The Civic Coalition was originally created by the Civic Platform and Modern parties for 2018 local elections.[8] In June 2019, it was announced that the Civic Coalition would be slated to participate in the 2019 Polish parliamentary election and Civic Platform and Modern will form a joint parliamentary club.[9]The Greens announced at the end of July 2019 that they will participate in the elections as part of the Coalition.[10] In August 2019, the Silesian Autonomy Movement and other member organisations of the Silesian Electoral Agreement joined the Coalition.[11]
2018 local elections and present
In the 2018 local elections, the Civic Coalition received 26.97% of votes (second place after Law and Justice), winning 194 seats. In 8 voivodeships, it obtained the best result, and in the Pomerania the majority of seats. The coalition fared worse in the powiat and mayoral election. In the first round of 11 candidates of the Civic Coalition won elections for mayors of cities (including Rafał Trzaskowski in Warsaw). In addition, 15 candidates of the Civic Coalition went through to the second round, of which 8 were elected. Candidates of Civic Coalition were elected presidents of 19 cities, while it was placed second to the national-conservativeLaw and Justice in four.[12]
The committee has shown stronger electoral performances in large cities, such as, Warsaw, Poznań, Gdańsk, Wrocław, Łódź, and Kraków. Better than average results were achieved in West and North Poland (Recovered Territories). In the Opole Voivodeship, Civic Coalition received high support among the German minority. However, it has weaker support in the villages and in the conservative eastern Poland.[13]
In the 2019 parliamentary elections, the Coalition received most of its votes in major cities (as in 2018 local elections) and areas surrounding them. For the 2019 election, the coalition entered an agreement with Silesian Regional Party and Silesian Autonomy Movement, and activists and politicians associated with these Silesian parties were included on the Civic Coalition's electoral lists.[14] The electoral pact between the Civic Coalition and Silesian regionalists declared three demands – the strengthening of regional government, an increase in the share of tax revenues allocated to local governments, and the recognition of Silesian language as a regional language.[15]
Civic Platform already cooperated with Silesian Autonomy Movement on local level – in 2015, both parties entered a local coalition in the Silesian Voivodeship Sejmik.[16] In March 2023, Civic Coalition again pledged to recognize Silesian as a regional language.[17]
After exit polls for the 2023 parliamentary elections showed KO having taken a strong enough second place finish to oust the ruling Law and Justice party, KO leader Donald Tusk said, "I have been a politician for many years. I'm an athlete. Never in my life have I been so happy about taking seemingly second place. Poland won. Democracy has won."[18]
^The Civic Coalition's name that was used in the 2019 parliamentary election was the "Coalition Electoral Committee Civic Coalition PO .N iPL Greens" (Polish: Koalicyjny Komitet Wyborczy Koalicja Obywatelska PO .N iPL Zieloni).
Barbora Krempaská; Lars-Andre Richter; Florentyna Martyńska (18 October 2023). "Victory for Democracy in Poland". Friedrich Naumann Foundation. Moreover, it is likely to hand over power to Donald Tusk, the leading candidate of the liberal-conservative Civic Coalition (Koalicja Obywatelska - KO).
Piotr Zagórski (31 October 2023). "Poland Has Woken Up". El Pais. Donald Tusk's liberal-conservative Civic Coalition with 30.7% of the vote and 157 seats, the Third Way coalition (which unites the peasant party with another conservative party) with 14.4% and 65 seats, and the New Left with 8.6% and 26 seats will try to form a government backed by 248 MPs, 17 above the majority.
"Poland: PiS government steps down as parliament meets". Deutsche Welle. 13 November 2023. The alliance will put forth Tusk, the head of the liberal-conservative Civic Coalition (KO), as its candidate for prime minister; and Szymon Holowina of the centrist 2050 party, as candidate for speaker.
Wallace Jones (13 December 2023). "The government is installed and Tusk is sworn in as the new Polish Prime Minister". todaytimeslive.com. The three-way alliance consisting of Tusk's liberal-conservative Civic Coalition, the Christian-conservative Third Way and the left-wing Lewica alliance won a government majority in the October 15 parliamentary elections.
Davison, Dan; Pospieszyńska, Ewa (2 October 2023). "On Migration, the Polish Left Has All But Given Up". Novara Media. With the Civic Coalition trying to woo Law and Justice voters by repackaging its xenophobia, it falls to the Polish left to change the narrative on immigration.
|""A powerful shot from a cannon." Tusk announces suspension of right to asylum". oko.press. 12 October 2024. "There is no surprise, but Prime Minister Tusk went further than expected: he announced the suspension of the right to asylum. He said: "One of the elements of the migration strategy will be a temporary, territorial suspension of the right to asylum, and I will demand recognition in Europe for this decision.
