Former Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki has formally launched a new parliamentary group with 40 MPs and one senator, deepening the internal split in the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party and reshaping Poland’s opposition ahead of next year’s parliamentary election.
The new caucus, operating under Morawiecki’s Rozwój Plus (Development Plus) banner, becomes the third-largest grouping in the parliament, giving the former prime minister an independent platform while he insists he remains part of the broader conservative camp.
Morawiecki has described his movement as a “second lung” of Poland’s right, saying it remains willing to cooperate with PiS while pursuing a more pro-development agenda.
He has also argued that PiS—which ruled Poland from 2015 to 2023 and frequently clashed with Brussels—has increasingly come under the influence of hardline factions, while his allies say the party’s shift further to the right is reducing its ability to win over centrist voters.
The split follows months of tensions after Morawiecki formed the Development Plus association in April. PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński had demanded that party members leave outside political organisations or face disciplinary action. Although PiS has not yet formally expelled Morawiecki and his allies, disciplinary proceedings are under way.
Kaczyński accused the former prime minister of deliberately engineering a split despite efforts to reach a compromise.
PiS parliamentary leader Mariusz Błaszczak said the new parliamentary group amounted to “a party within a party” and accused Morawiecki’s camp of acting against Poland’s interests by fracturing the opposition.
Morawiecki’s camp is seeking to demonstrate its political ambitions on Friday, July 31st at a major conference in Warsaw, featuring discussions on security, demographics, and historical policy.
Recent polling suggests the political landscape has become increasingly fragmented.
Liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO) leads with a 30.1% support, while PiS has fallen to 17.3%. Rozwój Plus is already polling at 7.4%, with the right-wing Konfederacja on 12.3% and the hard-right Confederation of the Polish Crown (KKP) on 10.9%. Tusk’s coalition partner, the Left (Lewica), stands at 7%.
Although the combined support for the four conservative and right-wing parties exceeds that of Tusk’s pro-Brussels coalition, ideological differences could complicate any attempt to form a governing majority after next year’s election.
While PiS appears increasingly willing to cooperate with parties to its right, Morawiecki’s allies have ruled out working with KKP.
