4Liberty: Does Poland Need the Left Wing?

The leaders of the left have no recipe for neither themselves, nor their parties. It seems that they have no clue who to address, what people consistute their target audience – whereas in order to create a viable political option, defining and gathering the core, loyal electorate are indispensible. And although it is not only a problem typical of only Polish parties, in our country it is manifested in a particularly radical form: the lack of any left-wing representation in the Parliament. In many places in “the West” we witness the weakening of socio-democratic and socialist parties and a significant increase in power of right-wing populists, who start to better (at least rhetorically) address the needs of the previously socialist electorate. [...]

Now, the main line dividing the society goes between those who desire openness, tolerance, cooperation, trade and those who wish to be separated from others by a fence and who seek safety in tradition and nation, while at the same time deeming trade as a threat. This divide starts to be more visible geaographically: the residents of big cities versus the inhabitants of the provinces. Meanwhile, the left – especially in Poland – positioned itself across this divide, in turn losing the popularity among both groups.

After the “moral revolution” in 1968, the left more actively used and still uses liberal slogans of the sexual revolution – the revolution which now reflects the prevailing way of thinking of the big-city middle class, but which in Poland is to a great extent foreign to the excluded groups or the inhabitants of provinces, who still remain very conservative. At the same time, the leaders of the new Polish left (Barbara Nowacka of the United Left party or Adrian Zandberg of the Together party), due to their cultural and social background, education, or simply their language and behavior, address their political offer to middle class and are credible in their eyes – this, however, does not work for the working-class electorate or the province’s electorate.

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