Poland’s leading opposition party,Civic Coalition,is preparing for a key internal vote on March 8th that will shape its leadership heading into the next parliamentary elections. [[1]] The contest comes as current Secretary-General marcin Kierwiński juggles his party duties with his role as Interior Minister,prompting a search for a successor who can fully dedicate themselves to the party’s organizational needs. Sources suggest Prime Minister Donald Tusk is considering a historic shift by possibly naming a woman to the influential position, breaking with decades of tradition within the Civic Coalition and across the Polish political landscape.
Poland’s Civic Coalition, the country’s largest opposition bloc, is preparing for internal elections next year that will determine its leadership. The vote, scheduled for March 8, will select the party’s leader, as well as regional and district heads. The Civic Coalition’s National Council will then appoint members to the National Board, including vice presidents and a secretary-general.
Currently, Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński has served as secretary-general since 2020, overseeing party operations and possessing the authority to propose dissolving party structures at both the local and regional levels. While a change in the role isn’t definitive, sources within the party suggest that combining the position with Kierwiński’s ministerial duties may be unsustainable. “Someone is needed who has the time to focus on the party, and Marcin certainly has a lot to do in his ministry,” a Civic Coalition official told reporters.
A Woman for the Role?
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Prime Minister Donald Tusk may be considering a replacement, according to sources. The upcoming elections, slated for two years from now, will require a secretary-general heavily involved in the process of creating party lists, a task expected to be contentious in many areas. “That also requires time,” one member of parliament noted.
Monika Wielichowska, the current Vice-Marshal of the Sejm, has been frequently mentioned as a potential candidate for secretary-general. A prominent figure from Lower Silesia, Wielichowska holds a strong position within the party, serving as Kierwiński’s deputy and a trusted aide to Tusk during the 2023 parliamentary election campaign. She has also recently appeared alongside the prime minister at public meetings in Pabianice and Piotrków Trybunalski. “Donald likes her, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he chose Monika,” a Civic Coalition politician said.
“Gazeta Wyborcza” reported several days ago that Wielichowska is seriously being considered for the position. “If they’re saying that, there’s probably something to it,” said someone familiar with Wielichowska. “I’ve heard about Monika, but also about another idea, although without names, and it would be someone who doesn’t hold any significant position in the government, some MP or senator, someone who could devote most of their time to the party.”
Schetyna, Janik and Brudziński
Selecting Wielichowska would represent a shift in tradition, as all previous secretaries-general in Tusk’s parties have been men, starting with Paweł Piskorski in the Liberal Democratic Congress and continuing with Kierwiński in the current Civic Coalition. Grzegorz Schetyna, Andrzej Wyrobiec, Paweł Graś, and Andrzej Biernat have also held the position within the Civic Platform.
The same pattern has been seen in other Polish parties. The Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) and the New Left have consistently had male leaders overseeing their structures, from Krzysztof Janik and Marek Dyduch to Grzegorz Napieralski and Marek Nawrot, and finally Krzysztof Gawkowski and Marcin Kulaska. In the Law and Justice party, party leader Jarosław Kaczyński has appointed Joachim Brudziński, Jarosław Zieliński, Krzysztof Sobolewski, and currently Piotr Milowański. In Konfederacja, Krzysztof Rzońca currently holds the position of secretary, while Robert Sitnik serves in the same role for Poland 2050.
While men typically fill this key role, there have been exceptions. Konfederacja Korony Polskiej, a far-right party led by Grzegorz Braun, has Marta Mrzygłód, a social activist specializing in healthcare, as its secretary-general.
Until recently, Poland 2050 also had a female secretary-general – Agnieszka Baranowska, associated with local government in Pomerania. She was replaced this year by Sitnik, the Mazovian deputy voivode.
“It’s the Person Who Builds the Role”
Why are men more often chosen for these organizational roles? Sources suggest that the dominance of men in Polish politics makes it more difficult for women to reach key positions. Others point to the demands of the position. “You simply need a lot of time, so it’s harder for a woman, especially if she has children,” one former official explained. “It’s an exceptionally thankless and absorbing job. A lot of traveling around the country to get to know people, gain their trust, build contacts. And when there’s trouble in the party, you have to drop everything and rush to the other end of the country to put out the fire. I once spent a night mediating a local conflict because an influential MP from the region had a serious falling out with local officials.”
“Of course, there’s also the belief that the secretary-general sometimes has to drink vodka with party activists, and well, that’s usually a man,” another experienced Civic Coalition MP joked. “But seriously, the secretary-general must be primarily tough and decisive, because sometimes you have to give someone a shovel to the head, but above all, they must be a skilled diplomat.”
However, sources emphasize that gender is not an obstacle to fulfilling the role. “It’s not the function that builds the person, but the person who builds the function,” said a former secretary-general of one of the coalition parties. “If Monika is chosen for the position, she will need a good team of people, efficient and trusted deputies who will support her.”
“I think Donald will want to recognize Monika’s work in any case. If she doesn’t become secretary, she’ll probably be one of the vice-chairpersons,” predicted an MP from Lower Silesia who works with Wielichowska in the region.
Pełczyńska-Nałęcz: “Find the Difference”
The role of women in parties was recently addressed by Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, Minister of Funds and Regional Development, and a candidate for the new chair of Poland 2050. She posted a graphic on X comparing the leadership of regional structures in the parties of the October 15 Coalition.
The graphic showed that Poland 2050 has the most women leading its regional organizations (Agnieszka Baranowska in Pomerania, Maja Nowak in Lubusz, Ewa Schädler in Wielkopolska, and Ewa Szymanowska in Łódź), while the Polish People’s Party (PSL) has one (Urszula Pasławska in Warmia-Masuria), and the New Left and Civic Coalition have none.
The situation in the Civic Coalition may change after the March internal elections, as sources say two politicians – MEP Marta Wcisło in Lublin and MP Joanna Frydrych in Podkarpackie – are seeking to lead their regions. Both will likely face male competitors (Wcisło against MP Michał Krawczyk, and Frydrych against Rzeszów Deputy Mayor Marcin Dęrogowski).
Regardless of the outcome of these contests, sources within the Civic Coalition say Donald Tusk will prioritize women. The party already has gender parity among its vice-chairpersons (five men and five women), and the same is expected in the new party leadership.
Włodzimierz Czarzasty, the leader of the New Left, also applied the “fifty-fifty” principle last week – on his proposal, the party congress elected six women (including Minister of Family, Labor and Social Policy Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, head of the Left Club Anna Maria Żukowska, and Secretary of State in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, responsible for equality issues, Katarzyna Kotula) and six men (including Secretary-General Marcin Kulasek and Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Digital Affairs Krzysztof Gawkowski) to the leadership.
