Poland’s Anti-German Party Kneecapped

Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS) party split on Friday. The nation’s main conservative party and currently the main opposition party, Law and Justice governed Poland from 2015 to 2023. But now it appears it could collapse due to infighting.

• Former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, along with dozens of other legislators, was kicked out of PiS by party leader Jarosław Kaczyński.
• The exact number of legislators evicted has not been made clear. Kaczyński claimed “around 30-something” of the party’s legislators in the lower house essentially left the party after refusing to sign a declaration of loyalty. Morawiecki claimed 40 legislators left.
• Morawiecki has yet to declare the formation of a new political party, though he said he was starting “a new chapter in Poland’s political history.”
• While Morawiecki was technically prime minister from 2017 to 2023, Kaczyński has been party leader the entire time. Morawiecki has apparently been growing disillusioned with Kaczyński’s domination of the party, considering his leadership out of touch with the next generation.

Kaczyński has been one of the strongest opponents to German dominance in Europe. Germany played a major role in evicting the PiS from Poland’s government in 2015. With the party split, their power may be greatly reduced, handing Germany another victory.