Solidarity Electoral Action (, AWS) was a coalition of political parties in Poland, active from 1996 to 2001. AWS was the political arm of the Solidarity trade union, whose leader Lech Wałęsa (also an AWS member), was President of Poland from 1990 to 1995, and the successor of the parties emerged from the fragmentation of the Solidarity Citizens' Committee.
The coalition was led by Marian Krzaklewski and Jerzy Buzek, who was Prime Minister of Poland from 1997 to 2001. Ideologically, it represented "an eclectic mix of socially conservative trade union-oriented corporatism, Christian Democracy, economically interventionist and liberal forms of Catholic nationalism and less overtly Church-inspired strands of liberal-conservatism"; its program was also described as a combination of "social conservatism and state interventionism".
Law and Justice and Civic Coalition, the two dominant Polish political parties of today, had their roots in AWS.
History
On June 8, 1996, at the initiative of the NSZZ "Solidarność" trade union, the "Solidarność" Electoral Action was established as a coalition of over 30 Christian-democratic, conservative and liberal political parties, mostly from the Solidarity Citizens' Committee, the Solidarity trade union's political wing. Among them, there were the Christian National Union, the Party of Christian Democrats, the Centre Agreement, the Conservative People's Party (formed in January 1997), the Peasants' Agreement, the Movement for the Republic (until 1997), the Nonpartisan Bloc for Support of Reforms (until 1997) and the Confederation of Independent Poland (until 1998 and again since 2001). AWS's founding leader was Marian Krzaklewski, who was also the leader of the Solidarity trade union, having succeeded to Lech Wałęsa in 1991. The formation of the AWS was a response to public expectations for a broad social movement that would unite the Polish right wing. The AWS was composed of right-wing parties, trade unions, associations, and non-governmental organizations originating from the Solidarity movement.
In the 1997 parliamentary election, the AWS obtained 33.8% of the vote, 201 members of the Sejm and 51 of the Senate. After the election, AWS' member Jerzy Buzek formed a coalition government, which comprised also the liberal Freedom Union.
In December 1997, a new party, Social Movement (RS), was formed. It was joined by Krzaklewski, Buzek and several other non-party independents recommended by the Solidarity trade union and/or former members of the Solidarity Citizens' Committee. Consequently, the Social Movement soon became the largest faction within the coalition. The other factions were those associated with the Christian National Union, the Party of Christian Democrats and the Conservative People's Party. In 1998, the Confederation of Independent Poland and a group that would form the Polish Agreement were excluded from the coalition. From these groups, the League of Polish Families would later be formed. In 1999, the Party of Christian Democrats, the Centre Agreement and the Movement for the Republic merged into the Polish Christian Democratic Agreement.
Reforms relating to domestic affairs, the entry to NATO in 1999 and the accession process to the European Union led to conflicts within the coalition.
In June 2000, the Freedom Union broke its alliance with the AWS and Buzek continued to govern at the head of a minority government.
In the 2000 presidential election, Krzaklewski was AWS' official candidate and won 15.6% of the vote, but a large chunk of the coalition, especially activists from the more liberal Conservative People's Party, had supported the independent candidate Andrzej Olechowski, who won 17.3% of the vote. As a result, Aleksander Kwaśniewski of the post-communist Democratic Left Alliance was elected president; Krzaklewski resigned from his position of AWS leader in December 2000 and was replaced by Buzek in January 2001.
Election results
Presidential
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! rowspan="2" |Election
! rowspan="2" |Candidate
! colspan="2" |1st round
! colspan="2" |2nd round
|-
! # of overall votes
! % of overall vote
! # of overall votes
! % of overall vote
|-
! 2000
| Marian Krzaklewski
| 2,739,621
| 15.6 (#3)
| colspan="2" style="background:lightgrey;" |
|}
Sejm
{| class=wikitable
|-
! Election
!Leader
! # of<br>votes
! % of<br>vote
! # of<br>overall seats won
! +/-
! Government
|-
! rowspan="2" | 1997
| rowspan="2" | Marian Krzaklewski
| rowspan="2" |4,427,373
| rowspan="2" |33.8 (#1)
| rowspan="2" |
| rowspan="2" |New
|
|-
|
|-
! 2001
| Jerzy Buzek
| 729,207
| 5.6 (#7)
|
| 201
|
|}
Senate
{| class=wikitable
|-
! Election
! # of<br>overall seats won
! +/–
|-
! 1997
|
| New
|-
! rowspan="2" |2001
|
| 44
|-
| colspan="2" |<small>As part of the Senate 2001 coalition, which won 15 seats.</small>
|}
Regional assemblies
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Election
! % of<br>vote
! # of<br>overall seats won
! +/–
|-
! 1998
| 33.3 (#1)
|
|New
|-
! 2002
| 3.4 (#6)
|
| 325
|}
See also
- POPiS
- Senate 2001