Now! (political party)

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Now!
Teraz!
LeaderRyszard Petru
FounderRyszard Petru
Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus
Founded17 November 2018 (2018-11-17)
Dissolved4 July 2019
Split from.Modern
HeadquartersWilliam Heerlein Lindley street, Warsaw
IdeologyLiberalism
Economic liberalism
Social liberalism[1]
Pro-Europeanism
Political positionCentre-left[1]
European Parliament groupAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
Colors  Peacoat
  Yellow
Website
wybierzteraz.pl

Now! (Polish: Teraz!) was a short-lived liberal political party in Poland. The party was founded on 17 November 2018 by the former World Bank economist Ryszard Petru[2] and Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus as a split from the Modern party which Petru was also a founder. His partner Joanna Schmidt, the vice-president of ALDE also defected. The party joined the European Coalition on 18 February 2019.[3] The party was dissolved on 4 July 2019.[4]

History[edit]

The party was registered on 6 November 2018 under the name Liberal-Social,[5] which was then carried by the MP circle formed by its founders. They were the MPs who left the Nowoczesna party in May 2018: Ryszard Petru (founder of Nowoczesna and its first chairman), Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus and Joanna Schmidt (later under the name Mihułka, vice-chair of ALDE). Ryszard Petru became chairman of the new party and its treasurer Marcin Grunwald.[5] The grouping already under the new name Now! was presented on 17 November 2018, with Joanna Mihułka as the new party treasurer. Among others, Anna Skiba, who on 16 November as head of Nowoczesna's structures in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, left the party together with almost all its activists from the region who were dissatisfied with the functioning of the Civic Coalition.[6] On 20 November 2018, the Liberal-Socialist parliamentary circle was re-registered as the Now! circle. A few days later, about 40 people from Western Pomeranian Voivodeship, hailing from Nowoczesna, joined the party.[7][8] On 9 December 2018, the party's convention was held at Centrum Praski Koneser in Warsaw, at which programme demands were presented. Speakers included former MP and deputy mayor of Warsaw Jacek Wojciechowicz and former head of the Youth Forum of the Polish Confederation of Private Employers Lewiatan and the Young Modern Forum Adam Kądziela.[9]

On 18 February 2019, the party's board of directors announced its accession to the European Coalition, established for the European Parliament elections in the same year.[10] In addition, the parliamentary circle Now! proposed to Nowoczesna to form a federated parliamentary club, but Nowoczesna rejected this offer.[11] Despite the party's endorsement of the EC, it did not become an entity, with two leading activists of Now! (while remaining in the grouping) ran for the European Parliament elections from the Spring party lists - Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus from second place on the list in the Warsaw district, and Anna Skiba opened the list in the Podkarpackie district.[12] However, neither of them won a seat. Both members of the Now! won a total of 29,570 votes, or 0.22% of the votes cast nationally (and 3.58% of all Spring candidates).

Now! did not submit its financial report for 2018, and on 30 March 2019 the party's convention passed a resolution to dissolve it.[13] The leader and liquidator of Ryszard Petru's grouping announced his resignation from running in the next elections and his withdrawal from political activity afterwards, and on 4 July 2019 the party's statutory bodies announced the end of the party's activities.[14] The parliamentary circle Now! functioned until the end of the VIII term of the Sejm. In the Parliamentary elections 2019, its MP Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus successfully ran for re-election as a Spring candidate from the SLD list (as part of the Left project).

Ideology[edit]

The party was described as left-wing and of liberal-social character.[1] When asked about his new party in 2018, Ryszard Petru stated that the party is liberal both socially and economically, and advocates for policies such as moving away from coal in favor of renewable energy and correcting the 500 plus program so it would not be given to wealthy families.[15]

The party argued that the 500 plus program did not work out as planned and proved to be a "demographic fiasco", and offered to reform the program to ensure that it is "only for those who need it". Additionally, the party called for reducing the PIT (Personal Income Tax) and CIT (Corporate Income Tax) rates to 16 percent. Now! also advocated for the introduction of a construction tax credit and a subsidy for renting flats, with the main goal of the program being subsidising all tenants on a monthly basis for long-term rental. The party also wanted to make Poland the Eurozone within one year time.[16]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Artur Bartkiewicz (22 November 2018). "Zandberg kpi z Petru: Nasza tajna broń". RP.pl (in Polish).
  2. ^ Tom Lansford, ed. (2017). Political Handbook of the World 2016-2017. SAGE Publications. p. 1219. ISBN 978-1-5063-2715-0.
  3. ^ "Partia Teraz! dołącza do Koalicji Europejskiej". wyborcza.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  4. ^ Izabela Kacprzak (5 July 2019). "Petru odchodzi z polityki?". RP.pl (in Polish).
  5. ^ a b "Position 2058". Judicial and Economic Monitor No. 11/2019. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  6. ^ Alina Bosak (19 November 2018). "Nowoczesna left 13 people in Stalowa Wola. The rest to Petru or Biedronia". biznesistyl.pl. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  7. ^ "Nowoczesna politicians from Western Pomerania leave en masse. They are returning to Petru and joining Now!". gazeta.pl. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  8. ^ "Former Nowoczesna activists move to Now! "With our hearts we are with Ryszard Petru"". wyborcza.pl. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  9. ^ Aleksandra Rebelińska (9 December 2018). "In the programme Now! 16 percent PIT and CIT and separation of church and state". pap.pl. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  10. ^ ""No time for divisions. The Now! joins the European Coalition". tvn24.pl. 18 February 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  11. ^ "Head of Nowoczesna rejects proposal of Ryszard Petru". interia.pl. 26 February 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  12. ^ "PKW Service - Elections 2019". Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  13. ^ "Position 1631". Court and Economic Monitor No. 8/2020. 14 January 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  14. ^ "Now! end". rp.pl. 4 July 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  15. ^ Paweł Supernak (19 December 2018). "Ryszard Petru w Onet Opinie: nie spodziewam się żebyśmy wygrali wybory". onet.pl (in Polish).
  16. ^ Paweł Supernak (9 December 2018). ""Głęboka korekta" 500 plus, przywrócenie handlu w niedziele. Teraz! prezentuje program". tvn24.pl (in Polish).
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