Razem

(, meaning 'Together Party') is a left-wing political party in Poland. It was founded in 2015, and from 2019 to 2024 the party's official name was (, 'Left Together').

The party was one of the eight nationwide committees standing in the 2015 parliamentary election. Party co-leaders are Adrian Zandberg and Aleksandra Owca, elected at the end of November and beginning of December 2024, following a split in the party in October. It supports principles of social democracy, democratic socialism, and social liberalism, and has expressed progressive views. The party is critical of the historical post-communist Democratic Left Alliance. It is a part of the European Left Alliance for the People and the Planet; a pan-European party that supports an alternative to capitalism. It was a member of the Progressive International and DiEM25.

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 as the main centre-left party. Many founders were previously activists in the Young Socialists, The Greens 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. 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 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 Marcelina Zawisza on its annual European Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the "Law & Policy" category for her role as a co-founder of Razem and one of the organisers of "black protest".

Since 2016, Razem has also been cooperating with the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25) pan-European movement, founded by Yanis Varoufakis. In May 2017, Varoufakis has expressed DiEM25's support for Razem in the 2019 European Parliament election.

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 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.

In 2018, the party was subjected to an investigation by the prosecutor's office for allegedly promoting communism, which goes against the Polish constitution. Party co-leader Adrian Zandberg accused the government of initiating the investigation as retaliation for the party's criticism and repudiated any links between Razem and totalitarianism.

In early 2019, in the run-up to the European Parliament election Razem Party rejected a proposal of an alignment with Robert Biedroń's Spring. On 28 February, party leaders officially announced formation of the electoral coalition with Labour Union and Social Justice Movement under the name of Lewica Razem. The coalition received 1.24% of overall votes, thus did not pass the 5% threshold and did not win any seats.

For the 2019 parliamentary election, Razem formed a coalition with the Democratic Left Alliance and Wiosna, known as The Left, the move has been a topic of intense debate due to Razem being founded in opposition to the Democratic Left Alliance. Many activists left due to the decision and the faction Socialist Action split to become an independent organisation. In the election Razem won six 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 was formally registered to SLD, Razem's candidates could not receive funding from their own party. Instead, they made personal donations after having withdrawn "appreciation bonus" from the party's budget. The situation caused uproar and was met with opposition within Razem.

During 2021 and 2022, the party released a podcast. Episodes consisted of interviews, discussions, solo talks, and speeches recorded during the parliamentary sessions. Outside of this, Razem is active on other social media.

In 2022, Razem ended cooperation with DiEM25 and Progressive International, criticising their, "lack of unequivocal declaration of recognition of Ukraine's sovereignty and the absolute condemnation of Russian imperialism" during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In the 2023 election, the party continued its engagement in The Left with other centre-left and left-wing parties. The coalition received the nationwide electoral list number 3. Seven members of Razem were elected to Sejm and two successfully ran for Senate seats, with the Senate Pact endorsement. Razem had intended to enter government as part of The Left coalition together with Donald Tusk's Civic Coalition and Third Way after the 2023 election but opted against doing as the other parties refused to include guarantees the party had sought in the coalition agreement, such as the decriminalisation of abortion and higher expenditure targets for issues such as healthcare and housing. However, it vowed to support Tusk's government in votes of confidence.

However, Razem became increasingly disenchanted with the government and clashed with it on a number of issues, including the proposed 2025 budget, and as such, with its coalition partner New Left, which entered government while Razem did not. In this context, membership in The Left coalition became increasingly untenable. As a result, on 11–12 October, a non-binding, consultative referendum was held to decide the course of the party ahead of a party congress on 26–27 October. 54% of participating members voted to leave the Left coalition. In expectation of and against this course being taken by the party at the congress, five Razem parliamentarians, including co-leader Magdalena Biejat, announced they would be leaving the party and remaining in The Left (parliamentary) coalition on 24 October. The party then voted to leave the Left coalition, with 0 votes against, on 27 October. In December, Zandberg was re-elected, while Aleksandra Owca became a new co-leader of the party.

On 11 January 2025 party's National Council designated Adrian Zandberg as a candidate in the presidential election scheduled on 18 May.

Ideology

Economic, tax and labour policy

The party's economic programme has been described as social democratic; it advocates labour rights and opposes deregulation and privatisation of public services. Among its main goals are strengthening redistribution, adopting a 35-hour workweek, raising the income tax threshold 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. The party also postulates liquidation of junk contracts (predatory, unregulated working contracts), a ban on health care commercialisation, refunding of in vitro and contraception treatments, restrictions on trade on Sundays and holidays, raising the tax-free amount, introducing a progressive tax for enterprises, increasing the length of parental leave and reducing MPs’ salaries. It also wishes to completely remove special economic zones from Poland. The party's economic programme is partially inspired by the Nordic model. The party considers itself part of the anti-austerity movement. British economist Guy Standing describes Razem as "the first authentic movement in Poland representing the precariat".Głos prekariatu – Guy Standing
at YouTube

Environmental politics

The party is a strong supporter of policies to mitigate the effects of climate change.
In the party’s programme, it is stated that by 2030, Poland should reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by at least half and by 2050, achieve full climate neutrality.
The party proposes, in place of fossil fuels, an energy mix based on renewable energy sources and nuclear energy. Giving priority to research into new energy technologies and the adaptation of the energy system itself.

Social policy

Razem is progressive 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; however, it does hold support for secularism, including opposition to teaching Catholic religion in public schools, outlawing the conscientious objection right, and limiting state funding of the Church and taxation thereof. However, Polish political scientists Michał Słowikowski and Michał Pierzgalski note that the party prioritises economic issues over social ones:

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. Razem is also critical of left-leaning big tent projects such as the United Left, arguing that the Polish left has discredited itself by working together with people like Leszek Miller (former Democratic Left Alliance Prime Minister) and Janusz Palikot (leader of Your Movement). Razem's founders state that "the postcommunist left-wing parties must disappear, so that a new, modern, European left party can reclaim the leftist vote".

The party maintains a nuanced attitude towards the Polish People's Republic: while condemning its authoritarian practices, it is respectful of its legacy in terms of social progression and modernisation. The party also opposes the so-called decommunisation laws and the Institute of National Remembrance, which they deem are used by the Polish right 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 and OSCE as the most important organisations in that context.

The party is a strong supporter of the European Union and has taken a stance against Brexit. 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. 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.

It strongly supports efforts for international arms control and disarmament 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, which they deem to be a violation of international law.

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', as well as the Russian annexation of Crimea. It criticised the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine 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 Ukraineand limit the influence of the Ukrainian oligarchy'.

The party opposes TTIP and CETA, 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 barriers.

The party has expressed sympathy and support for the Syrian and Turkish Kurds and has condemned Turkey's ruling AK Party, which they consider authoritarian and discriminatory.

Structure and leadership

Pursuant to the party statute, the Congress has the supreme authority within the party and convenes once a year. It consists of delegates selected within party districts. Other national bodies of the party are the:
* National Council, a deliberative and regulatory assembly;
* National Board, an executive body, led by two co-chairpersons selected with quotaism rule through universal suffrage by party members;
* National Audit Commission, carrying out evaluations and supervising adherence to the statute;
* National Electoral Commission, conducting party elections and referendums;
* Party Court of Arbitration, conducting mediations and dysciplinary proceedings.

The National Board has exercised a collective executive leadership until November 2022, when co-chairperson posts were introduced by a statut amendment.

Parliamentary representation

Members elected to the 9th term Sejm

Members elected to the 10th term Sejm

Former members elected to the 10th term Sejm and 11th term Senate

Election results

Presidential

Sejm

Senate

European Parliament

Sejmiks

List of notable Razem politicians

* Adrian Zandberg
* Marcelina Zawisza
* Paulina Matysiak
* Marta Stożek
* Maciej Konieczny
* Wojciech Browarny
* Piotr Czerniawski
* Paweł Dembowski
* Tomasz Ganicz
* Monika Kostera
* Mateusz Merta
Former members include:
* Daria Gosek-Popiołek
* Dorota Olko
* Joanna Wicha
* Anna Górska
* Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk
* Kasia Babis
* Magdalena Biejat

Notes

References

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Political parties in Poland