New party in the works?

A new political-debate webportal aimed at stimulating "truly ambitious politics" was launched last week by a group of conservative Polish politicians. Backed by conservative groups and named Polska XXI, the website says it "welcomes those interested in the public debate, free from party egoism and the negative effects of political marketing."

While its goals sound ambitious, the only output of Polska XXI so far is a few opinion essays and blogs. Still, the project has attracted considerable attention due to the prominent conservative names behind it, including Kazimierz Michał Ujazdowski (a former Minister of Culture and National Heritage), Jan Rokita (a former MP) and Rafał Dutkiewicz (the Mayor of Wrocław).

Speculation immediately flared in the media that the project would form the basis for a new conservative political party, to attract those dissatisfied with Civic Platform (PO) and Law and Justice (PiS). Still, the website's founders have refused to confirm these rumors explicitly.

Sergiusz Trzeciak, an independent political expert, was cautious when asked to comment on the chances for the appearance of a new conservative party. He said that the end of the Tusk government's honeymoon period could create room for a new political party, but the simple fact that new parliamentary elections will not be held until 2011 meant that the emergence of a new party in the near future was highly unlikely.

"No rational person would create a new party two and a half years before the elections," Trzeciak said, adding that it is much too early to predict whether this particular project will gain traction.

"It depends whether this is a spontaneous initiative by several well-known names, or something that will be built up gradually," Trzeciak said, noting that the latter would bear better results. "The names alone will not suffice," he said.