New Hope (Poland)

The New Hope (Polish: Nowa Nadzieja, Polish pronunciation: [ˈnowa naˈd͡ʑɛ.ja]; NN),[1] is a right-wing political party in Poland. It is currently led by Sławomir Mentzen.[2]

New Hope
Nowa Nadzieja
PresidentSławomir Mentzen
Vice-presidents
FounderJanusz Korwin-Mikke
Founded22 January 2015
Split fromCongress of the New Right
HeadquartersWarsaw
Youth wingYouth for Liberty
Ideology
Political positionRight-wing to far-right
National affiliationConfederation Liberty and Independence
International affiliationInternational Alliance of Libertarian Parties
Colors
  •   Gold
  •   Blue
Sejm
8 / 460
Senate
0 / 100
European Parliament
0 / 51
Regional assemblies
1 / 552
Website
wolnosc.pl

Founded in 2015 by Janusz Korwin-Mikke as a result of his removal from the Congress of the New Right, his former party,[3] it was initially called Coalition for the Renewal of the Republic of Liberty and Hope (Polish: Koalicja Odnowy Rzeczypospolitej Wolność i Nadzieja) and then subsequently Confederation for the Renewal of the Republic of Liberty and Hope (Polish: Konfederacja Odnowy Rzeczypospolitej Wolność i Nadzieja), both abbreviated to just KORWiN or sometimes Liberty (Polish: Wolność).

Among the other party's members are Przemysław Wipler, who held a seat in the Polish Sejm and Robert Iwaszkiewicz, Member of the European Parliament. The party's Polish name was originally a backronym of the founder's name Korwin-Mikke, who took part in the 2015 presidential election.[4]

In 2018, the party formed a coalition with National Movement called Confederation.[5]

History

The party was formed shortly after Janusz Korwin-Mikke was removed from the chairmanship of the Congress of the New Right (KNP). The pro-Korwin faction of the KNP ended up forming the KORWiN party ahead of the 2015 Polish presidential election. Janusz Korwin-Mikke finished fourth in that election, earning 3.26% of the vote (486,084 votes).[6] In the 2015 Polish parliamentary election the party earned 4.76% of the vote (722,999 votes) but it failed to reach the 5% electoral threshold needed to get any seats.[7]

The party gained two seats during the VIII Sejm after Jacek Wilk and later Jakub Kulesza left Kukiz'15 to join KORWiN.

Ahead of the 2019 European Parliament election in Poland, KORWiN formed an alliance with the National Movement (RN) and other right-wing parties called the Confederation.[8] Even though the coalition failed to get any seats, the main parties stayed together to contest the 2019 Polish parliamentary election. The Confederation ended up receiving 6.81% of the vote (1,256,953 votes) and 11 seats, five of which were taken by the KORWiN members.

For the 2020 Polish presidential election, KORWiN endorsed vice-chairman of the RN Krzysztof Bosak following his victory in the 2019–20 Confederation presidential primary. Bosak received 6.8% of the vote (1,317,380) which was by far the best result of any candidate (or party) endorsed by Janusz Korwin-Mikke.

In March 2022, claiming that the party has abandoned its libertarian roots and become Russophilic, three MPs left the party, creating a splinter group called Wolnościowcy.[9]

On 15 October 2022, Korwin-Mikke stepped down as the party president and was replaced by Sławomir Mentzen, the party's then vice president. Mentzen has worked to transform the image of the party away from a personality cult of Korwin-Mikke culminating in changing the party's name to "New Hope."[10]

Ideology and position

The New Hope has been described as a right-wing[11] and far-right party.[12][13][14] It has been ideologically described as libertarian-conservative,[15] libertarian,[16][17] and conservative-liberal.[18] It supports lowering taxes and implementing radical privatisation,[19] while regarding social issues, the party is conservative.[20] It has been also described as right-wing populist.[21][22][23] It has expressed hard Eurosceptic views towards the European Union.[24]

Programme

The party's programme preamble calls for:[25]

  • rebuilding the basic values of the Polish culture and "Latin civilization" and the Christian moral foundations of society,
  • construction of rule of law, fair and efficient governance based on the subsidiarity principle,
  • implementation of the "eternal human aspirations for Freedom",
  • respect for the private property of citizens and the fruits of their labor,
  • striving for the implementation of the Polish national interest in the international arena and optimal conditions for the development of the Republic of Poland,
  • strengthening the role of the family and creating favorable conditions for its development.

Other issues mentioned in the program are:

  • the adoption of a new Polish constitution which takes into account the "principle of no harm to the willing" and the introduction of a presidential system; strengthening the tripartite division of powers by prohibiting the combination of positions in the legislative, executive and judiciary (especially the functions of a deputy and minister);
  • the reduction of the role of the Sejm to the body deciding on the amount of taxes and controlling the executive power, and the reduction of the number of ministries;
  • the creation of an eleven-person Council of State elected by the Senate and appointed by the President. According to the group's leader, it would take over the legislative initiative from the government
  • elimination of PIT and CIT income taxes as well as inheritance and donation tax, as well as the abolition of compulsory pension and health insurance while respecting acquired rights;
  • introducing in the constitution a ban on adopting a budget with a deficit in peacetime; regaining sovereignty which, according to the party, requires abandoning the Treaty of Lisbon and rebuilding the treaty base of the European Union;
  • halving defense spending;
  • reintroduction of the death penalty.

Election results

Sejm
Election Leader Votes % Seats Change Government
2015 Janusz Korwin-Mikke 722,999 4.8 (#7)
0 / 460
 New Extra-parliamentary
2019 1,256,953 6.8 (#4)
5 / 460
 Increase 5 Opposition
As part of Confederation coalition, which won 11 seats in total.
2023 Sławomir Mentzen 1,547,364 7.2 (#5)
8 / 460
 Increase 3 TBA
As part of Confederation coalition, which won 18 seats in total.

Presidential
Election year Candidate 1st round 2nd round Result
# of overall votes  % of overall vote # of overall votes  % of overall vote
2015 Janusz Korwin-Mikke 486,084 3.26 (#4) — Lost
2020 Supported Krzysztof Bosak 1,317,380 6.78 (#4) — Lost

References
  1. "Mentzen ogłosił nową nazwę partii KORWiN". Do Rzeczy (in Polish). 29 November 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  2. "Partia KORWiN zmieniła nazwę". TVN24.pl. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  3. "Korwin-Mikke odsunięty z funkcji prezesa KNP z przyczyn osobistych? - GazetaPrawna.pl - biznes, podatki, prawo, finanse, wiadomości, praca". GazetaPrawna.pl. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  4. "Janusz Korwin-Mikke: Jeśli wygram będę silnym prezydentem, którego trzeba się bać [ZDJĘCIA+VIDEO". Polskatimes.pl. 4 February 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  5. Rogacin, Kacper (27 February 2019). "Konfederacja KORWiN, Liroy, Braun, Narodowcy. Zaprezentowano nazwę i logo. Znamy szczegóły". polskatimes.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  6. Prezydent 2015
  7. "Partia KORWiN tworzy koło poselskie - ludzie". wnp.pl.
  8. "Ruch Narodowy i Wolność utworzyły "eurosceptyczną" koalicję w wyborach do PE". RadioMaryja.pl. 6 December 2018.
  9. "Nowa partia posłów z Konfederacji. Zamieszanie z nazwą". Wydarzenia Interia. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  10. "KORWiN zmienia nazwę. Stowarzyszenie "Nowa nadzieja" wysyła przedsądowe pismo do Mentzena". Rzeczpospolita. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  11. Nardelli, Alberto (22 October 2015). "Polish elections 2015: a guide to the parties, polls and electoral system". The Guardian.
  12. Rettman, Andrew (23 September 2015). "Poland defends EU refugee decision". EUobserver. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  13. Kiepuszewski, Rafal (22 October 2015). "Poland's youth is key as election looms". Deutsche Welle (DW). Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  14. "Nowy sondaż. Tego nie spodziewał się nawet Kaczyński". Fakt24.pl (in Polish). 8 April 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  15. Ciupka, Marysia (29 March 2021). "Clubhouse Leads Politicians on to Straight Talking". Visegrad Insight. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  16. Wilczek, Maria (29 August 2020). "Poland introduces surcharge on sugary and alcoholic drinks - but government denies it is a tax". Notes From Poland. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  17. "PiS backing grows in February". Polska Agencja Prasowa SA. 16 February 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  18. "Partia KORWiN". WP.pl (in Polish). 1 January 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  19. "The Congress of the New Right is the latest anti-establishment party to have success in Poland, but it may struggle to secure long-term support". EUROPP. 10 June 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  20. Stępińska, Agnieszka (2020). Populist political communication in Poland : political actors - media - citizens. Artur Lipiński, Dorota Piontek, Agnieszka Hess. Berlin. p. 75. ISBN 978-3-8325-5142-1. OCLC 1223070217.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  21. Stępińska, Agnieszka (2020). Populist political communication in Poland : political actors - media - citizens. Artur Lipiński, Dorota Piontek, Agnieszka Hess. Berlin. p. 105. ISBN 978-3-8325-5142-1. OCLC 1223070217.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  22. van Beek, Ursula (2019). "The Return of Nationalist Ethos: The Loss of Liberal Democracy in Poland?". Democracy under Threat. Challenges to Democracy in the 21st Century. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University. p. 100. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-89453-9_4. ISBN 978-3-319-89452-2.
  23. "Law and Justice (PiS) in office wins the elections in Poland". www.robert-schuman.eu. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  24. "Polls differ on Poland's Sunday election". EurActiv.com. 23 October 2015.
  25. "Statut Partii KORWIN".
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.