Elections 2024: What about the 3rd Way?

In the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections to be held in 2024, many political parties will fight for voters' votes. 1 of them is the PSL, which has been working with Poland 2050 for a long time as part of an electoral coalition called the 3rd Road. Deputy Prime Minister and head of PSL, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, estimated that the elections would show what would happen next with the 3rd Road.

Kosiniak-Kamysz referred to the words of Ryszard Petru, Polish MP 2050, who stated that the 3rd Way task would not proceed after the presidential election. Petru said that Poland 2050 and PSL “are talking about most worldview issues”. Kosiniak-Kamish commented on these words, saying that Petru should be more rooting for the 3rd Way, due to the fact that thanks to her he is in the Sejm.

The 3rd Road is an election coalition, which was established in 2023, erstwhile PSL and Poland 2050 decided to cooperate in the program. The leaders of both parties, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz and Szymon Hołownia, announced the establishment of a joint programming squad and announced the improvement of a "common list of matters to be done". In April 2023 it was announced that the PSL and Poland would establish a 2050 electoral coalition for parliamentary elections.

In the local elections and the European Parliament the 3rd Road besides took part, and in the Sejm operates within 2 parliamentary clubs: PSL-Trzecia Road and Poland 2050-Trzecia Road. Kosiniak-Kamysz said that PSL supports the run of Szymon Holownia, leader of Poland 2050, who is 1 of the candidates for president of Poland. The Deputy Prime Minister added that the PSL members are paying money for the Holownia run and that it is “normal cooperation”.

The 2024 elections will be an chance to check whether the 3rd Way will continue, or whether political parties will decide to fight for the vote alone. According to Kosiniak-Kamysza, the elections will show what will happen next with the 3rd Road, and PSL and Poland 2050 are ready to cooperate within the electoral coalition.

According to the June 2023 data, PSL has about 140,000 members and Poland 2050 has about 20,000 members. In the 2019 election for the Sejm, the PSL won 8,55% of the vote and Poland 2050 – 6,60%. In the municipal election of 2022 the 3rd Road won 15.56 % of the vote.

It is worth noting that the 2024 elections will take place in the context of economical growth and falling unemployment in Poland. According to CSO data, in 2022 Poland's GDP increased by 4.9% and the unemployment rate decreased to 3.2%. These favourable economical indicators can affect the result of elections and election decisions.

In the coming elections, many political parties will fight for voters' votes and the 3rd Road will be 1 of them. Will the PSL and Poland 2050 keep their electoral coalition, or will they decide to fight independently for voters' votes? We will be able to get an answer to this question in the next elections.