Confederation Liberty and Independence
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The Confederation Liberty and Independence (Polish: Konfederacja Wolność i Niepodległość), frequently shortened to just Confederation (Polish: Konfederacja), is a far-right political party in Poland.
It was initially founded in 2018 as a political coalition for the 2019 European Parliament election, although it was later expanded into a political party. It won 11 seats in the Sejm after the 2019 parliamentary election. Its presidential candidate for the 2020 election was Krzysztof Bosak who placed fourth among eleven candidates. A coalition mainly led by Korwin, National Movement, and the Confederation of the Polish Crown, it is right-orientated and is considered to be a part of the radical right. It has expressed right-wing populist rhetoric, a more hardline opposition stance towards the European Union and immigration. It is economically liberal and has called for lowering taxes, and has also expressed socially conservative and nationalist stances.
Background edit
Two political parties, KORWiN and National Movement, announced in late 2018 that they have decided to run together in the upcoming European Parliament elections. In early 2019, Grzegorz Braun's organization and Piotr Krzysztof Liroy-Marzec's party joined the coalition. Kaja Godek, an ultra-conservative activist, announced her participation on the list. The coalition was dubbed "Pro-Polish Coalition", although in late February 2019, it was changed to "Konfederacja Korwin Braun Liroy Narodowcy". In March 2019, an application was submitted to register the party under that name, and the Federation for the Republic of Poland soon joined the alliance including some representatives. Its name was changed again, this time to "Confederation". The Party of Drivers joined the coalition in April, and soon after they elected Marek Jakubiak as the chairman. The Confederation placed fourth in the 2019 European Parliament election, winning 4.55% of the popular vote, although it did not reach the electoral threshold. After the election, Braun applied for the registration of the Confederation of the Polish Crown.
The coalition was registered on 25 July 2019 under the name "Confederation Liberty and Independence". Kaja Godek left the coalition soon after. Shortly before the 2019 parliamentary election, a schism occurred in the coalition, with many representatives joining the coalition while some of them also left. The coalition ended up winning 6.81% of the popular vote and won 11 seats in the Sejm. Most of the support the party received was in southeast and northern parts of Poland. Around 20% of all young voters aged under-30 supported the grouping, about two-thirds of its voters were male and more than three-fifths lived in smaller towns and rural areas. This has been highlighted as a significant change from previous right-wing alliances involving Korwin-Mikke where the base of support was almost exclusively young males. In November 2019, the Confederation presented nine candidates that took part in the presidential primaries organized by the party. The winner of the presidential primary was Krzysztof Bosak, who became Confederate candidate for the presidential election. During the first round of the election Bosak received 1,317,380 votes or 6.78%, coming fourth among eleven candidates.
In 2022, serious internal splits emerged as a result of Sławomir Mentzen's and Janusz Korwin-Mikke's pro-Russian and Ukrainophobic stances in light of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, causing several members to renounce their KORWiN memberships, albeit remaining within the coalition.
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