The End of Morawiecki's Party. Free and Solidarity Becomes History

"Above us lies our homeland, with its language and tradition, its place and culture. There is the state, our great common home. Above us are universal human values: goodness and truth, freedom, justice, and solidarity. We want to serve them, enrich them, and strive for them," declared Kornel Morawiecki, the legendary oppositionist elected to the Sejm on the Kukiz'15 list, in 2016. He announced the creation of his own parliamentary group and the Free and Solidarity party. Indeed, the party was registered in November 2016, and its history has now come to an end.

On June 12th, it passed a resolution to change its name to Democracy. Theoretically, it still exists, but its banner no longer means anything to voters and is no longer associated with Morawiecki. This effectively marks the end of a party that was a key element of parliamentary politics during the PiS government.

Its story began in 2016, when then-Kukiz'15 MP Małgorzata Zwiercan double-voted in the Sejm, casting her vote for Kornel Morawiecki, who was absent . She was expelled from the parliamentary group, along with other Kukiz'15 MPs: Ireneusz Zyska and Morawiecki.

The latter, although he only made his debut as an MP in 2015, was a remarkable figure in Polish politics thanks to his activities during the Polish People's Republic, when he was the legendary leader of Fighting Solidarity . It was primarily for this reason that he was entrusted with the position of Senior Marshal in 2015. Furthermore, at the time of his departure from the Kukiz'15 club, he was the father of Mateusz Morawiecki, Deputy Prime Minister in the PiS government. All of this could have given hope for building an influential party.

And indeed, the beginnings were promising. The Free and Solidarity parliamentary group was joined by other former Kukiz'15 MPs: Sylwester Chruszcz, Adam Andruszkiewicz, and Jarosław Porwich, and it provided significant support in the votes to Law and Justice, which held a fragile majority in the parliamentary chamber. In 2018, Free and Solidarity even reached a preliminary agreement with PiS regarding its lists running in the provincial assembly elections.

Ultimately, however, they ran alone in the local elections with a poor result. The party and its circle began to crumble. Andruszkiewicz, Zyska, and Chruszcz defected to PiS, and on September 30, 2019, Kornel Morawiecki died , resulting in the dissolution of the Free and Solidarity parliamentary circle.

The death of its founder led to the party's complete dissolution. That same year, due to the lack of a chairman, the court appointed a guardian for the Free and Solidarity party. In 2021, the party's legal situation was rectified with Jan Miller as chairman, a move that drew criticism from the Fighting Solidarity Association and former members of the WiS parliamentary group.

"In the final years of his life, when Kornel Morawiecki was building the party, he didn't fully control who joined it. We're currently dealing with a situation where some people, about whom we know very little, decided to reactivate the party without consulting anyone," complained Artur Adamski of the Fighting Solidarity Association.

Maciej Kusior is currently the leader. Why did the party abandon its historical name? We tried to contact him with questions, but he doesn't provide any contact information online. However, we did obtain a copy of the amended statute, which he submitted to the court. It largely resembles the one drafted under Kornel Morawiecki. It states, among other things, that the party still wants to fight for a new political system, namely Solidarism, and a new Constitution that meets the challenges of the 21st century. The party's alternative name is Citizens and Justice.

"After Kornel Morawiecki's death, this party certainly lost its political purpose, its fuel, its support base, and essentially its very existence. I wasn't a party member myself, but I believe that the people involved in this project should find a place in other formations," says Sylwester Chruszcz, a former member of the Law and Justice (WiS) parliamentary group.

This isn't the only high-profile party to have fizzled out in recent months. Last May, a court deregistered Your Movement, which had triumphed in the Sejm with Janusz Palikot. During the 2011–2015 term, it was the first to boldly address issues such as the separation of church and state, LGBT rights, and the legalization of marijuana. However, after being expelled from parliament, it lost its influence, and in January 2023, it passed a resolution to dissolve itself.

"A hallmark of a good leader is that they prepare their party for various scenarios, including their own departure. Unfortunately, many parties in Poland are formed without alternatives, in a feudal manner, and after their leader's departure, they too fade into history," says political marketing specialist Dr. Sergiusz Trzeciak.