Nonpartisan Local Government Activists
Nonpartisan Local Government Activists (Polish: Bezpartyjni Samorządowcy, BS) is a Polish political movement. Operating mainly at a regional level in a decentralised manner, it participates in elections as a national committee joining the individual regional counterparts. The organisation initially started out in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship before expanding to the rest of the country. The party is a heavily decentralised and federated organisation that fields candidates for local governments, often creating and cooperating with local committees and regional organisations. The BS lacks a central leadership and regional structures. The parties rule themselves separately and autonomously. Nonpartisan Local Government Activists frequently acts as a minor partner of regional governing coalitions, such as in the voivodeships of Lubuskie and Lower Silesia.
Nonpartisan Local Government Activists Bezpartyjni Samorządowcy | |
---|---|
Leader | Robert Raczyński |
Headquarters | Oleśnica, Lower Silesian Voivodeship |
Ideology | Localism Regionalism Federalism Christian democracy Pro-Europeanism |
Political position | Centre-left |
Sejm | 0 / 460 |
Senate | 0 / 100 |
European Parliament | 0 / 52 |
Sejmiks | 9 / 552 |
Website | |
bezpartyjnisamorzadowcy | |
Formerly associated with the liberal wing of Christian democracy, the party advocates for proposals such as free public transport, free lunches for children and abolition of the personal income tax (PIT). The party also advocates for creation of a powerful ecological agency based on the American United States Fish and Wildlife Service, which would protect nature and its resources, prevent pollution environment and combat poaching and illegal hunting. The BS believes that the Polish government became too centralised and became unable to address local concerns; to this end, the party believes that the central government needs MPs who are "local government officials, entrepreneurs and community workers who are not concerned with political lists and agenda". The party opposes "nationalisation" of local politics and warns that this would entail further polarisation of society, along with the erosion of local communities. The BS considers local governments a natural link between citizens and government, and foresees a highly decentralised and federalised Poland.