Civic Platform - History

History

The Civic Platform was founded in 2001 as a split from existing parties. Founders Andrzej Olechowski, Maciej Płażyński, and Donald Tusk were sometimes jokingly called "the Three Tenors" by Polish media and commentators. Olechowski and Płażyński left the party during the 2001-2005 parliamentary term, leaving Tusk as the sole remaining founder, and current party leader. In 2009, in interviews to Rzeczpospolita daily newspaper and Polsat News (3 July 2009), General Gromosław Czempiński, who in 1972 - 1990 had been an agent of Communist secret services, stated that the Civic Platform was his idea. "I can say that I participated in a number of discussions, above all, I had to convince Olechowski and Paweł Piskorski to an idea, which they excellently put into practice. I also talked to Donald Tusk" - said Czempiński, Czempinski's words were confirmed by Andrzej Olechowski (also an agent of Communist services, operational name "Must"), who in an interview given to Gazeta Polska said: "General Czempinski surely participated in a way in forming such ideas (...) I talked to General Czempinski about the newly created movement".

In the 2001 general election the party secured 12.6% of the vote and 58 deputies in the Sejm, making it the largest party in opposition to the government led by the Democratic Left Alliance.

In 2005, PO led all opinion polls with 26% to 30% of public support. However, in the 2005 general election, in which it was led by Jan Rokita, PO polled 24.1% and came second to Law and Justice's 27%. A centre-right coalition of PO and PiS (nicknamed:PO-PiS) was deemed most likely to form a government after the election. Yet the putative coalition parties had a falling out in the wake of the fiercely contested Polish presidential election in 2005.

Lech Kaczyński (PiS) won the second round of the presidential election on 23 October 2005 with 54% of the vote, ahead of Tusk, the PO candidate. Due to the demands of PiS for control of all the armed ministries (the MOD, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and the office of the Prime Minister, PO and PiS were unable to form a coalition. Instead, PiS formed a coalition with the support of the conservative Catholic-nationalist League of Polish Families and the agrarian-populist Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland. PO became the opposition to this PiS-led coalition government.

The PiS-led coalition fell apart in 2007 amid corruption scandal with Andrzej Lepper and Tomasz Lipiec and internal leadership disputes. These events led to the new elections. In the 21 October 2007 parliamentary election, PO won 41.51% of the popular vote and 209 out of 460 seats (now 201) in the Sejm and 60 out of 100 seats (now 56) in the Senate of Poland. Civic Platform, now the largest party in both houses of parliament, subsequently formed a coalition with the Polish People's Party.

At the Polish presidential election in 2010, following the Smolensk air crash which killed Polish president Lech Kaczyński, Tusk decided not to present his candidature, considered an easy possible victory over PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński. During the PO primary elections, Bronisław Komorowski defeated the Oxford-educated, PiS defector Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski. At the polls, Komorowski defeated Jarosław Kaczyński, ensuring PO dominance over the current Polish political landscape.

In November 2010, local elections granted Civic Platform about 30.1 percent of the votes and PiS at 23.2 percent, an increase for the former and a drop for the latter compared to the 2006 elections.

PO succeeded in winning four consecutive elections (a record in post-communist Poland), and Tusk remains as kingmaker. PO's dominance is also a reflection of left-wing weakness and divisions, with PiS suffering a splinter in Autumn 2010. Ahead of the 2011 Parliamentary Elections, the party has shown increasing populism with its leader Donald Tusk, whilst travelling around Poland in the so-called Tuskobus (by some comically referred to as Cyrkobus), concentrating solely on warning Poles of the danger of PiS returning to power and offering little in terms of genuine programme or reforms. The Civic Platform campaign was marred by frequent prostests amongst the general populace, football fans being the foremost.

The 9 October 2011 parliamentary election was won by Civic Platform with 39.18% of the popular vote, 207 of 460 seats in the Sejm, 63 out of 100 seats in the Senate.