Global InformationCivic Platform information
Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej | |
|---|---|
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| Abbreviation | PO |
| Chairman | Donald Tusk |
| General Secretary | Marcin Kierwiński |
| Parliamentary leader | Borys Budka |
| Spokesperson | Jan Grabiec |
| Founders |
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| Founded | 24 January 2001 |
| Split from |
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| Headquarters | ul. Wiejska 12A, 00-490 Warsaw |
| Membership (2022) | 23,727[1] |
| Ideology |
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| Political position | Centre to centre-right |
| National affiliation | Civic Coalition Senate Pact 2023 (for 2023 Senate election) |
| European affiliation | European People's Party |
| European Parliament group | European People's Party |
| Colours |
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| Sejm | 126 / 460 |
| Senate | 41 / 100 |
| European Parliament | 14 / 52 |
| Regional assemblies | 210 / 552 |
| City presidents | 40 / 107 |
| Website | |
| www | |
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The Civic Platform (Polish: Platforma Obywatelska, PO)[nb 1] is a centre to centre-right liberal conservative political party in Poland. Since 2021, it has been led by Donald Tusk, who previously led it from 2003 to 2014 and was President of the European Council from 2014 to 2019.
It was formed in 2001 by splinter factions from the Solidarity Electoral Action, the Freedom Union and the Conservative People's Party, and it later placed second in the 2001 Polish parliamentary election. It remained at the opposition until the 2007 Polish parliamentary opposition, when it overtook Law and Justice, won 209 seats, and Tusk was elected as Prime Minister of Poland. Following the Smolensk air disaster in 2010, Bronisław Komorowski served as acting president of Poland and later won the 2010 Polish presidential election. Tusk continued to serve as prime minister and leader of Civic Platform until he resigned in 2014 to assume the post of the president of the European Council. The party was defeated in the 2015 Polish parliamentary and presidential elections. It placed second in the 2019 Polish parliamentary election, and its 2020 Polish presidential election candidate, Rafał Trzaskowski, won 49% of the popular vote in the second round and lost the election to Andrzej Duda.
Initially positioned as a Christian democratic party with strong economically liberal tendencies, it soon adopted liberal conservatism throughout the 2000s. During its time in power, it was aligned with more pragmatic and centrist views, and was characterized as a catch-all party. In the 2010s, the Civic Platform adopted more socially liberal policies, aligned itself with conservative liberalism, and it has since been positioned in the centre and leaning towards the centre-right. It has also strongly advocated for Poland's membership in the European Union and NATO. It is a member of the European People's Party.
The party heads the Civic Coalition, which was founded in 2018. Since its creation, it has shown strong electoral performances in Warsaw, the west, and the north of Poland. Since the 2000s, the Civic Platform has established itself as one of the dominant political parties in Poland.
- ^ Kozłowski, Marcin (25 December 2022). "Zapytaliśmy partie o to, ilu mają członków. Liderem wciąż PSL, na podium też PiS i PO". wiadomosci.gazeta.pl (in Polish). Gazeta.pl. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
Platforma Obywatelska ma obecnie 23 727 członków (stan na 9 grudnia). Partia odnotowała spory spadek w porównaniu do ubiegłego roku (w lipcu 2021 r. deklarowała 34,1 tys. zarejestrowanych działaczy).
[Civic Platform currently has 23,727 members (as at 9 December). The party has seen a significant decrease compared to last year (in July 2021, it declared 34,100 registered activists).]
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