Sławomir Neumann, the head of the Civic Platform-Civic Coalition club, on Friday declared himself a supporter of closer cooperation between PO and Modern Party and of further intergration of the two parties in the future. "Integration allows to create a big project that can win the parliamentary elections in the fall," said the PO politician. Secretary General of the Modern Party, Adam Szłapka talked on Friday about the return to the idea of the Civic Coalition which "proved very effective".
A joint session of the national councils of both parties, Civic Platform and Modern Party, have been scheduled to take place next Saturday. The Secretary General of Modern Party, Adam Szłapka announced this decision on Friday. According to him, the main topic on the agenda will be closer cooperation and return to the idea of the Civic Coalition which, as he said, proved very effective.
PO interested in cooperation
The head of the Civic Platform-Civic Coalition club, Sławomir Neumann confirmed that PO is strongly interested in close cooperation with Modern Party, that would include both parliamentary clubs and party structures. "I believe that during this session declarations will be made, which in turn will lead to decisions," said Neumann.
According to him, first thing to expect would be tightening of cooperation in the parliament and during the campaign before October's elections.
Asked if the two parties should merge into one, Neumann said that integration facilitates speaking in "plain, clear and united voice". "This was one the elements that made it difficult to run the campaign before EU elections, this "multi-voice" didn't help us. Diversity is important but so is sticking to the programme that we announced as a coalition. Integration makes sense because it would solve this issue," said the PO politician.
According to Neumann, intergration would be beneficial for the party as it would prove the determination of its members. "It would show that we're ready set aside personal ambitions in order to create a big project that would win the elections in the fall. I think that there's value in it and it's worth pursuing," he underscored.
"Revolution" in Modern Party
Onet.pl portal wrote about the "revolution" in the Modern Party. At first, as Onet wrote, the parliamentary club of the party is to be dissolved and its members, to move to Civic Platform-Civic Coalition club.
Later on, before the parliamentary elections, the party is to be liquidated, followed by its members joing the PO.
Cooperation
Civic Platform and Modern Party decided to start cooperation in spring last year, by creating the Civic Coalition, together with Polish Initiative. The coalition ran in the last year's local elections. In December, shortly after the elections tensions arose between the two formations. Seven MPs left Modern Party club for Civic Platform club, including its then chair Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz. The Civic Platform-Civic Coalition club was created. The leader of Modern Party, Katarzyna Lubnauer called this move "a hostile takeover" of MPs.
Another thaw in relations between the parties took place in February when both formations (together with Democratic Left Alliance, Polish People's Party and the Greens) decided to run together in the EU election. Although Modern Party did not receive any "hot" places on the lists, the European Coalition lasted until the vote. The coalition won 38,47 percent of votes which translated into 22 seats. The ruling Law and Justice party won the vote with 45,38 percent of votes, which means 27 MEPs in Brussels.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP