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Liberal Democratic Congress

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Liberal Democratic Congress
Kongres Liberalno Demokratyczny
LeaderJanusz Lewandowski (first)
Donald Tusk (last)
FoundersAndrzej Voigt
Donald Tusk
Janusz Lewandowski
Founded29 June 1990
Dissolved23 April 1994
Split fromSolidarity Citizens' Committee
Merged intoFreedom Union
IdeologyNeoliberalism[1]
Conservative liberalism[2]
Pro-Europeanism
Political positionCentre-right[3]
National affiliationCentre Agreement (until 1991)
European affiliationEuropean Democrat Union

The Liberal Democratic Congress (Polish: Kongres Liberalno-Demokratyczny, KLD) was a conservative-liberal political party in Poland.[4] The party, led by Donald Tusk, had roots in the Solidarity movement. It advocated free market economy, individual liberty, European integration in the form of European Union membership, and rapid privatisation of the enterprises still owned by the Polish state and decentralisation of the government.

History

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The party was founded in 1990 by the faction of Solidarity that strongly favoured free-market economy. Until 1991, was a part of the Centre Agreement led by the Kaczyński brothers. In the 1991 Polish parliamentary election, KLD got 7.5% of the votes and 37 seats in the Sejm (total 460 seats). Composed of anti-communist neoliberals, the MPs of the Liberal Democratic Congress were heavily involved in the Balcerowicz Plan, a neoliberal "shock therapy" program which dismantled the socialist economy in Poland and introduced a free-market capitalist economy through radical deregulation and privatization measures.[5]

Widespread public discontent with the Balcerowicz Plan and neoliberal policies caused the party's support to sharply decline.[5] In the 1993 Polish parliamentary election, KLD got 4.0% of the votes and was left without seats. The party then became increasingly marginalized and struggled to find a role for itself in Polish politics.[6]

In 1994, the KLD merged with the Democratic Union (Unia Demokratyczna) to form the Freedom Union (Unia Wolności, UW), preserving its liberal ideals. Former members, including Lewandowski and Donald Tusk, later joined the Civic Platform (PO) in 2001, where they shaped its moderate conservative wing. The KLD's legacy endures in Poland's market-driven economy, EU membership (2004), and the political careers of its founders. Donald Tusk, the KLD's final chairman (1991–1994), ascended to become Prime Minister of Poland (2007–2014) and President of the European Council (2014–2019), while Lewandowski served as EU Commissioner for Financial Programming and Budget (2010–2014), cementing the KLD's enduring impact on Poland's democratic trajectory.

Election results

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Sejm

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Election year Votes % Seats +/– Government
1991 839,978 7.49 (#7)
37 / 460
 Increase 37 PC–ZChN–PSL-PL–SLCh (1991–1992)
UD–ZChN–PChD–KLD–PSL-PL–SLCh–PPPP (1992–1993)
1993 550,578 3.99 (#10)
0 / 460
 Decrease 37 Extra-parliamentary

Senate

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Election year Seats +/– Government
1991
6 / 100
 PC–ZChN–PSL-PL–SLCh (1991–1992)
UD–ZChN–PChD–KLD–PSL-PL–SLCh–PPPP (1992–1993)
1993
1 / 100
 Decrease 5 SLD–PSL

Ideology

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The party advocated individual rights and neoliberal reforms.[7] The Liberal Democratic Congress was more radical on neoliberal economic postulates than the Freedom Union, postulating radical deregulation and arguing that "market rules took precedence of moral and political norms".[8] The party postulated a capitalist state based on the promotion of free enterprise, privatization and the consolidation of private ownership.[9]

The Liberal-Democratic Congress wanted to bring a "neoliberal and conservative revolution" to Poland based on the examples of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. Economically, the party listed Friedrich Hayek, Ludwig Mises, Walter Lippmann and Raymond Aron as its patrons. The leader of the party, Donald Tusk, claimed that "the basic evil of communism was the omnipresence of state institutions" and that "progress will be evident in privatization". The party also considered itself liberal-conservative.[10]

References

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  1. ^
    • Rae, Gavin (2008). Poland's Return to Capitalism: From the Socialist Bloc to the European Union. I.B. Tauris. p. 173. ISBN 978-1-84511-474-9. Liberal-Democratic Congress (KLD). The party developed in a neoliberal direction, which was underlined when Leszek Balcerowicz became its leader in 1995.
    • Avdeyeva, Olga A. (2015). Defending Women's Rights in Europe: Gender Equality and EU Enlargement. State University of New York Press. p. 131. ISBN 978-1-4384-5591-4. A group of liberal democratic parties advocated individual rights and neoliberal reforms (Democratic Union and the Liberal Democratic Congress), the social democratic left supported civic and socioeconomic rights (Democratic Left Alliance and the Labor Union), and the conservative-nationalist right advocated socioeconomic rights, but demanded the primacy of the family and the nation over the individual (e.g., the Christian-National Union) (Stanley 2011).
  2. ^ "Growing Popularity of Liberal-Democratic Congress" (PDF). JPRS Report: East Europe. Foreign Broadcast Information Service: 15. 14 June 1991. The KLD is already preparing for the election, although the lack of an electoral law makes precise actions impossible. We prefer alliances of electoral blocs or certain integrating movements in the direction of creating larger political organizations, for example, a broadly conceived liberal-conservative bloc.
  3. ^ Cornwell, John (5 May 2014). "Women Come to Power in the Vatican". Newsweek. She managed to bring together a parliamentary victory with a shaky coalition of her own Democratic Union, the Catholic Christian National Union, and the centre-right Liberal Democratic Congress.
  4. ^ Jerzy Szacki (1994). Liberalism After Communism. Central European University Press. p. 182. ISBN 978-1-85866-016-5.
  5. ^ a b Higgins, Andrew (12 December 2023). "Donald Tusk, a Man of Eclectic Identities, Returns to Power in Poland". New York Times. Warsaw.
  6. ^ Rae, Gavin (2008). Poland's Return to Capitalism: From the Socialist Bloc to the European Union. I.B. Tauris. p. 173. ISBN 978-1-84511-474-9.
  7. ^ Avdeyeva, Olga A. (2015). Defending Women's Rights in Europe: Gender Equality and EU Enlargement. State University of New York Press. p. 131. ISBN 978-1-4384-5591-4. A group of liberal democratic parties advocated individual rights and neoliberal reforms (Democratic Union and the Liberal Democratic Congress), the social democratic left supported civic and socioeconomic rights (Democratic Left Alliance and the Labor Union), and the conservative-nationalist right advocated socioeconomic rights, but demanded the primacy of the family and the nation over the individual (e.g., the Christian-National Union) (Stanley 2011).
  8. ^ Dziubka, Kazimierz (1997). "Emergent democratic citizenship: a study of changing value patterns in Polish society. Final Report" (PDF). NATO Research Fellowships Programme. Wroclaw: 44.
  9. ^ Rae, Gavin (2008). Poland's Return to Capitalism: From the Socialist Bloc to the European Union. I.B. Tauris. p. 185. ISBN 978-1-84511-474-9. Two main liberal parties existed in Poland at the beginning of transition: the Liberal-Democratic Congress (Kongres Liberalno-Demokratyczny – KLD) and the Democratic Union (Unia Demokratyczna – UD). The KLD believed in creating a democratic capitalist state, based upon the promotion of enterprise, privatisation and the consolidation of private ownership. (Kopczyński, 2000).
  10. ^ "Growing Popularity of Liberal-Democratic Congress" (PDF). JPRS Report: East Europe. Foreign Broadcast Information Service: 14–15. 14 June 1991.

See also

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