League of Polish Families (Liga Polskich Rodzin) is a right-wing and populist opposition party in the Polish Parliament. It was created just before the elections in 2001 and gained 8% of the votes.

History

Their leader is Roman Giertych. His father Maciej Giertych is a parliament deputy in the same party as his son. Roman Giertych's grandfather was a deputy to the parliament of the Second Polish Republic before the World War II, and a member of the National Democracy , a group that initially stayed close to Imperial Russia's interests in Poland. Roman Giertych graduated from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań . He studied both Law and History. Then he started cooperation with Polish National Democrats such as Jan Łopuszański , Antoni Macierewicz, Gabryjel Janowski and others. Some of the press believe that his party is affiliated with father Tadeusz Rydzyk , director of the Catholic radio station Radio Maryja , hugely popular among older people, though sometimes criticized by top Church authorities in Poland. However, it has never been proved that the party is in any way founded by him. Soon after the election in 2001 a group of deputies separated from LPR, creating a new party known now as Porozumienie Polskie (Polish Circle) with the leader Jan Łopuszański.

In the 2004 elections to the European Parliament LPR received 16% votes which gave it 15 out of 54 seats reserved for Poland in European Parliament. This made the LPR the second largest party in Poland in that election, second only to the liberal Platforma Obywatelska, and well ahead of the ruling left-wing Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej, the populist Samoobrona and the conservative Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc. However, two notable features of that election were the low overall turnout (less than 20% of eligible voters) and the apparent very high average age of LPR voters. Thus, the long-term significance of the LPR's strong performance in that election is as yet unclear.

Political agenda

The political agenda is Christian left. However, recently the party has begun to try to claim it is from the patriotic right. The party combines social conservatism with isolationism and left-wing economic policies, based upon its own interpretation of Roman Catholic social doctrine. The party is fiercely anti-European Union and is the only significant political force in Poland that is unconditionally against Polish membership in the European Union, believing that a union formed from the ground up by social liberals can never be reformed.

The party attracts voters who feel lost in the political transformation which have occurred in Poland since 1989, but are unwilling to vote for the Communists. Unlike many similar parties, LPR has not been involved in any political scandals.

Leaders

• Roman Giertych - party chairman

Members of Polish Parliament (Sejm)

MP, constituency

• Janusz Dobrosz , Wrocław
• Andrzej Fedorowicz , Białystok
• Roman Giertych, Warszawa
• Grzegorz Górniak , Wałbrzych
• Stanisław Gudzowski , Zielona Góra
• Witold Hatka , Bydgoszcz
• Zbigniew Jacyna-Onyszkiewicz , Poznań
• Zdzisław Jankowski , Konin
• Ryszard Kędra , Krosno
• Marek Kotlinowski , Kraków
• Zofia Krasicka-Domka , Nowy Sącz
• Andrzej Mańka , Lublin
• Gabriela Masłowska , Lublin
• Halina Murias , Rzeszów
• Leszek Murzyn , Chrzanów
• Stanisław Papież , Kraków
• Elżbieta Ratajczak , Kalisz
• Ewa Sowińska , Łódź
• Józef Skowyra , Piła
• Anna Sobecka , Toruń
• Robert Strąk , Gdynia
• Stanisław Szyszkowski , Kielce
• Zenon Tyma , Opole
• Zygmunt Wrzodak , Rzeszów
• Stanisław Zadora , Bielsko-Biała

League of Polish Families - Electoral Committee

Except for LPR party members the electoral committee consisted of several political parties and groups that formed separate parliamentary caucuses in Polish parliament:

• Ruch Katolicko-Narodowy, leader: Antoni Macierewicz
• Dom Ojczysty, leader: Piotr Krutul
• Porozumienie Polskie, leader: Jan Łopuszański
• Ruch Odbudowy Polski, leader: Jan Olszewski

Members of Polish Senate

• Adam Biela
• Ryszard Matusiak - 11.07.2004 by-elections in Jelenia Góra/Legnica constituency, LPR caucus secratary
• Jan Szafraniec - Senate LPR caucus chairman
• Zofia Skrzypek-Mrowiec
• Józef Sztorc - Senate LPR caucus vicechairman

Members of European Parliament

• Filip Adwent, physician and author
• Sylwester Chruszcz , architect and politician
• Maciej Giertych, politician and publicist
• Dariusz Grabowski , economist, politician and businessman
• Urszula Krupa , doctor of medicine, journalist
• Mirosław Piotrowski , professor of history
• Bogdan Pęk , zootechnologist and politician
• Bogusław Rogalski , historian, farmer and political activist
• Witold Tomczak , physician and politician
• Wojciech Wierzejski , politician and sociologist

Eurosceptic caucus: Independence and Democracy

31 newly elected MEPs from the UK, Poland, Denmark and Sweden grouped together in the European Parliament to form a group named Independence and Democracy, formerly the group for Europe of Democracies and Diversities, which relaunched with its new name in 2004. The main goals of this group are rejection of any European Constitution and opposition to any plans for a federal Europe. The leaders are: Nigel Farage of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP, 12 MEPs), Jens-Peter Bonde from Denmark, and Maciej Giertych from the League of Polish Families (10 MEPs).

External links

Official website in Polish

See also: Politics of Poland, List of political parties in Poland