Modern (political party)

Political party in Poland

Modern

.Nowoczesna

Leader| Adam Szłapka
Founder| Ryszard Petru
Founded| May 2015
Membership (2018)| 4,160
Ideology|

* Liberalism[1][2]
Neoliberalism[3][4]
Pro-Europeanism

Political position| Centre[5][6] to centre-right[7][8][9]
National affiliation| Civic Coalition
Senate Pact 2023 (for 2023 Senate election)
European affiliation| Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
Colours|  Blue
Sejm|

10 / 460

Senate|

0 / 100

European Parliament|

0 / 53

Regional assemblies|

6 / 552

City Presidents|

0 / 107

Website
nowoczesna.org

* Politics of Poland
* Political parties
* Elections

Modern (Polish: Nowoczesna, styled as ".Nowoczesna") is a centrist[5][6] to centre-right[7][8][9] political party in Poland. It is currently led by Adam Szłapka.

It was formed in 2015 as "NowoczesnaPL" although it had to change the name to ".Nowoczesna" later that year due to a dispute with the similarly named Modern Poland Foundation. Its first president Ryszard Petru served until 2017, when he was succeeded by Katarzyna Lubnauer. It first gained seats in the 2015 parliamentary election, and in 2018 it joined the Civic Coalition to participate together in the local elections. Szłapka was elected as the president in 2019. Modern is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, and it is orientated towards the principles of liberalism,[1][2] neoliberalism,[3][4] and classical liberalism.[10] It also supports Poland's membership in the European Union.[11]

## History

[edit]

The party was founded in late May 2015 as NowoczesnaPL (ModernPL) by economist Ryszard Petru.[12][13][14] The founding convention was held on 31 May 2015 at which around 6,000 people gathered to participate.[14][15] The chairman presented the program of the party, and besides him, other activists spoke during the convention.[16] In August 2015, the party's name was changed to .Modern (.Nowoczesna)[17] due to controversy over its name – there had already been a non-governmental organization called the Modern Poland Foundation.[18] Around the same time, the party's new logo was presented, and Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz became its spokesperson.[19] The party received 7.6% of votes in the 2015 parliamentary election, which resulted in winning 28 seats in the Sejm.[20][21]

The party was admitted into the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) on 4 June 2016.[22] From the 2015 election to end of 2016 Nowoczesna had more support in polls than Platforma Obywatelska. It has lost it after image problems of Ryszard Petru.[23][24] Katarzyna Lubnauer became the leader of Nowoczesna in November 2017.[25] In leader elections at the party congress, Lubnauer received 149 votes and Petru received 140 votes.[25]

In March 2018, Modern and Civic Platform formed the Civic Coalition electoral alliance to contest the 2018 local elections. In May 2018, founder Ryszard Petru left the party.[26] In 2019, Modern was running for the European Parliament as part of the European Coalition.[27] In June 2019, Modern joined the Civic Platform - Civic Coalition parliamentary group. During the 2019 Polish parliamentary elections the party was a member of the Civic Coalition along with the Civic Platform, Polish Initiative and the Greens. After these elections, Modern rejoined the Civic Coalition parliamentary group, and Adam Szłapka was elected as president of the party.[28]

## Ideology

[edit]

The party has been compared to the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP), with its emphasis on economic liberalism in its policy platform.[29] The party is described as neoliberal.[3][4] It is pro European integration[30] and advocates for Poland to join the Eurozone. It supports LGBTQIA+ rights such as same-sex partnerships and the legalization of abortion. It also supports in-vitro fertilization. Economically the party is for lowering taxes and deregulating the economy.[31] The party also wants to reduce the size of the public sector via privatization and deregulate employment rights.[32] One of the party's more controversial proposals include increasing the retirement age in Poland.[33] It used to be described as centre-left,[34][35] but swung to the right upon embracing neoliberal economic positions.[36][37] As of 2024, it was described as a right-wing party.[7]

## Leadership

[edit]

### Party leaders

[edit]

No.  | Image  | Name  | Start Date  | End Date  | Time

|
|
|
|
|

1. |  | Ryszard Petru | 31 May 2015  | 25 November 2017  | 2 years, 178 days
2. |  | Katarzyna Lubnauer | 25 November 2017  | 24 November 2019  | 1 year, 364 days
3. |  | Adam Szłapka  | 24 November 2019  | Incumbent  | 5 years, 259 days

### Parliamentary leaders

[edit]

No.  | Image  | Name  | Start Date  | End Date  | Time

|
|
|
|
|

1. |  | Ryszard Petru | 12 November 2015  | 26 April 2017  | 1 year, 165 days
2. |  | Katarzyna Lubnauer | 26 April 2017  | 9 January 2018  | 258 days
3. |  | Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz | 9 January 2018  | 5 December 2018  | 330 days
4. |  | Katarzyna Lubnauer | 6 December 2018  | 7 December 2018  | 1 day
5. |  | Paweł Pudłowski | 7 December 2018  | 12 June 2019  | 187 days

Since 13 June 2019 members of Modern are part of the Civic Coalition parliamentary group.[38]

## Election results

[edit]

### Sejm

[edit]

Election year  | Leader  | Votes  | %  | Seats  | +/–  | Government

|
|
|
|
|
|

2015 | Ryszard Petru | 1,155,370[20] | 7.6 (#4)[20] |

28 / 460

| New  | PiS
2019 | Katarzyna Lubnauer | 315,209  | 1.7 (#2)  |

8 / 460

|  20  | PiS
As part of Civic Coalition, which won 134 seats in total.
2023 | Adam Szłapka | 375,776  | 1.7 (#2)  |

6 / 460

|  2
PiS Minority (2023)
KO–PL2050–PSL–NL (2023-present)
As part of Civic Coalition, which won 157 seats in total.

### Senate

[edit]

Election year  | Votes  | %  | Seats  | +/–  | Majority

|
|
|
|
|

2015 | 394 817[20] | 2.6 (#5)[20] |

0 / 100

| New  | PiS
2019 | 84,889  | 0.5 (#2)  |

1 / 100

| 1  | KO–KP–SLD
As part of Civic Coalition, which won 43 seats in total.

### European Parliament

[edit]

Election  | Leader  | Votes  | %  | Seats  | +/–  | EP Group

|
|
|
|
|
|

2019 | Katarzyna Lubnauer | 5,249,935  | 38.47 (#2)  |

0 / 53

| New  | –
As part of European Coalition, which won 22 seats in total.
2024 | Adam Szłapka | 4,359,443  | 37.06 (#1)  |

0 / 52

|  0  | –
As part of Civic Coalition, which won 21 seats in total.

### Regional assemblies

[edit]

Election year  | Percentage of
vote  | Number of
overall seats won  | +/–

|
|
|

2018 | 27.1 (#2)  |

31 / 552

| New
As part of Civic Coalition, which won 194 seats in total.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Paul Kubicek (2017). European Politics. Taylor & Francis. p. 257\. ISBN 978-1-317-20638-5.
2. ^ a b Marek Payerhin, ed. (2016). Nordic, Central, and Southeastern Europe 2016-2017. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 339\. ISBN 978-1-4758-2897-9.
3. ^ a b c Pehe, Veronika (13 January 2017). "The end of the liberal opposition – and not just in Poland". Krytyka Polityczna. Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. "While MPs occupied the assembly hall, the leader of the neoliberal party Nowoczesna ("Modern"), Ryszard Petru, stated that due the parliamentary occupation, no opposition politician should go on vacation."
4. ^ a b c Sierakowski, Sławomir (12 August 2015). "The materialist turn in Polish politics". openDemocracy. "The aftermath of the elections also saw the successful launch of a new party, Nowoczesna.pl [eng. modern], by Ryszard Petru, a well-known neoliberal economist and a protégé of Leszek Balcerowicz, the man behind Poland's post-'89 shock therapy."
5. ^ a b Henningsen, Bernd; Etzold, Tobias; Hanne, Krister, eds. (15 September 2017). The Baltic Sea Region: A Comprehensive Guide: History, Politics, Culture and Economy of a European Role Model. Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag. p. 352\. ISBN 978-3-8305-1727-6.
6. ^ a b Nardelli, Alberto (22 October 2015). "Polish elections 2015: a guide to the parties, polls and electoral system". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
7. ^ a b c Krzyszczyk, Kamil (2024). "Post-transformation Politics, Socio-Economic Cleavages and Populism in Central and Eastern Europe". Analysis and Policy in Economics. Paris School of Economics: 77.
8. ^ a b "Co on kombinuje? Biedroń gratuluje PO i Nowoczesnej oraz zapowiada powstanie postępowej koalicji by zbudować nowoczesną Polskę". wPolityce.pl (in Polish). 8 June 2019.
9. ^ a b Szostkiewicz, Adam (9 June 2016). "Nowoczesna nie taka nowoczesna". Polityka (in Polish).
10. ^ Marek Payerhin, ed. (2016). Nordic, Central, and Southeastern Europe 2016-2017. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 339\. ISBN 9781475828979. "Another new movement was the Modern of Ryszard Petru, later styled as Modern (Nowoczesna) or simply ".N." This classical liberal party created by an economist, Ryszard Petru, received 7.6% of votes and 28 seats in the Sejm (it later gained an additional deputy who left Kukiz'15)"
11. ^ Henningsen, Bernd; Etzold, Tobias; Hanne, Krister (15 September 2017). The Baltic Sea Region: A Comprehensive Guide: History, Politics, Culture and Economy of a European Role Model. BWV Verlag. ISBN 9783830517276.
12. ^ Tom Lansford, ed. (2017). Political Handbook of the World 2016-2017. SAGE Publications. p. 1219\. ISBN 978-1-5063-2715-0.
13. ^ ""Ciepła woda w kranie jest w Kijowie". Ryszard Petru obiecuje likwidację przywilejów" (in Polish). TVN24. 31 May 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
14. ^ a b "NowoczesnaPL: uwolnić gospodarkę, zmienić system ubezpieczeń społecznych". Bankier.pl (in Polish). 31 May 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
15. ^ "Czarnecki: Ryszard Petru odnosi się do idei dawnej Unii Wolności, czyli politycznego trupa". www.gazetaprawna.pl (in Polish). 31 May 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
16. ^ "NowoczesnaPL. Co powinniśmy wiedzieć o ugrupowaniu Ryszarda Petru? [8 punktów]". 24 January 2016. Archived from the original on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
17. ^ "Nowoczesna bez "PL", ale z kwadratową kropką. Ugrupowanie Petru zmienia wizerunek" (in Polish). TVN24. 14 August 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
18. ^ "Nowoczesna.pl to plagiat? Fundacja protestuje przeciw zawłaszczaniu jej nazwy" (in Polish). wpolityce.pl. 31 May 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
19. ^ "Nowoczesna z nowym rzecznikiem, logo i "jedynką"". Newsweek Polska (in Polish). 14 August 2015. Archived from the original on 11 October 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
20. ^ a b c d e "PKW: PiS zdobyło 37,58 proc. głosów. Wchodzi pięć partii, lewica poza Sejmem" (in Polish). TVN24. 26 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
21. ^ Matthew S. Shugart; Rein Taagepera (2017). Votes from Seats: Logical Models of Electoral Systems. Cambridge University Press. p. 5\. ISBN 978-1-108-41702-0.
22. ^ "Ciudadanos, Nowoczesna, Naša stranka and Civic Position join ALDE Party | ALDE Party". Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
23. ^ "Nowoczesna wyprzedza PO, czyli rewolucja w sondażach [ANALIZA]". Newsweek.pl. 6 December 2015.
24. ^ "Sondaż IBRiS wybory: 23 czerwca 2016 r. - Badanie opinii". wnp.pl. 23 June 2016.
25. ^ a b Broniatowski, Michał (26 November 2017). "Polish opposition party elects new female leader". Politico Europe. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
26. ^ "Founder of Poland's opposition Nowoczesna party quits". Polskie Radio dla Zagranicy.
27. ^ "Koniec klubu Nowoczesnej. Ośmiu posłów z .N przeszło do Platformy Obywatelskiej". PolskieRadio.pl. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
28. ^ S.A, Wirtualna Polska Media (24 November 2019). "Adam Szłapka nowym przewodniczącym Nowoczesnej". wiadomosci.wp.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 28 December 2021.
29. ^ Reinhold Vetter (2017). Nationalismus im Osten Europas: Was Kaczynski und Orbán mit Le Pen und Wilders verbindet. Ch. Links Verlag. p. 61\. ISBN 978-3-86153-939-1.
30. ^ "START - NOWOCZESNA". nowoczesna.org. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
31. ^ "Gospodarka".
32. ^ Sierakowski, Sławomir (12 August 2015). "The materialist turn in Polish politics". openDemocracy.
33. ^ "Petru przyznaje: Podwyższymy wiek emerytalny" (in Polish). 4 September 2017.
34. ^ OKO.press. "Nowoczesna". oko.press (in Polish). Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. "Program ugrupowania określany jest jako centrolewicowy i proeuropejski." [The party's programme is described as centre-left and pro-European.]
35. ^ Jacek Turczyk (28 September 2017). "Dwa lata temu Nowoczesną popierało 22 proc., a teraz? SONDAŻ CBOS". wiadomosci.dziennik.pl (in Polish). "W ciągu dwóch lat swojego istnienia Nowoczesna przeszła z pozycji centroprawicowych na centrolewicowe - podaje ośrodek." [In the two years of its existence, Nowoczesna has moved from centre-right to centre-left positions, reports the facility.]
36. ^ Sahuquillo, María R. (9 May 2016). "Decenas de miles de polacos salen a la calle en Varsovia contra la deriva autoritaria del Gobierno". El País (in Spanish). Warsaw.
37. ^ Jacuński, Michał (2018). "Digitalization and political party life in Poland – a study of selected communication habits of party members and elective representatives". Polish Political Science Review. Polski Przegląd Politologiczny. 6 (2). University of Wrocław: 20–21\. doi:10.2478/ppsr-2018-0011.
38. ^ "Posłowie Nowoczesnej wstąpili do klubu Platformy Obywatelskiej-Koalicji Obywatelskiej". PolskieRadio24.pl.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

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