Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland

Infobox_Political_Party
party_name = Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland
party_
colorcode = #FFFF00
leader = Andrzej Lepper
foundation = 10 January 1992 (1991)
ideology = Agrarianism, Populism, Euroscepticism, Socialism
headquarters = Aleje Jerozolimskie 30, 00-024 Warsaw
international = Union for Europe of the Nations
website = [http://www.samoobrona.pl www.samoobrona.pl]

Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland ("Samoobrona Rzeczpospolitej Polskiej", SRP) [Name under which party is registered] is an agrarian political party and trade union in Poland led by Andrzej Lepper. In its political platform, it combines left-wing populist economic policies with a right-wing religious conservative Catholic agenda.Fact|date=December 2007

After the 2005 elections, Self-Defense has 56 out of 460 members of the Polish Sejm, and 3 members of the 100 in the Polish Senate. It joined the ruling coalition, becoming the second largest party in the coalition government after PiS. Andrzej Lepper became Deputy Prime Minister of Poland and Minister of Agriculture. In July 2007, he was dismissed from that position, and in early August the party withdrew from the coalition.

Samoobrona came in fourth in the 2004 European Parliament election, having received 10% of the votes (on very low turnout of just over 20%); this gave it 6 of the 54 seats reserved for Poland in the European Parliament.

In the Polish parliamentary election, 2007 its support collapsed to far less then the 5% electoral threshold giving them no seats in the new legislature.

History

The party first started in parliamentary elections in 1993, gaining 2.78% votes and failing to enter the Sejm. In the 1995 elections Andrzej Lepper ran for president and gained 1.32% of the votes; in parliamentary elections in 1997, the party took 0.08%. In 2000 Samoobrona organized a campaign of blocking major roads in order to get media attention. Lepper gained 3.05% votes in the presidential elections.

The parliamentary elections in 2001 gave the party 53 seats in the Sejm, with 10.5% support, making it the third largest political force. Although officially a member of the opposition, Samoobrona backed the ruling social democratic Alliance of the Democratic Left (Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej) in a number of key votes, giving them the majority needed to stay in power. The party has also marked its presence in the Sejm by unconventional disruptive behavior.

Among their numerous exploits there are such diverse incidents as using their own loudspeakers after being cut off for exceeding the permitted time, or claiming that the largest opposition party Citizens' Platform met with members of the Taliban in Klewki (a village near Olsztyn) to sell them anthrax [ [http://serwisy.gazeta.pl/kraj/1,34375,2862157.html Anthrax claims] ] . Several Samoobrona members of parliament were subject to criminal investigations on charges ranging from forgery to banditry.

In the 2005 elections Samoobrona received a total of 56 seats with 11.4% support. Andrzej Lepper ran for president of Poland in the 2005 election. He received third place and 15% of the vote, a great improvement over his past performances. After the elections Samooborona temporarily shelved its most radical demands and somewhat toned down its rhetoric and along with the League of Polish Families entered into a coalition with the center-right Law and Justice party.

In December 2006 a scandal broke out when Aneta Krawczyk, a local party ex-leader accused Samoobrona leaders, notably Andrzej Lepper and Stanisław Łyżwiński of sexual harassment. [ [http://www.gazetawyborcza.pl/1,75248,3770674.html Sexual harassment claims] ] Subsequently the accusation was supported by other females from within the party ranks and the issue of gaining governmental posts in exchange for sex produced a major outcry after "Gazeta Wyborcza" published the claims. Krawczyk also claimed her then 3 year-old daughter was Stanisław Łyżwiński's child, which proved to be incorrect following DNA testing.

In consequence Andrzej Lepper stated that "Gazeta Wyborcza" is part of undefined "forces" attempting to launch a coup d'état [ [http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/1,53600,3782671.html Lepper claims against "Gazeta Wyborca"] ] ,and undermine the coalition with the PiS party, which according to its programme aims at the 'moral rejuvenation' of the nation and the Polish political scene. Despite Samoobrona's leadership's denial of such practices, the evidence supplied by the numerous victims leaves little room for speculation.

In September 2007 the former Polish prime minister Leszek Miller become affiliated with Samoobrona, when he decided to run for the Sejm from their lists.

Ideology

The party's views are populist and isolationist. Fact|date=December 2007 The party wants state-funded agriculture, an increase in government social programs, an end to repayments of the foreign debt, introduction of an additional transaction tax and the use of financial reserves to obtain funding. The party is hostile towards foreign investments.

Poland's June 2003 referendum on membership of the European Union was an uncomfortable experience for Samoobrona. On one hand, the party's isolationism and Euroscepticism led it to call officially for a "no" vote. Fact|date=December 2007 On the other hand, most political observers believed (correctly) that the Polish people would vote in favour of membership, and as a populist party Samoobrona was unhappy about the likelihood of being on the losing side. In the end, the party fought a rather ambiguous campaign, with its posters carrying the slogan "the decision belongs to you".

In 2005, Samoobrona was a founding member of the EUDemocrats pan-European political party, which professes to unite "centrist" "EU-critical" parties committed to increased democratization.

Leadership

*Andrzej Lepper (1992 – )

ee also

* League and Self-Defense

References