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Freedom Union Unia Wolności | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chairman | Tadeusz Mazowiecki (1994–1995) Leszek Balcerowicz (1995–2000) Bronisław Geremek (2000–2001) Władysław Frasyniuk (2001–2005) |
| Founded | 20 March 1994; 31 years ago (1994-03-20) |
| Dissolved | 9 May 2005; 20 years ago (2005-05-09)[a] |
| Merger of | Democratic Union Liberal Democratic Congress Splitting off theAlliance of Democrats |
| Succeeded by | Democratic Party Civic Platform[a] |
| Ideology | Neoliberalism[1][2] |
| Political position | Centre-right[3][4][5] |
| European affiliation | European Democrat Union/European People's Party (1996–2002) Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group (2002–2005) |
| European Parliament group | European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (2002–2005) |
^ a: In 24 January 2001,KLD faction split from this party to formCivic Platform. | |
TheFreedom Union (Polish:Unia Wolności, UW) was a liberal[6] democratic political party in Poland that was active from 1994 to 2005, when it rebranded and became theDemocratic Party.
It was founded on 20 March 1994 out of the merger of theDemocratic Union (Unia Demokratyczna, UD) and theLiberal Democratic Congress (Kongres Liberalno-Demokratyczny, KLD). Both of these parties had roots in theSolidarity trade union movement. It represented European democratic and liberal tradition, i.e., it advocatedfree market economy and individual liberty, rejected extremism and fanaticism, favouredEuropean integration (in the form ofEuropean Union membership), rapidprivatisation of the enterprises still owned by the Polish state and decentralisation of the government.
| Timeline ofPolishliberal parties after 1989 |
| •Citizens' Movement for Democratic Action /ROAD (1990–1991) •Liberal Democratic Congress /KLD (1990–1994) •Democratic Union /UD (1991–1994) •Freedom Union /UW (1994–2005) •Civic Platform (2001- ) •Democratic Party /PD (2005–2016) •Palikot's Movement /RP (2011–2013) •Your Movement /TR (2013–2023) •Modern/.N (2015– ) •Poland 2050 (2020- ) |
In the 1991general elections, the KLD received 7.5% of the vote and 37 seats in theSejm (out of 460 seats) and the UD got 12.3% of the votes and 62 seats.In 1993 the KLD got 4.0% of the votes and was left without seats; the UD got 10.6% of the votes and 74 seats.In 1997 the UW got 13.4% of the votes and 60 seats.
In January 2001 some members of the FU (mostly from centre-right and KLD factions) decided to move to join the newCivic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska), which got 12.7% of the votes and 65 seats in theSeptember 2001 general elections whilst the FU failed to cross the 5% threshold required to gain entry tothe lower house of Parliament, receiving only 3.1%. Surprisingly, the FU managed to cross the required 5% threshold in the2004 European Parliament elections, receiving 7% of votes and 4 of 54 seats reserved for Poland in theEuropean Parliament as part of theEuropean Liberal Democrat and Reform Party, of which it was a member.
The initiative by the FU leadership to found the centre/social-liberalDemocratic Party (Partia Demokratyczna – demokraci.pl) attracted a lot of attention. It was cofounded byWładysław Frasyniuk and economy ministerJerzy Hausner, joined by prime ministerMarek Belka. Former FU memberTadeusz Mazowiecki also joined the initiative. Legally the centrist Democratic Party, founded 9 May 2005, is the successor of the FU.
| Election year | # of votes | % of vote | # of overall seats won | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 1,749,518 | 13.4 (#3) | 60 / 460 |  14 | AWS-UW (1997–2000) |
| Opposition (2000–2001) | |||||
| 2001 | 404,074 | 3.1 (#9) | 0 / 460 | 60 | Extra-parliamentary |
| Election year | # of overall seats won | +/– | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 8 / 100 | |||||
| 2001 | 5 / 100 | 3 | ||||
| As part of theSenate 2001 coalition, which won 15 seats. | ||||||
| Election year | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # of overall votes | % of overall vote | # of overall votes | % of overall vote | ||
| 1995 | Jacek Kuroń | 1,646,946 | 9.2 (#3) | EndorsedLech Wałęsa[7] | |
| Election year | % of vote | # of overall seats won | +/– |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 10.3 (#4) | 76 / 855 | |
| 2002 | 2.3 (#7) | 3 / 561 | 73 |
| Election year | # of votes | % of vote | # of overall seats won | +/– |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 446,549 | 7.3 (#6) | 4 / 54 |
AWS formed a coalition with the Freedom Union (UW). Both parties had their roots in the pre-1989 anticommunist movements, however, UW was also clearly neoliberal.
As for the political consequences, two parties of the coalition government, neither the neoliberal Freedom Union, UW, nor the populist Solidarity Election Action, AWS, were able in the election of 2001 to receive a minimum 5 percent of votes required to get to the parliament.
His main opponents among 17 other registered candidates were Aleksander KWAŚNIEWSKI of the SLD/SdRP, Jacek KUROŃ of the center-right Freedom Union (Unia Wolnósci—UW), and former prime ministers Olszewski and Pawlak.
The Freedom Union (Unia Wolnosci – UW) emerged as one of the strongest parties, defining itself ideologically as a centre-right party and presenting liberal views on both economic and social reforms.
Officials from Solidarity Election Action, which won 201 seats in the 460-seat Sejm, or lower house of the National Assembly, and the center-right Freedom Union, which has 60 seats, say they see nearly eye-to-eye.
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