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Centre Agreement

Centre Agreement
Porozumienie Centrum
LeaderJarosław Kaczyński
Founded12 May 1990 (1990-05-12)
Dissolved25 September 2002 (2002-09-25)
Split fromSolidarity Citizens' Committee
IdeologyChristian democracy[1]
Economic nationalism[2]
Anti-communism[3]
Political positionCentre-right[4]
National affiliation
European affiliationEuropean Democrat Union (1991-1996)[5]
International affiliationInternational Democracy Union (1991–1996)[5]
Colors  Red

The Centre Agreement (Polish: Porozumienie Centrum, PC) was a Christian-democratic political party in Poland. It was established in 1990 and had its roots in the Solidarity trade union and its political arm, the Solidarity Citizens' Committee. Its main leader was Jarosław Kaczyński.[6][7][8][9] The party was initially the party of choice of Polish president Lech Wałęsa and heavily cooperated with him and his environment between 1990 and 1992, leading the first post-communist governments. In 1991, Jan Olszewski from Centre Agreement gained the support of Wałęsa for his candidacy for Prime Minister, forming a PC-led government. However, the government was mired with internal conflicts in 1992 and fell to a vote of no confidence. Afterwards, the party was increasingly marginalized and became a part of Solidarity Electoral Action in 1997. In 1999, the bigger faction of the party left to the newly created Polish Christian Democratic Agreement; further, in 2001, the leadership of the party dissolved Centre Agreement to found Law and Justice, the direct successor of the party.[10] However, it wouldn't be until a year later that it would dissolve.[citation needed]

In its programme, the PC opposed socialism and was strongly anti-communist. It was a centrist party that declared its commitment to the principles of Christian democracy but distanced itself from Catholic nationalism. On cultural issues, the Centre Agreement adhered to Catholic principles, although it stressed that while it supports expanding the role of the Catholic Church in the Polish state, Poland must also accommodate non-believers.[3] The party stood out through its economic program as it supported social market economy and was unique in the post-Solidarity front in its negative approach towards the neoliberal Balcerowicz Plan. The PC argued that market economy created 'distortions' which citizens should be protected from, and stated that the main goal of Polish economy should be "preventing the impoverishment of families in need". The party was critical of privatization, seeing it as a reform that made few people rich at the expense of the general population. Through this, the Centre Agreement represented voters who were anti-communist but nevertheless critical of liberal capitalism.[11]

  1. ^ Dakowska, Dorota (2010). "Whither Euroscepticism? The Uses of European Integration by Polish Conservative and Radical Parties" (PDF). SSH Titles. 11 (3). Routledge: 19. doi:10.1080/15705854.2010.503032. PC: Centre Agreement, Christian-democratic party founded by Jarosław Kaczyński.
  2. ^ Meyer Resende, Madalena Pontes (2005). An Ethos Theory of Party Positions on European Integration: Poland and Beyond (Thesis). London School of Economics and Political Science. p. 75. The party stated modernisation and external competitiveness as twin goals: "The current economic and social structure condemns Poland to backwardness and being unable to compete in Europe and the world. If we do not compete in Europe, we will have our sovereignty threatened, first economically, and then politically."
  3. ^ a b Czyż, Anna; Kubas, Sebastian (2014). Państwa Grupy Wyszehradzkiej: pomiędzy przeszłością a teraźniejszością. Wybrane aspekty polityki wewnętrznej i zagranicznej (in Polish). Katowice: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego. p. 114. ISBN 978-83-8012-314-4. PC postulował radykalną dekomunizację i przyspieszenie reform. W 1991 roku PC uległ podziałowi, gdyż partię opuściło kilka składowych podmiotów, jak Kongres Liberalno-Demokratyczny (KLD), PSL „Mikołajczykowskie", PSL „Solidarność" i inne. [The PC advocated radical decommunization and accelerated reforms. In 1991, the PC split, as several constituent parties left the party, such as the Liberal-Democratic Congress (KLD), the "Mikołajczykowskie" PSL, the "Solidarity" PSL and others.]
  4. ^ Meyer Resende, Madalena Pontes (2005). An Ethos Theory of Party Positions on European Integration: Poland and Beyond (Thesis). London School of Economics and Political Science. p. 73. Faced with the task to define its political identity, Wałęsa's sponsored party under the leadership of the identical twins Kaszynski, the Centre Agreement (PC), adopted Christian democracy, characterising it as the profile that best suited a centre party.
  5. ^ a b Olszewski, Edward (2006). "Partie polityczne i społeczeństwo w wyborach do Parlamentu Europejskiego 2004 roku" (PDF). Athenaeum (in Polish). 14–15: 62. ISSN 1505-2192. Porozumienie Centrum przestało być członkiem EDU ze względu na bierność, niepłacenie składek, brak zainteresowania działalnością Unii. [Centre Agreement ceased to be a member of the EDU due to inactivity, non-payment of dues, and lack of interest in the Union's activities.]
  6. ^ "Jaroslaw Kaczynski | Biography & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  7. ^ "March 2019". The Polish Politics Blog. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Porozumienie Centrum, Encyklopedia PWN: źródło wiarygodnej i rzetelnej wiedzy".
  9. ^ "Nowe Państwo. Porozumienie Centrum w dokumentach (1990–2001) - Książka | Księgarnia internetowa Poczytaj.pl". www.poczytaj.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference borowik_1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Meyer Resende, Madalena Pontes (2005). An Ethos Theory of Party Positions on European Integration: Poland and Beyond (Thesis). London School of Economics and Political Science. pp. 75–76.

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