Polish politics, 2006
Polish politics, 2006

Summary/Abstract: In the autumn of 2005 a fundamental change of power took place in Poland. The Law and Justice Party (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość; PiS), established by Jarosław Kaczynski, won the parliamentary elections, while the winner of the presidential elections was Lech Kaczynski, the honorary president of the same party, who is also the twin brother of the leader of PiS. At the beginning of this year, they concluded a stabilization pact with Self-Defense (Samoobrona) and the League of Polish Families (Liga Polskich Rodzin; LPR), then established a coalition with these parties. Due to these events, for the first time since the peaceful transition that started in 1989, a radical change took place in the executive branch. This change has turned into revolution, according to the people who initiated and implemented it. Many observers are willing to share this opinion, or at least think the process shows traits of a revolution. The developments that took place in autumn 2006, such as the disruption of the governing coalition for the time being do not change this. The struggle of PiS against losing the ability to govern may even further polarize the political arena, into supporters and enemies of the revolutionary change. The pace of political events in Poland is so fast that one cannot react to every single development. Therefore it makes sense to focus on the more general phenomena, even though the current events naturally influence the processes of the near future, including the outcome of early elections if they happen.[...]

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