Polish opposition PiS party reaches agreement to avert internal split

A late-night meeting on Monday between Jarosław Kaczyński and Mateusz Morawiecki, the leader and deputy leader of the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, has led to an agreement that, for now, has averted a potential split in Poland’s main opposition party.

“There’s an agreement and a common direction,” tweeted Adam Bielan, a senior party figure, at 2:24 a.m. on Tuesday morning, alongside a photo of himself, Kaczyński and Morawiecki.

He added that sometimes there are “sparks” in a relationship, before using a Polish saying (“kto się lubi, ten się czubi”) meaning that arguing is actually a sign of liking someone.

In an interview with broadcaster RMF on Tuesday morning, one of Morawiecki’s allies, PiS MEP and former party spokesman Piotr Müller, confirmed that “the overnight arrangements are positive” and “there is an agreement”.

Last week, Müller became one of dozens of PiS lawmakers who joined a new association, called Development Plus (Rozwój Plus), founded by Morawiecki, who served as prime minister of Poland from 2017 to 2023.

They represent a more moderate faction in PiS that has grown increasingly concerned about the party’s move towards a more hardline right-wing position in recent months, which they fear will result in the loss of the centre-right electorate at next year’s parliamentary elections.

However, although Morawiecki and his allies have insisted that they intended to work within PiS in order to broaden the party’s appeal, they received a hostile response from many colleagues, some of whom were concerned that the association was the start of a new breakaway party.

That culminated on Thursday in PiS spokesman Rafał Bochenek warning that membership of the association may violate party statutes and result in “disciplinary consequences”.

Kaczyński also suggested that “there will be no places on the PiS party [electoral] lists for the people involved” in Morawiecki’s association, effectively meaning no possibility of serving in parliament.

In his remarks, Kaczyński praised Morawiecki, saying he “was a great prime minister”. However, he warned that he cannot allow “one party to grow out of another” like a form of “parasitism”.

But speaking to RMF this morning, Müller said that PiS would now “move forward together with the association”. He claimed that earlier concerns had been a “misunderstanding” and even suggested that Kaczyński “was misled” regarding the nature of Morawiecki’s plans.

“They are intended to serve the purpose of expansion, not internal competition. Expanding, reaching new people,” said Müller.

“I believe the only correct path is for us [members of the association] to be on a large PiS party [electoral] list, because then, united, we have a chance of winning elections,” he added.

Shortly after noon on Tuesday, Kaczyński and Morawiecki held a joint press conference at PiS headquarters to announce that the dispute had been settled.

Kaczyński revealed that, as a form of “compromise”, Morawiecki’s association would operate within a new “expert council” that was being established by the party.

Morawiecki said that the decision would help PiS now “focus on fighting the government’s lawlessness, lack of ambition, and gigantic budget deficit”.

Internal tensions have long been brewing within PiS, which has seen its support in polls collapse from around 32% at the start of 2025 to around 25% now, which is its lowest level in 14 years.

In particular, there has been a division between more hardline elements – who believe that the party should move even further to the right to compete with two surging far-right parties – and more moderate figures, who argue that ceding the political centre ground would be disastrous.

The hardliners were given a boost at the start of March, when Kaczyński announced that one of their leading figures, Przemysław Czarnek, would be the party’s prime ministerial candidate in next year’s parliamentary elections.

However, since then, PiS has seen no significant boost in the polls, prompting growing frustration from the moderates, who argue there is still plenty of time to shift course ahead of elections that are due in autumn 2027.

Note: this article has been updated to include details of Kaczyński and Morawiecki’s press conference.

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.