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Prosperity and Peace Movement
Polish socio-political movement and committee of voters From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Prosperity and Peace Movement (Polish: Ruch Dobrobytu i Pokoju, RDiP) is a socio-political movement (as well as electoral committee of voters in the 2023 Polish parliamentary election), founded in 2022 by journalist Maciej Maciak, on the basis of the programme ‘’You Need to Know‘’ created and hosted by him on YouTube.[2]
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The movement mainly organized via Telegram, which it relied on to gather members and supporters.[2] Prior to creating the party, Maciak was a member of the Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland, and ran on the movement's electoral list in the 2006 Polish local elections to the Kuyavian–Pomeranian Voivodeship Sejmik.[7] Maciak was also a member of Bezpartyjni Samorządowcy.[8] Later, he participated in 2018 mayoral elections in Włocławek, where he came 8th on the list in his electoral district.[9] He won 14% of the popular vote, considered a minor upset as he polled only 1%.[10] Maciak also founded a local TV station CW 24tv in 2009, and was its director for 10 years.[11] The station was controversial for hosting and interviewing a pro-Russian activist Konstantin Knyrik, and supporting the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea.[12] The station shut down after 10 years of broadcasting on 12 July 2019.[13]
In the 2023 elections, KWW RDiP registered lists of candidates in 11 out of 41 districts for the Sejm of the Republic of Poland and three candidates for the Senate of the Republic of Poland. Only non-partisans ran on behalf of the movement. Its leader Maciej Maciak. When the Prosperity and Peace Movement tried to register its electoral list on 11 August 2023 after gathering the necessary signatures, its electoral committee was unable to be registered because of a sudden shutdown of the Ministry of Digital Affairs servers. This forced the movement to register its electoral lists on a later date; Maciak dubbed this event "the first scandal of this [year's] electoral campaign".[14] In the elections to the Sejm, the DiP Movement received 0.12% of the vote, coming 9th (losing to the nationwide committees and the German Minority Electoral Committee, which was registered in one constituency). Candidates of the movement for the Senate took the last places in the districts.[15]
The movement ran in the 2024 Polish local elections as the Voters' Electoral Committee "Alternative" (Polish: KWW Alternatywa).[16] The movement won 14 gmina council seats in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, overperforming a major party like Bezpartyjni Samorządowcy (which won 13 seats) and nearly tying with the Third Way party (which won 15 seats) in the voivodeship.[17] Maciak run again for the position of Mayor of Włocławek in the 2024 mayoral election, where he received 7.42% of the vote.[18]
In 2024, the movement organized protests in Wrocław and Szczecin calling for the release of Julian Assange. The Prosperity and Peace Movement registered an electoral committee in the 2024 European Parliament election in Poland, but it did not manage to gather enough signatures to field candidates. It also participated in the 2024 Polish farmers' protests, joining the protesting farmers in Domaniewice.[19] In March 2024, the Prosperity and Peace Movement also organized a "Walk of Peace" in Lubartów, protesting Polish involvement in the Russian-Ukrainian War and opposing the Israeli invasion of Gaza.[20]
Maciak declared his candidacy for the 2025 Polish presidential election, and the Prosperity and Peace Movement registered his presidential committee.[21] On 26 March, Maciak gathered the required amount of signatures needed to appear on the ballot and formally submitted his candidacy.[22]
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Ideology
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The movement's postulates include increasing social benefits, implementing a system of state vouchers that can only be used on domestic Polish businesses, improving the living conditions of the pensioners, implementing restrictions on foreign capital, and ensuring cheap prices of water, gas and electricity.[23] Polityka describes the movement's program to be based on tenets such as social state for Poles only, prohibitive conditions for foreign capital, the development of renewable energy sources, the verification of debts incurred by previous governments, environmental protection, and energy supply from Russia.[1] The movement opposes EU expansion and prioritizes economic matters, and was called classical liberal in its outlook.[3] The movement is considered left-wing.[4][5]
The program of the movement is described to be based on "social solidarity, economic independence and a peaceful foreign policy".[18] As its main goals, it lists the expansion of social care for senior citizens, introduction of restrictions for foreign capital in the protection of Polish farmers and entrepreneurs, development of domestic energy industry, environmental protection, and measures to guarantee cheap gas, water and electricity. The movement is committed to peaceful foreign policy which will be based on cooperating with all of Poland's neighbours, especially Russia.[24] In regards to its environmental proposals, the movement calls for expansion of renewable energy sources, construction of pumped-storage power plants and implementation of 'pro-ecological strategies' in the Polish economy.[18]
The Prosperity and Peace Movement calls for a "rapid resuscitation of the Polish economy", which would be based on ensuring cheap energy supply and reducing the threat of war. The movement calls for an agreement with Russia, arguing that the support for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia came at an extreme cost to Polish taxpayers, causing a hike in living costs and sluggish economy in the long term. Speaking of sanctions against Russia and their economic consequences, the leader of the movement states: "There have been cases of abusive parents starving their children to prevent them from being overtaken by the ‘demon of gluttony’ and leading them into extreme exhaustion. I have the impression that at the moment we are dealing with a stepmother in the form of Polish politicians who, due to strange ideas so that the demon does not take over us, are causing serious damage to the economy and the national fabric."[25] In regards to the party's proposals, Adam Willma wrote:
Most of the Movement's demands could be endorsed by both the Left and the Razem party: higher benefits, pensions ‘without poverty and hardship’, cheap access to basic utilities, and measures to curb large corporations. Apart from organisations directly referring to communist ideology and grotesque comrades led by actor Wojciech Olszański, this is the only group that is openly pro-Putin.[6]
The movement supports the "800 plus" program that grants Polish families 800 PLN monthly per child, and postulated doubling the program's pensions to 1600 PLN. One of the movement's electoral slogans is "a villa with a swimming pool for every Pole" (Polish: willa z basenem dla każdego Polaka). Another of the movement's proposals is the introduction of high taxes for businesses in industries such as trade and banking, arguing that these industries are "easy, simple, intuitive", creating a lot of market manipulation and abuse. The DiP also declares its readiness to form a coalition with any party.[25] Another one of its slogans was "water, gas, electricity" (Polish: woda, gaz, prąd).[7]
Maciak declares his electorate the "true people of the left". He accuses mainstream left-wing parties of extravagance, stating that they "promote demands that benefit multinational corporations and their core is made up of barons who are subcontractors of these corporations". Maciak spoke positively of Leszek Miller, a Polish left-wing politician who was associated with Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland in 2007.[10] Maciak is also frequently accused of using pro-Russian and anti-Ukrainian talking points, as he spoke positively of the Russian annexation of Crimea.[26][27] Maciak argues that Ukrainians are manipulated and exploited by the USA.[28]
Prosperity and Peace Movement accuses Ukraine of carrying out terrorist attacks on Russian territory using NATO weapons and argues that Russia is wrongly held responsible for various types of attacks. The movement also states that Ukraine has no good intentions towards Poland, describing the Ukrainian soldiers as "adorned with swastikas and Wehrmacht crosses". RDiP calls for the end of the war in Ukraine, warning against the damage to Polish economy and living cost if Poland continues to gear its economy towards war and implements general mobilization.[1] It also argues that Ukraine should recognize the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics.[29]
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