Our ambition is to be the leading force of the Polish right and win the trust of millions of new voters. We look optimistically to 2024. What awaits us is the strengthening of the Confederation’s position, Krzysztof Bosak, deputy chairman of the Sejm and one of the Confederation’s leaders, told PAP.
PAP: 2023 was full of many important political events: election campaign, parliamentary elections, change of power in Poland. What year was it for the Confederacy?
Krzysztof Bosak: It was a year of the election campaign, the struggle for power in Poland, the struggle for the position of each political party in the parliamentary system. Since the end of last year, there has been an informal election campaign, which culminated in the parliamentary elections that led to a change of power in Poland. A change that many wanted and that many also believed was unrealistic. I think it was a change that surprised many people, especially those from the ruling camp.
It was a difficult year for the Confederation because, as everyone knows, we do not belong to any of the major political camps, neither related to PiS nor related to the Platform. We did not support any of these groups. We fought for our independent position. We had no allies in the media world. The media supporting PiS and the Platform approached us reluctantly, often constructively ignoring what we were doing and focusing only on the controversies. The balance is that we have defended and improved our position in parliamentary politics. The goal of establishing a parliamentary club was achieved. We have managed to increase the number of voters by several hundred thousand new people, but we have not been able to gain influence over the executive branch. From our perspective, executive power is shifting from rain to gutter, that is, from Jarosław Kaczyński’s camp to Donald Tusk’s camp. We define ourselves as an alternative to both camps and therefore we have no sense of success when it comes to the power transition that is taking place. These are events that we look at critically. We were critical of the outgoing camp, the government of Mateusz Morawiecki, and we are no less critical of the government of Donald Tusk, which has shown from the first days that it is not a better government.
Looking at the Confederation election results, we know that you had much greater ambitions. About halfway through the election campaign you even received support of a few percent in the polls…
During the entire election campaign we kept a great distance from the ballot box. Of course, polls showing an increase in support are always welcome, but they should also be approached with caution. We have always approached it with such distance and realized that since the so-called The difference between the poll “above” and the poll “below” is often several months, so we are happy that we have more MPs, that we have a club and that more voters voted for us. This is of course far removed from our ambition; our ambition is to be the leading force of the Polish right and win the trust of millions of new voters who, for various reasons, currently see a political opportunity in PiS, PO or Third Way. .
When summarizing the year, it is impossible not to refer to the events of a few weeks ago. On December 12, MP Grzegorz Braun used a powder fire extinguisher to extinguish the Hanukkah candles lit during the ceremony in the Sejm. He was suspended as a member of the Confederation Club and is also banned from speaking from the parliamentary podium. A petition was also submitted against him to the public prosecutor’s office. for disrupting a religious ceremony. Will the Confederacy take further action regarding Braun?
From the perspective of the whole year, our political work is for the Poles, their security, prosperity and for the benefit of our country, in defense of fundamental values such as freedom and independence – the disruption that took place in the Sejm is a small incident, rather blown up to excessive proportions by the media. This does not change the foundations of our joint work and its objectives.
Media reports indicate that Janusz Korwin-Mikke, who has been suspended as a member of the Confederation and excluded from the party’s Leadership Council, would like to work more closely with MP Braun. How do you respond to these announcements?
As for these announcements, I will not comment on them. We’ll see what happens.
Aren’t you afraid that Braun, together with other MPs of the Confederation of the Crown of Poland, will leave the Confederation’s parliamentary club and create their own parliamentary group?
We look to 2024 with optimism. I think what awaits us is the strengthening of the Confederation’s position. We are not guided by fears, we have our ambitions, we must achieve our goals and I am sure that their implementation will move forward. Hopefully we will have the same staff as us, but it always depends on the will of all partners. I am sure that the club will continue to exist in 2024, we will develop, move forward and not focus on mutual grievances or divisions.
The upcoming year 2024 is also the year of elections: local government and European Parliament. What are your plans and strategy for the elections?
The fundamental challenge for any political party is to issue lists in the next elections and compete for seats in local government and the European Parliament. We need good, strong pro-Polish representation in each of these areas. We both want to place our councilors in provincial assemblies to have executive power at the level of provincial self-government, and we also want to place our representatives in the European Parliament so that we can look into the hands of Eurocrats and Polish politicians. who come there and often, unfortunately, trade Polish interests and Polish business in exchange for EU money. We want to keep an eye on them and keep an eye on all of this. That is why we will issue letters to all provincial parliaments and lists in all constituencies to the European Parliament. We will fight for the strongest possible representation in both elections.
Do you plan to cooperate with other parties in the context of the next elections?
We will certainly present our lists, and whether they will be completely independent lists, only those of the Confederation of Freedom and Independence, or whether we will make agreements is an open question. We still have some time to register the lists. We will spend this time analyzing the situation and choosing what is most appropriate from the perspective of Poles and our voters.
gah/PAP
Source: wPolityce
Emma Matthew is a political analyst for “Social Bites”. With a keen understanding of the inner workings of government and a passion for politics, she provides insightful and informative coverage of the latest political developments.