The Greens (Poland)

History

The party was established in 2003 by activists of several social movements. Among its founding members there were environmentalists, feminists, LGBT and anti-war activists. The first political campaign of the emerging party concerned the Polish European Union membership referendum, the Greens campaigned for a "yes" vote. Greens 2004 took part in the movement against the Iraq War in 2003 and participated in Equality Parades and other social protests in the time of "Fourth Republic" (2005-2007). Since 3 March 2013 the official name of the party is Greens (Zieloni), Greens 2004 is a historical name and can still be used.

Election results

In the European Parliament election in 2004 the Greens received 0.27% of the votes. Before the 2005 Polish parliamentary elections, the Greens formed a coalition with the Social Democracy of Poland (SDPL). Their common list achieved 3.89% of the votes, the Greens' portion was 0.17%. In the 2005 presidential election, the Greens supported Marek Borowski, the chairman of the SDPL, who received 10.33% of the votes. In the Polish parliamentary elections of 2007, the Greens contested one district in the Senate. In February 2009, they formed a coalition called Alliance for the Future (Porozumienie dla Przyszłości - CentroLewica) with the social liberal Democratic Party and the social democratic SDPL, forming a common list for the 2009 European Parliament election. In local elections in 2010 members of the Greens ran in most cases from the lists of Democratic Left Alliance. In these elections, the Greens won five seats in local councils and regional parliaments.

Greens joined the Zjednoczona Lewica (United Left) electoral alliance for the 2015 parliamentary election in July 2015. In the election the alliance received 7.6% of the vote, below the 8% electoral threshold leaving the alliance with no parliamentary representation. It was officially dissolved in February 2016.

Policy

The framework for Green policies, called The Green Manifesto, was adopted by the founding congress of the party on 6 and 7 September 2003. The Green Manifesto outlined the principles of green politics in seven areas: social justice and solidarity, civil society and reclaiming the state for citizens, environmental protection and sustainable development, gender equality, respect for national, cultural and religious diversity, protecting minority rights, and non-violent conflict resolution.

At the 4th Congress in April 2011, the Greens 2004 adopted elaborated policy documents concerning the principles of social policy, education policy, and health care policy.

Leaders

Female co-chair

Male co-chair

Former Members of the Sejm

Councillors and members of regional parliaments

Other notable members

Other notable members of the party include: Kinga Dunin (writer, feminist, editor of Krytyka Polityczna), Radosław Gawlik (environmental activist, former deputy minister of the environment), Zbigniew Marek Hass, Tomasz Kitliński (philosopher, LGBT rights activist), Wojciech Koronkiewicz (poet, journalist, film director), Izabela Kowalczyk (art critic), Bartłomiej Kozek, Aleksandra Kretkowska, Bartosz Lech (former co-chair of the FYEG), Paweł Leszkowicz (art curator and art historian), Jerzy Masłowski, Magdalena Masny, Adam Ostolski (sociologist, member of Krytyka Polityczna), Monika Paca, Kazimiera Szczuka (writer, feminist, hosted the Polish version of The Weakest Link), Olga Tokarczuk (writer), Ludwik Tomiałojć (ornithologist), Ewa Sufin-Jacquemart (Consul of Poland in Luxembourg 2007-2011).