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 populism, populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti-Elitism, elitist sentiments, opposi ...
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 ...
in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...
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 wh ...
.
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 bein ...
parties such as
National Movement
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
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 instituti ...
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 pas ...
and in 2019 they joined the
Polish Coalition. 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 refor ...
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
National Movement
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
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.
Its leader and the party has expressed
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 refor ...
stances, and has been described as 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 populism, populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti-Elitism, elitist sentiments, opposi ...
, 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 in ...
party, that sits on the
centre-right
Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and m ...
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, autho ...
on the political spectrum.
The key postulates upon foundation of the party were:
* Eliminating the monopoly of political parties in parliament ("destroying
particracy")
* 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 thei ...
or
mixed electoral system.
*
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
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 ...
electoral system with
single member
A single-member district is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. Single-member districts are also sometimes called single-winner vot ...
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
National Movement
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
, 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 (''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 ...
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 pas ...
in
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
The Polish People's Party ( pl, Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe, PSL) is an agrarian political party in Poland. It is currently led by Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz.
Its history traces back to 1895, when it held the name People's Party, although i ...
(PSL) to set up a joint list for the
2019 parliamentary election named
Polish Coalition. 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 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 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 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 ...
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, w ...
made a speech praising the new reformed party.
After
Jarosław Gowin'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 economic recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The recession began in most countries in February 2020.
After a year of global economic slowdown that saw stagnati ...
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 based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Channe ...
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, ...
, Gowin was publicly removed from his position as deputy prime minister, resulting in realignment of the composition of the coalition.
[ ] As result,
Adam Bielan
Adam Jerzy Bielan (, born on 12 September 1974 in Gdańsk, Poland) is a Polish politician, Member of the European Parliament for Lesser Poland and Świętokrzyskie.
Bielan sits on the European Parliament's Committee on Regional Development. B ...
'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
Stanisław Tyszka (born 11 April 1979, in Warsaw) is a Polish politician and university lecturer. He has served as a member of the Sejm since 2015, and as Deputy Marshal of the Sejm since November of the same year.
Biography
Tyszka is a graduat ...
.
Deputies
All deputies were elected on
Polish Coalition list
*
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 wh ...
- leader of the party.
*
Jarosław Sachajko
Jarosław (; uk, Ярослав, Yaroslav, ; yi, יאַרעסלאָוו, Yareslov; german: Jaroslau) is a town in south-eastern Poland, with 38,970 inhabitants, as of 30 June 2014. Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (since 1999), prev ...
*
Stanisław Żuk
Stanisław Adam Żuk (born 1 October 1954 in Plinkajmy, Poland) is a Polish engineer, manager in the mining and energy industry, local government officer and politician, MP for the Sejm of the 9th parliamentary term.
Biography
He holds a mas ...
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 April ...
, 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 Polish Coalition, 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
! +/–
, -
!
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 ...
, 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 and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...
, ''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