Liberal Democratic Congress

The Liberal Democratic Congress (Polish: Kongres Liberalno-Demokratyczny (KLD)) was a conservative-liberal political party in Poland.^[1]

Liberal Democratic Congress Kongres Liberalno Demokratyczny
Leader	Janusz Lewandowski (first) Donald Tusk (last)
Founders	Andrzej Voigt Donald Tusk Janusz Lewandowski
Founded	29 June 1990
Dissolved	23 April 1994
Split from	Solidarity Citizens' Committee
Merged into	Freedom Union
Ideology	Conservative liberalism Pro-Europeanism
Political position	Centre-right
National affiliation	Centre Agreement (until 1991)
European affiliation	European Democrat Union
Politics of Poland Political parties Elections

The party, led by Donald Tusk, had roots in the Solidarity movement. It advocated free market economy and individual liberty (however in Catholic understanding), rejected extremism and fanaticism and favoured European integration (in the form of European Union membership), rapid privatisation of the enterprises still owned by the Polish state and decentralisation of the government.

Until 1991, was a part of the Centre Agreement led by the Kaczyński brothers. In the 1991 general elections KLD got 7.5% of the votes and 37 seats in the Sejm (total 460 seats). In 1993 KLD got 4.0% of the votes and was left without seats.

In 1994, the KLD merged with the Democratic Union (Unia Demokratyczna) to form the Freedom Union (Unia Wolności, UW), preserving its liberal ideals. Former members, including Lewandowski and Donald Tusk, later joined the Civic Platform (PO) in 2001, where they shaped its moderate conservative wing. The KLD's legacy endures in Poland's market-driven economy, EU membership (2004), and the political careers of its founders. Donald Tusk, the KLD's final chairman (1991–1994), ascended to become Prime Minister of Poland (2007–2014) and President of the European Council (2014–2019), while Lewandowski served as EU Commissioner for Financial Programming and Budget (2010–2014), cementing the KLD's enduring impact on Poland's democratic trajectory.

Election results

Sejm

Election year	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Government
1991	839,978	7.49 (#7)	37 / 460	37	PC–ZChN–PSL-PL–SLCh (1991–1992)
					UD–ZChN–PChD–KLD–PSL-PL–SLCh–PPPP (1992–1993)
1993	550,578	3.99 (#10)	0 / 460	37	Extra-parliamentary

Senate

Election year	Seats	+/–	Government
1991	6 / 100		PC–ZChN–PSL-PL–SLCh (1991–1992)
			UD–ZChN–PChD–KLD–PSL-PL–SLCh–PPPP (1992–1993)
1993	1 / 100	5	SLD–PSL