Democratic Left Alliance

The Democratic Left Alliance (Polish Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej, SLD) is a social democratic party in Poland. Among his predecessors, the former ruling Communist Party of the People's Republic of Poland, the Polish United Workers' Party belongs ( PZPR ).

In the elections in 1993 and 2001, she emerged as the largest party and therefore also questioned the governments. A total of four prime minister came from the ranks of the SLD. She is currently represented by 27 deputies in the Sejm.

History

The SLD was formed in 1990 as a coalition of about thirty groups, including the Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland ( SdRP ) as the successor party of the Polish United Workers' Party ( PZPR ) and the All-Poland Trade Union Confederation ( OPZZ ).

At the foundation of the 1991 election SLD was 12.0 % second- largest party ( by the Democratic Union 12.3 ), but was excluded from all coalition options because she was regarded as post-communist party as a coalition not capable. In the early elections on 19 September 1993, the SLD was the strongest party with 20.4%, and together with the Polish Peasant Party (PSL ), a coalition government. Prime Minister was the chairman of the junior coalition partner, Waldemar Pawlak. Although both parties were only 35.8 % of the vote, they found nearly two-thirds of MPs (303 of 460 ) and were thus able to govern with a comfortable majority. The large discrepancy between votes and mandate proportion resulted from the high number unrepräsentierter votes, as many, especially conservative parties, failed due to the restrictive clause. Although the coalition between the SLD and PSL may be close due to the common past as block parties, the People's Republic, but it was more of the will to power as substantive similarities that held together the coalition until the end of the legislative period.

After Waldemar Pawlak was voted out in a vote of no confidence, was appointed Prime Minister on 15 March 1995 Józef Oleksy. Following allegations by a minister of their own government - the Interior Minister Andrzej Milczanowski - for alleged espionage activities for Russia, but Oleksy resigned on 26 January 1996. He was succeeded by Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz, who led the government until October 17, 1997.

In the parliamentary elections in 1997, the SLD was able to to gain 27.1 % of the votes, but still had to leave seven seats (164 instead of 171), as far fewer votes than were lost in the last election. The merger of the post- Solidarity Electoral Action Solidarity camp to succeeded in 1993 still failed now parties to work together to achieve a majority of votes with 33.8%.

During the term of the electoral alliance to transform itself into a party decided. The SdRP was dissolved ( not least so as not to continue to be considered as a legal successor of the PZPR accountable to ) and on 18-19. December 1999 took place in Warsaw a conference, which should lead the coalition into a regular party. Chairman of the SLD was Leszek Miller. After the SLD was based on an alliance with the left - liberal Union of Labour (UP) retracted in parliamentary elections in 2001, with 41 % of the vote in a landslide victory, Miller was elected the prime minister of a coalition government with the UP and PSL. After his resignation, shortly after Poland's EU accession in May 2004, the non-partisan economist Marek Belka became his successor. Previously, he had already resigned from the party chairmanship in March 2004, was briefly Krzysztof Janik to December 2004, Chairman of the SLD.

Also a part of the party split Also in 2004, during a deep political crisis, under the leadership of then Sejmmarschalls Marek Borowski and founded the Social Democratic also Polish Social Democracy ( SdPL ). Other politicians left the SLD to the newly founded Social-Liberal Democratic Party ( PD) to join the ( UW) had emerged from the liberal Freedom Union.

In December 2004, the delegates elected in a vote between Krzysztof Janik and Józef Oleksy, who had already been prime minister from 1995 to 1996, the latter as its chairman. But in May 2005 resigned the bureau as a whole and the executive of the party, which resulted in a comprehensive new generation in June. The former Agriculture Minister Wojciech Olejniczak sought as the new Chairman at a Reintegraion the SLD in the political landscape. To this end, he prevailed also that on the electoral lists of the SLD no former party cadres of the PZPR had to find more. Olejniczak himself was also the first SLD - chairman, who was not a member of the PZPR.

In addition to the internal party squabbles, the legislature was also still marked by numerous corruption affairs and scandals, so that the party was punished drastically in the general elections in 2005 and came to only 11.3% of the vote.

For the 2007 General Election the SLD eventually formed an alliance with the UP, the SdPL and the PD. Together, the parties appeared under the name Left and Democrats ( LiD ) at the election. Top candidate of this alliance was the former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski (SLD). At the end, the parties reached, however, only 13.15% of the vote and thus 4.5% less than the combined election results of the individual parties in 2005. The alliance was disbanded in 2008. In a crucial vote against Olejniczak then the former Secretary General Grzegorz Napieralski was elected as the new Chairman of the SLD.

In the 2011 general election, the SLD recorded the worst result in the history of the party. The party received only 1,184,303 votes and moved with only 8.24% as the weakest party represented in the Sejm.

On October 10, said Grzegorz Napieralski, withdraw from the presidency of the party. Leszek Miller was subsequently elected as the new head of the faction and 10 December 2011 as Chairman of the party.

Chairman

Leszek Miller, April 15, 1999 - March 6, 2004
Krzysztof Janik, March 6, 2004 - December 18, 2004
Józef Oleksy, December 18, 2004 - May 29, 2005
Wojciech Olejniczak, May 29, 2005 - May 31, 2008
Grzegorz Napieralski, May 31, 2008 - December 10, 2011
Leszek Miller, since December 10, 2011

Other function support

General Secretary: Krzysztof Gawkowski
Vice-Chair: Joanna Agatowska, Paulina Piecha - Więckiewicz, Joanna Szenszyn, Leszek Aleksandrzak, Bogusław Liberadzki, Józef Oleksy

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