Bezpartyjni Samorządowcy
Bezpartyjni Samorządowcy is a Polish political movement. Operating mainly at a regional level in a decentralised manner, it participates in elections as a national committee joining the individual regional counterparts. The organisation initially started out in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship before expanding to the rest of the country. The party is a heavily decentralised and federated organisation that fields candidates for local governments, often creating and cooperating with local committees and regional organisations. The BS lacks a central leadership and regional structures. The parties rule themselves separately and autonomously. Bezpartyjni Samorządowcy frequently acts as a minor partner of regional governing coalitions, such as in the voivodeships of Lubuskie and Lower Silesia.
Formerly associated with the liberal wing of Christian democracy, the party advocates for proposals such as free public transport, free lunches for children and abolition of the personal income tax. The party also advocates for creation of a powerful ecological agency based on the American United States Fish and Wildlife Service, which would protect nature and its resources, prevent pollution environment and combat poaching and illegal hunting. The BS believes that the Polish government became too centralised and became unable to address local concerns; to this end, the party believes that the central government needs MPs who are "local government officials, entrepreneurs and community workers who are not concerned with political lists and agenda". The party opposes "nationalisation" of local politics and warns that this would entail further polarisation of society, along with the erosion of local communities. The BS considers local governments a natural link between citizens and government, and foresees a highly decentralised and federalised Poland.
History
The party originated from a local committee of, who first entered Polish politics in 1990 when he became the President of Lubin. The committee was strongly connected to the Party of Christian Democrats, which represented a liberal faction of Christian democracy. In 1998, Raczyński and his committee worked with Solidarity Electoral Action and entered the voivodeship sejmik of Lower Silesia. In 2008, the committee joined the political movement "Poland XXI" founded by Rafał Dutkiewicz and Kazimierz Michał Ujazdowski, but the movement did not contest the 2009 European Parliament election in Poland. In 2009, the movement changed its name to "Civic Lower Silesia", and in 2014 Raczyński and Dutkiewicz parted ways, with the former founding Bezpartyjni Samorządowcy the same year. The party would slowly grow with transfers and defections from parties such as Civic Platform, Polish People's Party and the Democratic Left Alliance, co-governing with these parties in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship and building a strong club in the Lubuskie Voivodeship. In 2017, the party announced a nationwide movement with the ambition to participate in elections nationwide. Bezpartyjni Samorządowcy was joined by the presidents of Szczecin, Zielona Góra and Bolesławiec, along with many minor local officials.Regional political movement (2014–2017)
Before the 2014 Polish local elections, some activists of the Citizens' Lower Silesia association opposed to the conclusion of an agreement by its president Rafał Dutkiewicz of an agreement with Civic Platform, set up the committee Bezpartyjni Samorządowcy. It won four seats in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship Sejmik, which were given to: Paweł Kukiz, Robert Raczyński, Aldona Wiktorska-Święcka and Patryk Wild.. However, Robert Raczynski was re-elected mayor of Lubin and the seat after him went to Tymoteusz Myrda. Councillors from the BS lists remained independent of the assembly. The BS committee fielded two candidates for mayor, but they did not enter the second round. In addition to Robert Raczyński, Piotr Roman in Bolesławiec, who was running from his own committee, remained the mayor of the city from among the BS-related candidates. In the Wrocław council, the only seat for BS went to Sebastian Lorenc.Paweł Kukiz ran in the 2015 Polish presidential election, coming third with 20.8% of the vote. He then initiated a movement to run in the 2015 Polish parliamentary election. In mid-July, however, the BS milieu ended its cooperation with Paweł Kukiz and, together with non-partisan local government activists from other regions and the Civic Movement for Single-Mandate Electoral Districts set up the JOW Bezpartyjni committee, which registered candidates in only a few electoral districts. Senator Jarosław Obremski, who was associated with this group, set up his own committee and successfully ran for re-election. He rejoined the Circle of Independent Senators, but in May 2016 switched to the Law and Justice club. As a result of Paweł Kukiz winning his parliamentary seat, his seat in the assembly was taken by Ewa Zdrojewska.
On 7 March 2016, the group Bezpartyjni Samorządowcy was formed in the Lubusz Voivodeship Sejmik. It was formed by councillors from the Lepsze Lubuskie association.. Józef Kruczkowski, who joined the Law and Justice together with former SLD councillors..
On 31 March 2016 in the Lower Silesian Sejmik, the ODŚ councillors associated with Rafal Dutkiewicz left the Civic Platform club. In addition, other councillors from this party - Michał Bobowiec, vice-chairman of the local assembly Julian Golak, Czesław Kręcichwost, Ryszard Lech and voivodship Marshal Cezary Przybylski - left PO. Together with three councillors elected from BS lists, as well as another non-aligned councillor Kazimierz Janik, they established the club Bezpartyjni Samorządowcy, which became the largest club in the assembly and, in coalition with the Polish People's Party, took over power in the voivodeship, ousting PO from it. Tymoteusz Myrda replaced the party's representative as deputy marshal of the voivodeship. Patryk Wild became the head of the club. Aldona Wiktorska-Święcka, elected from their list, did not join the BS club. On 27 June 2016 there was an expansion of the governing coalition, with Civic Platform and the Democratic Left Alliance. Councillors elected from the BS club then left the BS list, who became non-aligned and soon established the Non-Partisan Councillors' Club with former PSL councillor Grażyna Cal and Aldona Wiktorska Święcka, who became the club's chairwoman. On 14 July 2016, the former BS club took the name Dolnośląski Ruch Samorządowy. A Rafal Dutkiewicz-linked association of this name was also subsequently established.
National political movement (2017–2024)
On 14 March 2017, the formation of the Local Government Movement "Bezpartyjni" was announced, which was largely a continuation of the JOW Bezpartyjni movement from 2015. The movement, aiming to field a nationwide committee in the 2018 Polish local elections, was co-founded by approximately 60 local government officials from the provinces of Dolnośląskie, Lubuskie, Zachodniopomorskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Podlaskie, Śląskie, Łódzkie and Wielkopolskie. Among others, local government officials who formed committees in the 2014 elections, such as Lower Silesia's Bezpartyjni Samorządowcy, Lepsze Lubuskie and Bezpartyjni Pomorze Zachodnie, which introduced their representatives to the provincial assemblies, came together under the banner of the movement. Among the founders of the 'Bezpartyjni' Local Government Movement were the mayors of Szczecin, Zielona Góra, Lubin and Bolesławiec, provincial councillors from the Lower Silesian Sejmiks, Lubuskie and Zachodniopomorskie, the mayor of Scinawa, the chairman of the municipal councils of Szczecin and Augustów, and Patryk Hałaczkiewicz from JOW.In the 2018 elections, the BS committee registered lists for sejmiks in all provinces, gaining nationwide recognition. BS's assembly lists appeared in 62 out of 85 constituencies. A smaller number of lists were fielded by the committee in elections to individual types of councils. BS also fielded several candidates each for mayors, mayors and aldermen. Some candidates associated with the movement also ran under the names of local committees. In the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Bezpartyjni Samorządowcy joined forces with DRS, with which they formed a joint club of BS councillors in the local government in June the same year, led by Czesław Kręcichwost. In Mazovian Voivodeship, the association Mazowiecka Wspólnota Samorządowa ran under the BS name. On the other hand, in the Opolskie Voivodeship, the BS, as part of an agreement with the local association Przyjazny Samorząd Powiatu Namysłowskiego, registered one list in the assembly elections.
In the elections to the Sejmiks, BS obtained 5.28% nationally, in five voivodeships exceeding the electoral threshold and winning seats. In the Lower Silesian Voivodship, they obtained 14.98% of the votes, winning six seats. As a result of their decision, PiS came to power in this voivodeship, in coalition with which Cezary Przybylski of BS retained his seat as marshal of the voivodeship. In the West Pomeranian voivodeship, BS received 13.7% of the vote. They did not enter the Voivodeship Assembly, but supported Marshal Olgierd Geblewicz from the Civic Platform, and their representative Maria Ilnicka-Mądry became the chairwoman of the Sejmik. They also managed to establish their own club in Lubuskie, where, with a result of 13.17%, they won four seats. The BS found themselves in opposition there, as in Mazovia and Greater Poland, where their committee won just over 6% of the vote and its representatives won one seat each. The BS KWW won two mayoral and one mayoral positions, as well as 36 seats in county councils, 53 in borough councils and onen in Warsaw district councils. However, candidates affiliated with the movement also ran under other committee names - among them were city mayors who won re-election: movement leader Robert Raczynski, as well as Piotr Krzystek, Janusz Kubicki and Piotr Roman.
On 2 March 2019, some of the movement's activists together with economist and lawyer Robert Gwiazdowski founded the political movement Polska Fair Play, which dissociated from BS leader Robert Raczyński.) The PFP ran in the 2019 European Parliament election in Poland, but registered lists in only part of the districts. After the elections it ceased its activities.
Bezpartyjni Samorządowcy declared to run independently in the 2019 Polish parliamentary election. They entered the elections as KWW Koalicja Bezpartyjni i Samorządowcy, registering lists for the Sejm in 19 out of 41 constituencies, as well as 15 candidates for the Senate. The committee's lists included the Federation for the Republic, whose leader, non-aligned MP Marek Jakubiak, opened the Kraków list for the Sejm. In turn, Gniewomir Rokosz-Kuczyński of Christian Democracy of the 3rd Polish Republic ran from second place there. The list in the Siedlce district was opened by former MEP and Biala Governor Marek Czarnecki, while the list leader in the Elbląg district was former MP Wojciech Penkalski. Candidates for the Senate included the leader of RO na rzecz JOW Patryk Hałaczkiewicz, or Świętokrzyskie academics - political scientist Kazimierz Kik and former policeman Dariusz Loranty. The West Pomeranian Non-Partisans factions did not decide to run in the election. Non-partisans from the Lubuskie Voivodeship, however, joined the Polish Coalition, and as a result, Łukasz Mejza. KWW KBiS received 0.78% of the vote in the elections to the Sejm, exceeding 3% in the Wrocław and Wałbrzych districts. In the Senate elections also no KBiS candidate won a seat. Nationally, they received 1.82% of the vote. In 2022, the party formed a ruling coalition together with the Democratic Left Alliance in the Lubusz Voivodeship Sejmik.