Law and Justice (
Polish: (PiS) is a
national conservative Polish political
party.
The party was established in 2001, by the Kaczyński twins,
Lech, the current
President of Poland, and
Jarosław, current party
chairman. Most present party members were once associated with the
now defunct
Solidarity
Electoral Action coalition or the
Movement for
Reconstruction of Poland.
History
The party was created on a wave of popularity gained by
Lech Kaczyński while heading the
Polish Ministry of
Justice (June 2000 to July 2001) in the
AWS-led government,
although local committees began appearing from
March 22,
2001.The AWS itself
was created from a diverse array of many small right-wing political
parties.
In the
2001 general
election PiS gained 44 (of 460) seats in the lower chamber of
the Polish Parliament (
Sejm) with 9.5% of
votes.
In
2002, Lech Kaczyński was elected
mayor of Warsaw
.
In the
2005 general
election PiS took first place with 27.0% of votes, which gave
it 155 out of 460 seats in the Sejm and 49 out of 100 seats in the
Senate. A coalition of
Civic Platform
(PO)and PiS was expected to be the most likely government to form
after the election. The putative coalition parties had a falling
out, however, related to fierce contest for the
Polish presidency. In the
end,
Lech Kaczyński won the
second round of the presidential election on
23 October 2005 with 54.0% of
the vote, ahead of
Donald Tusk, the PO
candidate.
After the 2005 elections, PiS formed a minority government headed
by
Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz
as prime minister, an arrangement that eventually turned out to be
unworkable. In July 2006 PiS formed a majority government with the
populist
Self-Defense of the
Republic of Poland and nationalist
League of Polish Families, headed
by the PiS party leader
Jarosław Kaczyński. Association
with these parties, on the margins of Polish politics, severely
affected the reputation of PiS. When accusations of corruption and
sexual harassments against the
leader of
Self Defense surfaced, PiS chose to end the coalition and
called for new elections.
In the
2007 general
election PiS managed to secure 32.1% of votes. Although an
improvement over the results from two years before, the results
were nevertheless a defeat for the party, as
Civic Platform (PO) gathered 41.5% of
support. The party won 166 out of 460 seats in the
Sejm and 39 seats in
Poland's Senate.
Ideology
International comparison
In the
European
Parliament
it is a member of the European Conservatives and
Reformists, a group founded in
2009 to challenge the prevailing pro-federalist ethos of the
European
Parliament and address the democratic deficit existing at a
European level.
Platform
In comparison with the other major party with
Solidarity roots,
Civic Platform, PiS projects a more
nationalist and socialist image overall. However the policies of
both parties take inspiration from the
Catholic social teaching.
Economy
The party supports a state-guaranteed minimum social safety net and
state intervention in the economy within
market economy bounds. During the election
campaign it proposed tax decrease to two personal tax rates (18%
and 32%) and tax rebates related to the number of children in a
family, as well as a reduction of the
VAT rate
(while keeping a variation between individual types of VAT rates).
18% and 32% tax rates were eventually implemented. Also: a
continuation of privatisation with the exclusion of several dozen
state companies deemed to be of strategic importance for the
country. PiS opposes cutting social welfare spending, and also
proposed the introduction of a system of state-guaranteed housing
loans (also unimplemented ).
Decommunization
PiS is a strong supporter of
lustration
(
lustracja), a verification system created ostensively to
combat the influence of the
Communist era security
apparatus in Polish society. While current lustration laws
require the verification of those who serve in public offices, PiS
wants to expand the process to include university professors,
lawyers, journalists, managers of large companies, and others
performing "public functions". Those found to have collaborated
with the
security
service, according to the party, should be forbidden to
practice in their professions.
PiS also supports revealing the names of all secret agents from the
time of the communist regime.
Crime and corruption
PiS advocates increased criminal penalties. It postulates
aggressive anti-
corruption
measures (including creation of an Anti-Corruption Office, open
disclosure of the assets of politicians and important public
servants), as well as broad and various measures to smooth the
working of public institutions.
Constitution, power structures
PiS has presented a project for constitutional reform including,
among others: allowing the
president the right to pass laws by
decree (when prompted to do so by the
Cabinet), a reduction of the number of
members of the
Sejm and
Senat, and removal of constitutional bodies
overseeing the media and monetary policy.
Defence policy
The party is in favour of strengthening the
Polish Army through diminishing
bureaucracy and raising military expenditures, especially for
modernization of army equipment. PiS plans to introduce a fully
professional army and end conscription by 2012.
It is also in favor of
participation of Poland in foreign military missions led by the
United Nations, NATO
and United States
, in countries like Afganistan
and Iraq
.
Following the election, it declared that Polish soldiers will
remain in Iraq for another 12 months.
Foreign affairs
The party supports integration with the
European union on terms beneficial for
Poland. It supports economic integration and tightening the
cooperation in areas of energetic security and military, but is
skeptical about closer political integration. It is against
formation of European
superstate or
federation. PiS is in favor of strong political and military
alliance of Poland with the United States.
Health care
PiS supports free health care, provided by the state.
Social issues
The party's views on social issues are broadly similar to those of
conservative parties in other European countries. It favors
strengthening restrictions on
abortion,
which is already illegal except in extraordinary circumstances. It
is also against
euthanasia. It opposes
same-sex marriages or any other form of legal recognition of
homosexual couples. The PiS are highly critical of sex and violence
in the media.
PiS promotes itself as a pro-family party. Prior to elections, it
promised to build 3 million inexpensive housing units as a way to
help young couples get married. Once in government, it pushed
through legislations lengthening maternal leaves and offered
qualified support to the idea of giving parents a grant for every
newly-born child. It favors shutting down large supermarkets on
Sundays and holidays, so their workers can spend more time with
their families.
While PiS presents itself as a champion of the
Catholic Church, its policies do
not always align with the Church's teaching. It has also shown some
flexibility in such matters as
in
vitro fertilization and
stem cell
research.
Gay rights
On
21 September 2005, Jarosław Kaczyński said that "
homosexuals
should not be isolated, however they should not be school teachers
for example. Active homosexuals surely not, in any
case", but that homosexuals "
should not be discriminated
otherwise".He has also stated, "
The affirmation of
homosexuality will lead to the downfall of civilization.
We can't agree to it". Lech Kaczynski, while mayor of
Warsaw, refused authorization for a gay pride march; declaring that
it would be obscene and offensive to other people's religious
beliefs. A Warsaw court later ruled that Kaczynski's actions were
illegal.
In June 2006, while the party was in power, the state prosecutor
announced an investigation of all gay groups for illegal financing,
criminal connections, and pedophilia. This came in response to a
May 12 letter from
Wojciech
Wierzejski, a front-bench member of Parliament for and a
vice-president of the
League
of Polish Families (
Roman
Giertych, the chairman of the League has been appointed
minister of education). The League at that time made part of the
government led by Jarosław Kaczyński. A copy of Wierzejski’s letter
was attached to the state prosecutor’s order. In addition, the
Ministry of Justice (headed by
Zbigniew
Ziobro) has ordered local prosecution offices to investigate if
‘any crimes of a pedophile nature have been committed by homosexual
persons’ in their respective area.
The
party's position on gay rights, and their perceived homophobia, has led to controversy in the
United
Kingdom
where the British Conservative Party joined
them in the anti-federalist grouping European Conservatives and
Reformists. The
Labour
Party criticised the Conservatives; with former British
Minister for Europe
Denis MacShane
saying "Tory isolationism is now creating a network of unpleasant,
ugly, anti-European parties grouped around
Cameron and
Hague, but surely they should draw the line at
links with gay-bashing homophobes". Shadow Home Secretary
William Hague defended the PiS and called the
accusations of homophobia ""ill-informed and out of date". The
controversy continued after a video from 2000 was released of
Michal Kaminski using the derogatory
polish word "pedal" (usually translated into English as
fag or
queer) to refer to gay
rights campaigners. A spokesperson for Kaminski said the term had a
different connotation a decade ago and is not a word he would use
today. Conservative MEP
Timothy
Kirkhope defended Kaminski saying his remarks were taken out of
context.
Equal opportunity
On
4 November 2005,
the PiS-led government closed down the Office of Government
Representative for the Equal Status of Women and Men (
Biuro
pełnomocnika rządu ds. równego statusu kobiet i mężczyzn),
replacing it with the newly created Department of Women, Family and
Counteracting Discrimination of the Ministry of Labour and Social
Policy (
Departament Kobiet, Rodziny i Przeciwdziałania
Dyskryminacji MPiPS).
Leadership
Chairmen:
See also
References
External links
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