Liga Polskich Rodzin

League of Polish Families (Liga Polskich Rodzin) is an opposition party in the Polish Parliament (the Sejm ). It was created just before the elections in 2001 and gained 8% of the votes.

History

Their leader Roman Giertych is a son of Maciej Giertych , who was a member of the communist Polish UnitedWorkers' Party (PZPR), the ruling party of the Soviet controlled People's Republic of Poland . Now he is aparliament deputy in the same party as his son. Roman Giertych grandfather was a deputy to the parliament of the Second Polish Republic before the World War II , was a member of the National Democracy , a group that initially stayed close to Imperial Russias interests in Poland. Roman Giertych graduated from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań . He studied both Law and History.Then he started cooperation with Polish National Democrats such as JanŁopuszański , Antoni Macierewicz , Gabryjel Janowski and others. Press suppose that his party is affiliated with father Tadeusz Rydzyk , director of thecatholic radio station RadioMaryja , hugely popular among older people, though sometimes criticized by top Church authorities in Poland. However it has never been proved that the party is in any way foundedby him. Soon after the election in 2001 group of deputies separated from LPR creating ownparty known now as Porozumienie Polskie (Polish Circle) with the leader Jan Łopuszański.

In the 2004 elections to theEuropean Parliament LPR received 16% votes which give it 15 out of 54 seats reserved for Poland in European Parliament . This made the LPR the second largest party inPoland in that election, second only to the liberal Platforma Obywatelska , and well ahead of the ruling left-wing Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej , the populist Samoobrona and the conservative Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc .However, two notable features of that election were the low overall turnout (less than 20% of eligible voters) and the apparentvery high average age of LPR voters. Thus, the long-term significance of the LPR's strong performance in that election is as yetunclear.

Political program

The political program is Christian left, however recently the party tries to claim it's patriotic right. The party combines social conservatism with isolationism and left-wing economic policies, based upon herown interpretation of the Catholic Social Doctrine . The party is fiercely anti-EU and is the only significant political forces in Poland that is unconditionally against EU membership, believing the union formed from the ground up by social-liberals can never bereformed.

The party attracts voters who feel lost in the political transformation occurring in Poland after 1989 , but are unwilling to vote for the communists. Unlike other similar parties LPR isn't known to take part in anypoltical scandal.

Leaders

• Roman Giertych - party chairman

Members of Polish Parliament ( Sejm )

MP, constituency

• Janusz Dobrosz , Wrocław
• AndrzejFedorowicz , Białystok
• Roman Giertych , Warszawa
• Grzegorz Górniak , Wałbrzych
• Stanisław Gudzowski , ZielonaGóra
• Witold Hatka , Bydgoszcz
• Zbigniew Jacyna-Onyszkiewicz , Poznań
• Zdzisław Jankowski , Konin
• RyszardKędra , Krosno
• Marek Kotlinowski , Kraków
• ZofiaKrasicka-Domka , Nowy Sącz
• AndrzejMańka , Lublin
• GabrielaMasłowska , Lublin
• Halina Murias , Rzeszów
• Leszek Murzyn , Chrzanów
• Stanisław Papież , Kraków
• ElżbietaRatajczak , Kalisz
• EwaSowińska , Łódź
• Józef Skowyra , Piła
• Anna Sobecka , Toruń
• RobertStrąk , Gdynia
• Stanisław Szyszkowski , Kielce
• Zenon Tyma , Opole
• Zygmunt Wrzodak , Rzeszów
• Stanisław Zadora , Bielsko-Biała

League of Polish Families - Electoral Comittee

Except of LPR party members the electoral commitee consisted of several political parties and groups that formed separateparliamentary cacuses in Polish parliament:

• Ruch Katolicko-Narodowy , leader: Antoni Macierewicz
• Dom Ojczysty , leader: Piotr Krutul
• Porozumienie Polskie , leader: Jan Łopuszański
• Ruch Odbudowy Polski , leader: Jan Olszewski

Members of Polish Senate

Members of European Parliament

• Filip Adwent , physician andauthor
• SylwesterChruszcz , architect and politican
• Maciej Giertych , politician and publicist
• Dariusz Grabowski ,economist, politician and businessman
• Urszula Krupa , doctor ofmedicine, journalist
• Mirosław Piotrowski , professor of history
• Bogdan Pęk ,zootechnologist and politician
• Bogusław Rogalski , historian, farmer and political activist
• Witold Tomczak , physicianand politician
• WojciechWierzejski , politician and sociologist

Eurosceptic caucus: Independence and Democracy

31 newly elected MEPs from the UK , Poland , Denmark and Sweden grouped together in the EuropeanParliament that is tentatively named Independence and Democracy starting in 2004. The main goals of this group are rejection ofany European constitution and oposision to any federalist Europe plans. The leaders are: Nigel Farage of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP, 12 MEPs) , Jens Peter Bonde from Denmark,and Maciej Giertych from the League of Polish Families (10 MEPs).See: Europe of Democraciesand Diversities

External links

Official website in Polish

See also: Politics of Poland , List of political parties inPoland