Leader collective leadership Headquarters Warsaw | Founded 16 May 2015 Political position Left-wing | |
 | ||
Ideology Social democracy
Democratic socialism Colours Red-violet (“alizarin carmine”) | ||
Partia Razem ([ˌpartja ˈrazɛm], Together Party) is a left-wing political party in Poland formed in May 2015. It was one of the eight nationwide committees standing in the 2015 parliamentary election.
Contents
History
Razem was founded as a response to the unsuccessful attempt to create a left-wing political platform in Poland during the 2015 presidential election. Another reason was dissatisfaction with the role of the post-communist Democratic Left Alliance as the main centre-left party. Many founders were previously activists in the Young Socialists, The Greens or local initiatives, including Kraków Against Games.
Razem's main political stances were formulated during the founding congress on 16–17 May 2015, when Razem's first National Board was elected, consisting of Jakub Baran, Aleksandra Cacha, Alicja Czubek, Maciej Konieczny, Magdalena Malińska, Mateusz Mirys, Katarzyna Paprota, Adrian Zandberg, and Marcelina Zawisza. However, several local structures were active even earlier, in March and April. The party was officially registered on 21 July 2015.
Razem registered lists for the 2015 parliamentary election in all electoral districts and received 3.6% of the vote in the election, below the 5% threshold to gain seats in parliament.
In 2016 Razem instigated mass protests (called the Black Protest) against a bill that would impose a complete ban on abortion, proposed by a citizens' initiative. In 2016, Foreign Policy magazine included Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk of the Razem National Board, together with Barbara Nowacka of Inicjatywa Polska, in its annual list of the 100 most influential global thinkers for their role in organizing the protest.
Ideology
The party advocates labor rights and opposes deregulation and privatisation of public services. Among its main goals are strengthening redistribution, adopting a 35-hour workweek, raising the income tax threshold to the equivalent of 12 times the minimum wage (ca. $3,200 as of 2016), establishing progressive corporate tax, and creating a healthcare programme funded directly from the state budget. It also wishes to completely remove special economic zones from Poland. The party's economic program is partially inspired by the Nordic model. The party considers itself part of the anti-austerity movement.
Razem is progressive on social issues, supporting drug liberalization, sex education in schools and LGBT rights. The party is known for staunch criticism of nationalism and supports European integration It also strictly follows gender quotas and is for liberalizing Poland's abortion law.
The party opposes TTIP, as they believe it will “lead to the undermining of financial stability and rapid growth of debt”.
British economist Guy Standing describes Razem as "the first authentic movement in Poland representing the precariat".
Structure
The party has no singular leadership. Instead, it is governed by five branches:
This structure is mirrored on the local level, with the District Assemblies, Boards and Councils.
As of January 2017, the Board consists of nine people: Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, Maciej Konieczny, Magdalena Malińska, Mateusz Mirys, Mateusz Trzeciak, Weronika Samolińska, Adrian Zandberg, Marcelina Zawisza and Julia Zimmermann.