Modern (, styled as ".Nowoczesna") was a centre-right liberal political party in Poland.
It was formed in 2015 as "NowoczesnaPL" although it had to change the name to ".Nowoczesna" later that year due to a dispute with the similarly named Modern Poland Foundation. Its first president Ryszard Petru served until 2017, when he was succeeded by Katarzyna Lubnauer. It first gained seats in the 2015 parliamentary election, and in 2018 it joined the Civic Coalition to participate together in the local elections. Szłapka was elected as the president in 2019. Modern was a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, and it was orientated towards the principles of liberalism, neoliberalism, and classical liberalism. It also supported Poland's membership in the European Union.
History The party was founded in late May 2015 as NowoczesnaPL (ModernPL) by economist Ryszard Petru. The founding convention was held on 31 May 2015 at which around 6,000 people gathered to participate. The chairman presented the program of the party, and besides him, other activists spoke during the convention. In August 2015, the party's name was changed to .Modern (.Nowoczesna) due to controversy over its name – there had already been a non-governmental organization called the Modern Poland Foundation. Around the same time, the party's new logo was presented, and Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz became its spokesperson. The party received 7.6% of votes in the 2015 parliamentary election, which resulted in winning 28 seats in the Sejm.
The party was admitted into the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) on 4 June 2016. From the 2015 election to end of 2016 Nowoczesna had more support in polls than Platforma Obywatelska. It has lost it after image problems of Ryszard Petru. Katarzyna Lubnauer became the leader of Nowoczesna in November 2017. In leader elections at the party congress, Lubnauer received 149 votes and Petru received 140 votes.
In March 2018, Modern and Civic Platform formed the Civic Coalition electoral alliance to contest the 2018 local elections. In May 2018, founder Ryszard Petru left the party. In 2019, Modern was running for the European Parliament as part of the European Coalition. In June 2019, Modern joined the Civic Platform - Civic Coalition parliamentary group. During the 2019 Polish parliamentary elections the party was a member of the Civic Coalition along with the Civic Platform, Polish Initiative and the Greens. After these elections, Modern rejoined the Civic Coalition parliamentary group, and Adam Szłapka was elected as president of the party.
On 24 October 2025, Adam Szłapka informed that Nowoczesna's party convention voted to dissolve the party, with 146 votes for, 8 against, and 3 abstentions. The party declared that although it had dissolved itself, it will continue its activity through the Civic Coalition and merged with Civic Platform at the Civic Coalition unification congress.
Ideology
The party has been compared to the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP), with its emphasis on economic liberalism in its policy platform. It was economically and socially liberal. The party was described as neoliberal, and right-wing liberal. It was pro European integration and advocated for Poland to join the Eurozone. It supported LGBTQIA+ rights such as same-sex partnerships and the legalization of abortion. It also supported in-vitro fertilization. Economically the party was for lowering taxes and deregulating the economy. The party also wanted to reduce the size of the public sector via privatization and deregulate employment rights. One of the party's more controversial proposals included increasing the retirement age in Poland. It used to be described as centre-left, but swung to the right upon embracing neoliberal economic positions. It was described as centrist,, or centre-right. As of 2024, it was also described as a right-wing party.
Leadership Party leaders No.Image NameStart dateEnd dateTime1.Ryszard Petru31 May 201525 November 20172.Katarzyna Lubnauer25 November 201724 November 20193.Adam Szłapka24 November 201924 October 2025
Parliamentary leaders No.Image NameStart dateEnd dateTime1.Ryszard Petru12 November 201526 April 20172.Katarzyna Lubnauer26 April 20179 January 20183.Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz9 January 20185 December 20184.Katarzyna Lubnauer6 December 20187 December 20185.Paweł Pudłowski7 December 201812 June 2019 On 13 June 2019, members of Modern joined the Civic Coalition parliamentary group.
Election results Sejm Election Leader Votes % Seats +/– Government 2015 Ryszard Petru 1,155,370 7.6 (#4) New2019 Katarzyna Lubnauer 315,209 1.7 (#2) 20As part of Civic Coalition, which won 134 seats in total.2023 Adam Szłapka 375,776 1.7 (#2) 2 (2023-present)As part of Civic Coalition, which won 157 seats in total.
Senate Election Votes % Seats +/– Majority 2015394 8172.6 (#5) New2019 84,889 0.5 (#2)1As part of Civic Coalition, which won 43 seats in total.
European Parliament Election Leader Votes % Seats +/– EP Group2019 Katarzyna Lubnauer 5,249,935 38.47 (#2) New –As part of European Coalition, which won 22 seats in total.2024 Adam Szłapka 4,359,443 37.06 (#1) 0 –As part of Civic Coalition, which won 21 seats in total.
Regional assemblies Election Percentage ofvote Number ofoverall seats won +/–2018 27.1 (#2) NewAs part of Civic Coalition, which won 194 seats in total.
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