The end of the Hołownia era. Two ministries are fighting for leadership in the party

Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz and Paulina Hennig-Kloska will compete in the second round of the elections for the head of Poland 2050. In Saturday's vote, they were supported by 277 and 131 party members, respectively. The second round will take place on Monday.

Five of its members ran for the leadership of the party after Szymon Hołownia. Over 800 delegates were eligible to vote; 656 votes were cast.

The most winners were the Minister of Funds and Regional Policy, Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz (277), followed by the Minister of Climate and Environment, Paulina Hennig-Kloska (131).

Third place goes to Joanna Mucha with 119 votes of support. Behind her were Ryszard Petru – 95 votes and Rafał Kasprzyk – 34 votes.

Ryszard Petru declared on Saturday, after the announcement of the voting results, that he would vote for Hennig-Kloska in the second round. Joanna Mucha first wants to talk to both candidates. Rafał Kasprzyk is not revealing his preferences yet.

The second round of the elections for the president of Poland 2050 will be held on Monday, January 12. The winner will be announced the same day in the afternoon. On January 17, the party's National Council will be held, which will elect four members of the board of Poland 2050.

The leader and founder of Poland 2050, Szymon Hołownia, announced at the end of September that he would not run for the party chairman again. He later announced that he was running for the position of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Ultimately, former president of Iraq, Barham Ahmed Salih, was elected to this position.

At the end of September, the party's National Council recommended Pełczyńska-Nałęcz to become deputy prime minister in the government – although the party has not yet received this position. At the same time, the Polish 2050 parliamentary club also supported Pełczyńska-Nałęcz for this position. The media reported then that the club's vote was not unanimous and Pełczyńska-Nałęcz received 16 votes, Hennig-Kloska – 14, and MP Żaneta Cwalina-Śliwowska received one vote.

Poland 2050 is a centrist party. It was established by Szymon Hołownia after he took third place in the 2020 presidential elections – obtaining 13.87%. votes. In the 2023 parliamentary elections, the party ran in coalition with PSL as Third Way and obtained 14.4 percent. votes.

The Third Way was dissolved in June 2025. Since then, Polska 2050 and PSL have been analyzed separately in the polls. Most recent surveys show that both parties are below the electoral threshold in terms of support. (PAP)

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