Waldemar Włodzimierz Witkowski (born 29 October 1953) is a Polish politician, currently serving as a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

. He has been a leader of the

Labour Union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

since 2006, and from 2006 to 2018 served as a member of the Greater Poland Voivodeship Sejmik.

Biography

Witkowski was born in

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

in 1953. He is married and has two children: a daughter, Monika, and son, Maciej. Witkowski is also a notable cooperation movement activist. He was a member of the

Polish United Workers' Party The Polish United Workers' Party (, ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other legally permitted subordinate minor parti ...

from 1976 until the party dissolved itself in 1990. Then he joined the Labour Union, and quickly rose to become one of the union's leaders in

Greater Poland Voivodeship Greater Poland Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship, or province, in west-central Poland. The province is named after the region called Greater Poland (''Wielkopolska'' ). The modern province includes most of this historic re ...

. Witkowski served as an honorary member of the executive body of the re-election campaign of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Aleksander Kwaśniewski Aleksander Kwaśniewski (; born 15 November 1954) is a Polish politician and journalist. He served the maximum two terms as the president of Poland from 1995 to 2005. His tenure as President was marked by modernization of Poland, rapid economi ...

in 2000 (when the Labour Union supported Kwaśniewski). The Labour Union and Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) formed a coalition prior to the 2001 parliamentary elections. Witkowski served as one of the coalition's campaign leaders, although he didn't run himself for the

Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...

or the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. From 2001 to 2005, he was first deputy of the Greater Poland

Voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

. In the 2005 presidential election, he supported Marek Borowski. Witkowski served as a member of the Greater Poland Voivodeship Sejmik from 2006 until 2018. He was elected a leader of the Labour Union on 25 February 2006. The Labour Union, the Democratic Left Alliance, the Social Democrats of Poland (SdPl) and the Polish Democratic Party (PD) formed the Left and Democrats (LiD) coalition in 2006, just prior to the impending local government elections. Witkowski became one of the joint leaders of the new grouping alongside Wojciech Olejniczak of SLD, Janusz Onyszkiewicz of PD, Marek Borowski of SdPl and former President Kwaśniewski. Witkowski contested the October 2007 parliamentary elections, as a LiD candidate in the district of

. However, despite being No. 2 on the party list, he did not manage to gain enough votes for election to the

(lower chamber of parliament). Witkowski was also one of eleven candidates in the 2020 presidential election. He did not submit 100,000 eligible signatures until after the election day change, which resulted in the

electoral commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

denying his application. The decision was overturned by the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. In the 28th of June vote he received 27,290 ballots (0.14% nationwide), leaving him second-to-last, with just Mirosław Piotrowski getting 6 thousand fewer. Witkowski refused to endorse any of the two candidates in the runoff. Witkowski was elected member of the

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

representing Constituency no.1. He sits with The Left parliamentary group.

Honours

* Knight's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

(2012) * Gold Cross of Merit (1999) * Silver Cross of Merit (1994) * Bronze Cross of Merit

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Witkowski, Waldemar 1953 births Living people Politicians from Poznań Polish United Workers' Party members Labour Union (Poland) politicians Polish cooperative organizers Knights of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland) Recipients of the Bronze Cross of Merit (Poland) Recipients of the Silver Cross of Merit (Poland) Poznań University of Technology alumni Candidates in the 2020 Polish presidential election Recipients of the Meritorious Activist of Culture badge Members of the Senate of Poland 2023–2027