Citizens' Movement for Democratic Action

Citizens' Movement for Democratic Action
Poland

This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
Poland



Other countries · Atlas
Politics portal
view · talk · edit

Timeline of Polish liberal parties after 1989
• Citizens Movement 'Democratic Action' /ROAD (1990-1991)
Liberal Democratic Congress /KLD (1990-1994)
Democratic Union /UD (1991-1994)
Freedom Union /UW (1994-2005)
• Democratic Party /PD (2005- )

The Citizens' Movement for Democratic Action (Ruch Obywatelski Akcja Demokratyczna, ROAD) was a market-socialist and political party in Poland. The party was centrist-socialist on economic issues and conservative to moderate-conservative on social issues. In early 1990, an open conflict erupted between the conservative and centrist wings within the Citizens' Parliamentary Party (Obywatelski Klub Parlamentarny) formed by Sejm members from the ranks of the oppositional, trade-unionist Solidarity Citizens' Committee (Komitet Obywatelski Solidarność); Lech Wałęsa dubbed this conflict, which he actively fomented, the "war at the top" (wojna na górze).

On 12 May 1990, the conservative- socialist faction led by Jarosław Kaczyński formed a new party of their own, the Centre Agreement (Porozumienie Centrum, PC), which was going to support Wałęsa in the upcoming presidential election.

In response to this, the centrist and Christian democratic faction, which favoured Christian democrat Tadeusz Mazowiecki as president, decided to establish the Citizens Movement 'Democratic Action'. Formed in July 1990, this was a regular, structured party rather than a loosely knit movement as its name suggests. ROAD's founders include Zbigniew Bujak, Władysław Frasyniuk, Jacek Kuroń, and Adam Michnik, that are considered as moderate socialdemocrats.

A smaller, more conservative faction around Aleksander Hall had split from Solidarity's parliamentary party a few weeks earlier, calling themselves Forum of the Democratic Right (Forum Prawicy Demokratycznej, FPD). In the presidential election in November–December 1990, both ROAD and FPD supported Mazowiecki, who suffered a surprisingly clear defeat, receiving only 18% in the first ballot.

In May 1991, following intense arguments within the party, ROAD merged with the FPD and other pro-Mazowiecki groups to form the Democratic Union (Unia Demokratyczna, UD) with Mazowiecki at the helm. However, many ROAD members refused to back this decision; most notably co-founder Zbigniew Bujak, who proposed to take a more social-democratic direction and formed the Democrat-Social Movement (Ruch Demokratyczno-Społeczny, RDS) instead.



Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Citizens' Movement for Democracy and Development — The Citizens Movement for Democracy and Development (Mouvement Citoyen pour la Démocratie et le Développement) is a political party in Togo. The party participated in the October 2007 parliamentary election, but did not win any seats[1]… …   Wikipedia

  • Citizens' Movement (Colombia) — For the French party, see Citizen and Republican Movement. For the Icelandic party, see Citizens Movement (Iceland). Colombia This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Colombia …   Wikipedia

  • Movement for France — Mouvement pour la France Leader Philippe de Villiers Founded 1994 …   Wikipedia

  • Movement for a New Country — For the radio format, see Country music. The Movement for a New Country (Spanish: Movimiento para un Nuevo País) is a political party in Argentina founded by Élida Vigo and made up of left wingers and dissident peronists in Misiones Province. The …   Wikipedia

  • Democratic Union (Poland) — Democratic Union Unia Demokratyczna Chairman Tadeusz Mazowiecki Founded May 1991 Dissolved April 23, 1994 (1994 04 23) …   Wikipedia

  • Citizens' Political Movement for Bocaya — Colombia This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Colombia …   Wikipedia

  • Democratic Action Congress — Trinidad and Tobago This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Trinidad and Tobago …   Wikipedia

  • Movement for Unity and Progress — The Movement for Unity and Progress was a political party in Trinidad and Tobago. It contested the 1995 general elections, but received just 0.4% of the national vote and failed to win a seat.[1] The party did not contest any further… …   Wikipedia

  • Movement for the unification of Romania and Moldova — …   Wikipedia

  • Movement for Socialism (Argentina) — Not to be confused with Movement for Socialism – Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples, Movement for Socialism (Venezuela), or Movement for Socialism (Britain). The Movement for Socialism (Spanish: Movimiento Al Socialismo, MAS) …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”