2016 Democratic Left Alliance leadership election
16 January 2016 (first round)
23 January 2016 (second round) | |||||||||||||
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The 2016 Democratic Left Alliance leadership election was held in January 2016 to elect the leader of the Democratic Left Alliance. Włodzimierz Czarzasty was elected as the new leader of the party, defeating Jerzy Wenderlich by a margin of 17%. Following the election, the party began a process of transformation into the New Left party together with Robert Biedroń's Spring.
Procedure
The leadership election took place on 16 January (10:00 to 15:00 CET)[1] with a runoff on 23 January 2016. In the first round, all party members were eligible to vote, and turnout reached almost 63%.[2] The second round was held at the Party Congress, where 733 cast their vote.[3]
Background
The election took place after the poor showing of the party in the 2015 presidential election, where its candidate, Magdalena Ogórek, came fifth with 2.38% of the vote, and the defeat of the party with its electoral alliance in the 2015 parliamentary election, where the alliance fell under the 8% threshold, losing all of its seats. The incumbent leader, Leszek Miller, did not stand for re-election following the defeat. The defeat also caused turmoil within the party, with a group in the party (politicians such as Krzysztof Gawkowski, Dariusz Joński, Marek Balt,[4] Tomasz Trela[5]) calling for Miller's resignation from politics.
Candidates
Candidates in the second round
| Candidate | Born | Political office |
|---|---|---|
| 3 May 1960 Warsaw, Poland |
Member of the National Broadcasting Council (1999–2005) | |
| 22 April 1954 Toruń, Poland |
Deputy Marshal of the Sejm (2010–2015) Member of the Sejm (1993–2015) |
Results
Party leader
| Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vote | % | Vote | % | ||||||
| Włodzimierz Czarzasty | 5,541 | 37.97 | 428 | 58.39 | |||||
| Jerzy Wenderlich | 3,619 | 24.80 | 305 | 41.61 | |||||
| Krzysztof Gawkowski | 3,294 | 22.57 | Eliminated | ||||||
| Zbyszek Zaborowski | 837 | 5.74 | Eliminated | ||||||
| Joanna Senyszyn | 417 | 2.86 | Eliminated | ||||||
| Michał Huzarski | 385 | 2.64 | Eliminated | ||||||
| Tomasz Nesterowicz | 253 | 1.73 | Eliminated | ||||||
| Dariusz Szczotkowski | 134 | 0.92 | Eliminated | ||||||
| Adam Kępiński | 77 | 0.53 | Eliminated | ||||||
| Piotr Rączkowski | 35 | 0.24 | Eliminated | ||||||
| Total | 14,592 | 100.00 | 733 | 100.00 | |||||
| Source: Dziennik Gazeta Prawna,[2] Polish Press Agency[3] | |||||||||
Aftermath
Following the election, the party began a process of transformation into the broader Left alliance and later the New Left party together with the Spring party of Robert Biedroń.[6] In 2019, the SLD returned to the Sejm, earning 4.7% of the vote and 23 seats as part of the Left alliance, which got 12.6% of the vote and 49 seats.[7]
Notes
References
- ^ Gałczyńska, Magdalena (16 January 2016). "Wybory na szefa SLD. Nieoficjalnie: Jerzy Wenderlich wygrywa w Łodzi". Onet. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
- ^ a b "Pierwsza tura wyborów na szefa SLD nierozstrzygnięta. Czarzasty i Wenderlich w drugiej turze". Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. 20 January 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
- ^ a b "Włodzimierz Czarzasty nowym szefem SLD". Polish Press Agency. 23 January 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
- ^ "Idziecie? Idziemy! Młodzi politycy SLD obgadują Leszka Millera. Gdy wtem... [WIDEO]". Newsweek. 29 October 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
- ^ "Trela: „Leszek Miller odpowiada za naszą klęskę"". Radio Łódź. 27 October 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
- ^ "Włodzimierz Czarzasty i Robert Biedroń współprzewodniczącymi Nowej Lewicy". TVN 24. 9 October 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
- ^ Wyniki wyborów 2019 do Sejmu RP, retrieved 8 February 2026