Free Republicans

Free Republicans (; WR, Republikanie) is a right-wing political party and a parliamentary group in the Sejm of Poland, founded on by Kukiz’15 members.

History

In the Kukiz'15 circle, which became the Free Republicans, sat Kukiz'15 deputies: Paweł Kukiz (leader), and also Marek Jakubiak and Jarosław Sachajko; since Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski, who left Law and Justice to found Freedom and Prosperity on , was also a party member. The party name alludes to the United States Republican Party.

On , a press conference was held in the Sejm, where Witold Gadowski and Wojciech Sumliński from There is One Poland, from Freedom and Prosperity, and representatives from Rural Solidarity, "Samoobrona" agricultural trade union and the All-Polish Grassroots Farmers' Protest appeared alongside Kukiz'15 members.

On the Kukiz'15 circle transformed into the Free Republicans circle, and its leader became Marek Jakubiak. Twelve days later it announced it will contest the 2025 Polish presidential election with Marek Jakubiak as its candidate. In the election, Jakubiak sought to promote the party and appeal to conservative and Polish diaspora circles. There were minor conflicts inside the party in the presidential campaign, as Jakubiak had a friendly attitude towards the main Polish right-wing party Law and Justice, while Kukiz, the co-leader of Free Republicans, distanced himself from both Law and Justice and Jakubiak's overtures to them. In the first round, Jakubiak finished 10th, winning 0.77% of the popular vote.

After the first round, all MPs of the party endorsed Karol Nawrocki, an independent candidate supported by Law and Justice. Kukiz said that supporting Nawrocki is necessary to prevent the Tusk government from abusing the law to suppress its political opponents, and called on both right-wing and left-wing movements to support Nawrocki. Similarly, Jakubiak argued that it is necessary to support Nawrocki to prevent Poland from becoming a "banana republic" of the European Union.

Ideology

Free Republicans are considered right-wing, and conservative. Kukiz described Free Republicans as a party with a goal "to unite all those people who have a patriotic worldview and who either did not vote or, for various reasons, did not vote for PiS in the previous elections" and "to create a force that will remove cosmopolitans and bad people from power." On behalf of the party, Sachajko stated that Free Republicans prioritize Polish families, support motherhood, and oppose immigration. The party describes itself as conservative, patriotic, pro-independence, connected with the Christian tradition and concerned with Polish agriculture.

According to Jakubiak, Free Republicans have the same proposals and program that Kukiz'15 had been pursuing before. The party's programmatic demands listed by Jakubiak include the establishment of an Institution of Judicial Justice, introduction of general election for Attorney General, and the establishment of a mechanism that will allow for a recall of the Polish president. The party also wants to introduce direct-vote referendums and to change the electoral law of Poland. Kukiz spoke of the ideologically diverse character of the party, as each of its MP has "a different approach to politics and different goals in the Sejm". Jakubiak represents the interests of the Polish diaspora and right-wing circles, while Jan Ardanowski represents those who "voted for the right wing but did not vote in these elections because they were disappointed with the agricultural policy pursued by PiS."

For the 2025 Polish presidential election, the party presented a program based on simplifying the tax system and cutting financial obligations on businesses, speeding up court proceedings and increasing the transparency of the courts, transferring more powers to local governments, trengthening the armed forces and modernising the Polish army, introducing tax breaks and subsidies for farmers, the creation of local cooperatives and economic initiatives in rural areas, as well as greater welfare support for families and pro-family policies that would increase natural population growth.

Free Republicans postulate a return to active conscription that would also apply to women, with 3-6 months of military training. It also supports selective nationalization of Polish industry, lump-sum tax on businesses and replacing the personal income tax with turnover tax. The party argues that a relationship between two people should have a utilitarian significance for the state, and thus supports marriage as a heterosexual family with children, and opposes civil partnerships. It is also in favor of a "bull tax" (), a tax on childless people. The party also proposes an advanced agricultural program - it opposes the EU–Mercosur Association Agreement, calls for agricultural protectionism and subsidies, and proposes establishing a system through which state-owned companies would purchase and process Polish agricultural products in order to allow the state to control the prices. It argues that Poland should establish food sovereignty instead of relying on food imports. The party criticizes the agricultural policy of Law and Justice for focusing on subsidies instead of state intervention.

Deputies

* Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski ( Freedom and Prosperity)
* Marek Jakubiak (Kukiz'15, Federation for the Republic) – leader
* Paweł Kukiz (independent representative from Kukiz'15)
* Jarosław Sachajko (Kukiz'15)

All deputies were elected from the Law and Justice electoral lists.

Electoral results

Presidential

References

{{Authority control

2024 establishments in Poland
Conservative parties in Poland
Political parties established in 2024
Political parties in Poland
Right-wing populist parties