition of Ukraine's sovereignty and the absolute condemnation of Russian imperialism" during the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. As of 2022, it is headed by a co-leadership consisting of Adrian Zandberg and Magdalena Biejat. It supports principles of democratic-socialism and has expressed

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy pa ...

views. It also maintains a

syndicalist Syndicalism is a revolutionary current within the left-wing of the labor movement that seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes with the eventual goal of gaining control over the means of pr ...

faction.

History

Razem was founded as a response to the unsuccessful attempt to create a left-wing political platform in Poland during the 2015 presidential election. Another reason was dissatisfaction with the role of the post-communist

Democratic Left Alliance The Democratic Left Alliance () was a social democracy, social-democratic list of political parties in Poland, political party in Poland. It was formed in 9 July 1991 as an electoral alliance of centre-left politics, centre-left parties, and bec ...

as the main centre-left party. Many founders were previously activists in the Young Socialists,

The Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to: Current political parties *Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens'' * Greens of Andorra * Greens of Bosnia and Herzegovina *Greens of Burkina * Greens (Greece) * Greens of Montenegro * Greens of Serbia * G ...

or local initiatives, including Kraków Against Games. Razem's main political stances were formulated during the founding congress on 16–17 May 2015, when Razem's first National Board was elected, consisting of Jakub Baran, Aleksandra Cacha, Alicja Czubek, Maciej Konieczny, Magdalena Malińska, Mateusz Mirys, Katarzyna Paprota, Adrian Zandberg, and

Marcelina Zawisza Marcelina Monika Zawisza (born 3 May 1989 in Katowice, Poland) is a Polish social activist and left-wing politician. She is a member of the National Board of the Razem (''Together'') party. Biography Early life and education She was born in Kat ...

. However, several local structures were active even earlier, in March and April. The party was officially registered on 21 July 2015. Razem registered lists for the 2015 parliamentary election in all electoral districts and received 3.6% of the vote in the election, below the 5% threshold to gain seats in parliament. However, having met the 3% threshold, the party received state subsidy for their election campaign. In 2016 Razem instigated mass protests (called the ''Black Protest'') against a bill that would impose a complete ban on abortion, proposed by a citizens' initiative.To ona wymyśliła #CzarnyProtest. ''Mówili, że lajkami na Facebooku i czarnym ubraniem nie wygramy. No więc wygraliśmy!''
/ref> In 2016, '' Foreign Policy'' magazine included Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk of the Razem National Board, together with

Barbara Nowacka Barbara Anna Nowacka (born 10 May 1975) is a Polish politician. A left activist in Labour United, and later in Your Movement, in October 2015 she became leader of the United Left coalition for the 2015 Polish parliamentary election, bringing tog ...

of Polish Initiative (Inicjatywa Polska), in its annual list of the 100 most influential global thinkers for their role in organising the protest. In 2018, '' Forbes'' magazine included

on its annual European

Forbes 30 Under 30 ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 is a set of lists of people under 30 years old issued annually by '' Forbes'' magazine and some of its regional editions. The American lists recognize 600 business and industry figures, with 30 selected in twenty industries ...

list in the "Law & Policy" category for her role as a co-founder of Razem and one of the organizers of "black protest". Since 2016, Razem has also been cooperating with the

Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 The Democracy in Europe Movement 2025, or DiEM25, is a pan-European political movement founded in 2016 by a group of Europeans, including former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis and Croatian philosopher Srećko Horvat. The movement was o ...

(DiEM25) pan-European movement, founded by

Yanis Varoufakis Ioannis "Yanis" Varoufakis ( el, Ιωάννης Γεωργίου "Γιάνης" Βαρουφάκης, Ioánnis Georgíou "Giánis" Varoufákis, ; born 24 March 1961) is a Greek economist and politician. A former academic, he served as the Gree ...

. In May 2017, Varoufakis has expressed DiEM25's support for Razem in the

2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...

. On 6 July 2017 Razem organised a protest against Donald Trump's visit to Poland. Protesters were dressed as handmaids from Margaret Atwood's '' The Handmaid's Tale'', as a symbol of the stripping down of women's rights both in Poland and the United States. In September 2017, Razem activists filed a complaint with the National Electoral Commission on behalf of the party, alleging that the

Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists The European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party), formerly known as Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (AECR) (2009–2016) and Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE) (2016–2019), is a conservativ ...

had helped to fund a Law and Justice conference during the 2015 parliamentary election campaign in violation of European Parliament rules as well as Polish electoral law. On 29 October, the commission announced that it would investigate the complaint. Razem was reluctant to launch a

youth organisation The following is a list of youth organizations. A youth organization is a type of organization with a focus upon providing activities and socialization for minors. In this list, most organizations are international unless noted otherwise. ...

, claiming that the party is already run by relatively young people and does not need a separate entity for teenage activists. Eventually, in May 2019, Razem formed Młodzi Razem (The Together Youth), which recruits supporters between 13 and 25 years of age. The organisation focuses on local activism and minority rights; several of its members are assistants to the party's politicians. For the 2019 parliamentary election, Razem formed a coalition with the

and Wiosna, known as The Left, winning 6 seats in the Sejm. Soon after the election results were announced, the National Board voted to oblige the six elected MPs to donate all income surpassing triple the minimum wage to charity; universally lowering politicians' pay to this threshold was one of the early postulates. Since the

electoral list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...

was formally registered to SLD, Razem's candidates could not receive funding from their own party. Instead, they made personal donations after having cashed out "appreciation bonus" from the party's budget. The situation caused uproar and was met with opposition within Razem. Since January 2021, the party regularly releases a

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

"Partia Razem mówi ciekawe rzeczy" (''The Together Party talks about interesting stuff''). Episodes consist of interviews, discussions, solo talks, and speeches recorded during the parliamentary sessions. Outside of this, Razem livestreams on Facebook and YouTube.

Ideology

Economic, tax and labour policy

The party advocates labour rights and opposes deregulation and privatisation of public services. Among its main goals are strengthening redistribution, adopting a

35-hour workweek The 35-hour working week is a part of a labour law reform adopted in France in February 2000, under Prime Minister Lionel Jospin's Plural Left government. Pushed by Minister of Labour Martine Aubry, it was adopted in two phases: the "Aubry 1" la ...

, raising the

income tax threshold The income tax threshold is the income level at which a person begins paying income taxes. The income tax threshold equates to the: *Personal allowance in the UK, which is £12,500 for 2019/20. *Basic allowance in Germany, which is €9,408 in 20 ...

to the equivalent of 12 times the minimum wage (ca. $3,200 as of 2016), establishing progressive corporate tax, and creating a healthcare programme funded directly from the state budget. It also wishes to completely remove special economic zones from Poland. The party's economic program is partially inspired by the Nordic model. The party considers itself part of the

anti-austerity movement The anti-austerity movement refers to the mobilisation of street protests and grassroots campaigns that has happened across various countries, especially in Europe, since the onset of the worldwide Great Recession. Anti-austerity actions are ...

. British economist Guy Standing describes Razem as "the first authentic movement in Poland representing the

precariat In sociology and economics, the precariat () is a neologism for a social class formed by people suffering from precarity, which means existing without predictability or security, affecting material or psychological welfare. The term is a portma ...

".Głos prekariatu – Guy Standing
at YouTube

Social policy

Razem is

on social issues, supporting drug liberalisation, sex education in schools and LGBT rights. It also strictly follows gender quotas and is for liberalising Poland's abortion law. The party is not known to be particularly

antireligious Antireligion is opposition to religion. It involves opposition to organized religion, religious practices or religious institutions. The term ''antireligion'' has also been used to describe opposition to specific forms of supernatural worship ...

, however it does hold secular agenda, including opposition to teaching Catholic religion in public schools, outlawing the conscientious objection right, limiting state funding of the Church and taxation thereof. It has opposed the introduction of Single Member Electoral Constituencies for elections to the Polish Sejm, which in their opinion leads to the creation of a

two-party system A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referre ...

. The party maintains a nuanced attitude towards the

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million near ...

: while condemning its authoritarian practices, it is respectful of its legacy in terms of social progression and modernization. The party also opposes the so-called

decommunization Decommunization is the process of dismantling the legacies of communist state establishments, culture, and psychology in the post-communist countries. It is sometimes referred to as political cleansing. Although the term has been occasionally ...

laws and the

Institute of National Remembrance The Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation ( pl, Instytut Pamięci Narodowej – Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu, abbreviated IPN) is a Polish state resea ...

, which they deem are used by the ruling

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 fo ...

party to wage a war against the historic memory and legacy of the political left. Razem believes that Poland should "actively engage in the fight against climate change" and expresses its willingness to "take the necessary steps to adapt the economy f Polandto the challenges of climate change".

Foreign and defence policy

Razem supports an active role for Poland in the international community, citing the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

and OSCE as the most important organizations in that context. The party is a strong supporter of the European Union and has taken a stance against

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

. The party believes that the EU, in its current form, represents the interests of 'big business', but has nonetheless found 'indisputable successes' and could be reformed to create a 'progressive' pan-European social and tax policy. The party is a proponent of stronger

European integration European integration is the process of industrial, economic, political, legal, social, and cultural integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integration has primarily come about through the European Union and it ...

. The party further proposes the creation of an EU army. On the other hand, it has criticised the Eurozone, stating that it had been 'poorly thought-out' and could lead to financial shocks in 'weaker Union economies', however adding that if the 'reformed' Eurozone were to become 'truly solidary', it would fully support Poland's adoption of the Euro. The party has declared that it is convinced that NATO was 'not a sufficient tool' to ensure the lasting security of Poland and Europe, instead preferring the creation of an EU Army through the

Common Security and Defence Policy The Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is the European Union's (EU) course of action in the fields of defence and crisis management, and a main component of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The CSDP involves the deplo ...

. It strongly supports efforts for international

arms control Arms control is a term for international restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation and usage of small arms, conventional weapons, and weapons of mass destruction. Arms control is typically exercised through the u ...

and

disarmament Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, such as n ...

as part of a larger 'peace policy'. The party states that it opposes 'all forms of imperialism' and has condemned the

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Ba'athist Iraq, Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one mont ...

, which they deem to be a violation of

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

. It has also condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy, what they deem to be the Kremlin's 'nationalist hysteria', 'extreme conservatism' and 'legally sanctioned

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, ma ...

', as well as the Russian annexation of Crimea. It criticised the

as "Putin that has repeatedly broken international law by infringing upon the territorial integrity of a neighbouring country" . At the same time, it has criticised 'the policy of the conservative-liberal Ukrainian government'. It has stated that, if in power, it would 'support social justice

n Ukraine N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

and limit the influence of the Ukrainian oligarchy'. The party opposes

TTIP The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) was a proposed trade agreement between the European Union and the United States, with the aim of promoting trade and multilateral economic growth. According to Karel de Gucht, European ...

and

CETA The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is a free-trade agreement between Canada and the European Union and its member states. It has been provisionally applied, thus removing 98% of the preexisting tariffs between the two parts. ...

, as they believe they will "lead to the undermining of financial stability and rapid growth of debt". It poses a welcoming stance to refugees entering Poland and considers it an obligation of the Polish state to 'help the most deprived'. It also opposes the construction of

border barrier A border barrier is a separation barrier that runs along or near an international border. Such barriers are typically constructed for border control purposes such as curbing illegal immigration, human trafficking, and smuggling. Some such barri ...

s. The party has expressed sympathy and support for the

Syrian Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indi ...

and Turkish Kurds and has condemned Turkey's ruling

AK Party The Justice and Development Party ( tr, Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, ; AKP), abbreviated officially AK Party in English, is a political party in Turkey self-describing as conservative-democrat. It is one of the two major parties of contemporar ...

, which they consider authoritarian and discriminatory. Razem and other The Left politicians actively support the Belarusian protesters in Warsaw, following the hijacking of the Ryanair plane.

Structure

Left Together is headed by a co-leadership consisting of Adrian Zandberg and Magdalena Biejat. Until November 2022 the party had no singular leadership. Instead, it was governed by five branches: *Congress — the supreme authority of the party; elects the members of the National Executive Board, Council and Audit Commission, enacts the party program *National Council — the legislative body *National Executive Board — the executive body; members of the Board also act as public representatives of the party *National Audit Commission — the control body *National Court of Arbitration — the judicial body This structure is mirrored on the local level, with the District Assemblies, Boards and Councils. As of January 2021, the Board consists of five people: Anna Górska, Bartosz Grucela, Paulina Matysiak, Maciej Szlinder and Joanna Wicha.

History

Ideology

Economic, tax and labour policy

Social policy

Foreign and defence policy

Structure

Members elected to the IX term Sejm

Election Results

Sejm

European Parliament

Presidential

See also

References