The Confederation Liberty and Independence ( pl, Konfederacja Wolność i Niepodległość), frequently shortened to just Confederation ( pl, Konfederacja), is a

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 being ...

political party in Poland. It was initially founded in 2018 as a political coalition for 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 peop ...

, although it was later expanded into a political party. It won 11 seats in the

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

after the 2019 parliamentary election. Its presidential candidate for the 2020 election was Krzysztof Bosak who placed fourth among eleven candidates. A coalition mainly led by Korwin, National Movement, and the Confederation of the Polish Crown, it is right-orientated and is considered to be a part of the radical right. It has expressed

right-wing populist Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right-wing nationalism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics and populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti-elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establi ...

rhetoric, a more hardline opposition stance towards the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

and immigration. It is

economically liberal Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberali ...

and has called for lowering taxes, and has also expressed

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 institution ...

and

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

stances.

History

Two political parties, KORWiN and National Movement, announced in late 2018 that they have decided to run together in the upcoming

European Parliament elections Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Unti ...

. In early 2019, Grzegorz Braun's organization and Piotr Krzysztof Liroy-Marzec's party joined the coalition.

Kaja Godek Kaja Godek is a Polish ultra-conservative activist and leader of the foundation ("life and family"). She proposed a law against abortion () in 2013 and a law against LGBT marches () in 2021. The anti-abortion proposal did not pass the first pa ...

, an ultra-conservative activist, announced her participation on the list. The coalition was dubbed "Pro-Polish Coalition", although in late February 2019, it was changed to "Konfederacja Korwin Braun Liroy Narodowcy". In March 2019, an application was submitted to register the party under that name, and the Federation for the Republic of Poland soon joined the alliance including some representatives. Its name was changed again, this time to "Confederation". The Party of Drivers joined the coalition in April, and soon after they elected

Marek Jakubiak Marek Jakubiak (born 30 April 1959 in Warsaw) is a Polish politician and brewer. He was a member of the Sejm from 2015 to 2019 and a candidate for President in 2020. In 2015, he was elected to the Sejm, starting from the Kukiz'15 Kukiz'15 i ...

as the chairman. The Confederation placed fourth in the 2019 European Parliament election, winning 4.55% of the popular vote, although it did not reach the electoral threshold. After the election, Braun applied for the registration of the Confederation of the Polish Crown. The coalition was registered on 25 July 2019 under the name "Confederation Liberty and Independence". Kaja Godek left the coalition soon after. Shortly before the 2019 parliamentary election, a schism occurred in the coalition, with many representatives joining the coalition while some of them also left. The coalition ended up winning 6.81% of the popular vote and won 11 seats in the

. Most of the support the party received was in southeast and northern parts of Poland. Around 20% of all young voters aged under-30 supported the grouping, about two-thirds of its voters were male and more than three-fifths lived in smaller towns and rural areas. This has been highlighted as a significant change from previous right-wing alliances involving Korwin-Mikke where the base of support was almost exclusively young males. In November 2019, the Confederation presented nine candidates that took part in the presidential primaries organized by the party. The winner of the presidential primary was Krzysztof Bosak, who became Confederate candidate for the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

. During the first round of the election Bosak received 1,317,380 votes or 6.78%, coming fourth among eleven candidates. In 2022, serious internal splits emerged as a result of Sławomir Mentzen's and

Janusz Korwin-Mikke Janusz Ryszard Korwin-Mikke (; born 27 October 1942), also known by his initials JKM or simply as Korwin, is a Polish far-right politician, paleolibertarian and author. He was a member of the European Parliament from 2014 until 2018. He was the ...

's pro-Russian and Ukrainophobic stances in light of 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. A ...

, causing several members to renounce their KORWiN memberships, albeit remaining within the coalition.

Ideology and position

The Confederation is a right-orientated political party, and it is positioned on the

on the political spectrum. It is also considered to be a part of the radical right, although some have disputed that it does not contain all elements of the radical right. Its ideology compromises the support for numerous

ideas. It has presented a hardline opposition stance to the

, and has criticized its and Law and Justice's policies towards immigration, calling for harder stances against illegal immigration instead. It is also

, and

antifeminist Antifeminism, also spelled anti-feminism, is opposition to some or all forms of feminism. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, antifeminists opposed particular policy proposals for women's rights, such as the right to vote, educat ...

, it also supports total ban on

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

, and supports the traditional family model. It has also expressed

xenophobic Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...

views, and has openly provided support for

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, it has also spread misinformation about COVID-19 and opposed laws that were implemented by the government. Unlike the Law and Justice, its economic position is orientated towards

economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic libera ...

and economic libertarianism and it is considered strongly pro-free market. It is also

, and has been also described as national-liberal. In its program, they have stated their goal "to turn Poland into a ethnocracy and culturally homogenous nation built around traditionalist-Catholic principles". It has also expressed nativist sentiment.

Platform

Confederation's platform includes the following promises, as well as others: * Taxation ** Eliminate the income tax ** Make social insurance contributions optional ** Reduce gasoline taxes ** Reduce

government spending Government spending or expenditure includes all government consumption, investment, and transfer payments. In national income accounting, the acquisition by governments of goods and services for current use, to directly satisfy the individual ...

* Judicial ** Hire more judges' assistants ** Restore

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

* Education ** Create a

school voucher A school voucher, also called an education voucher in a voucher system, is a certificate of government funding for students at schools chosen by themselves or their parents. Funding is usually for a particular year, term, or semester. In some cou ...

program ** Allow parents to opt-out their children from sex-education classes ** Create a cultural voucher that can be used on arts or

museums A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

* National Security ** Allow licensed civilians to own firearms ** Allow the use of nuclear energy ** Oppose the

's refugee resettlement program ** Oppose increases in immigration ** Expect immigrants to integrate into

Polish culture The culture of Poland ( pl, Kultura Polski ) is the product of its geography and distinct historical evolution, which is closely connected to an intricate thousand-year history. Polish culture forms an important part of western civilization and ...

* Health ** Ban importation of garbage ** Oppose the

's climate change rules ** Protect human life from the moment of conception * Business ** Abolish penalties for street trade and raise the limits on unlicensed trade. ** Raise the VAT exemption to zl 400,000 ** Index the tax exempt amount to be approximately twelve times the

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. B ...

** Allow businesses to refuse services on moral grounds

Composition

Current political parties

Current organisations and movements

Former political parties

Political parties who had members with individual agreements

Former organisations and movements

Results

European Parliament

Sejm

Senate

Presidential

Internal

References

{{Polish political parties 2018 establishments in Poland Eurosceptic parties in Poland Capital punishment in Poland Climate change denial Political parties established in 2018 Political party alliances in Poland Right-wing populism in Poland Anti-Islam political parties in Europe Anti-Islam sentiment in Poland Right-wing populist parties Right-wing parties in Europe Anarcho-capitalist organizations