Development Plus (, R+) is a Polish political association led and founded by Mateusz Morawiecki, who served as the Prime Minister of Poland between 2017 and 2023. It was founded on 15 April 2026 by Morawiecki and other members of Law and Justice (PiS) unsatisfied with perceived right-wing radicalization of the party. It represents the political environment informally known as the "Scouts" (), a moderate faction of Law and Justice which was led by Morawiecki, in an opposition to the dominant conservative wing, known as the "Butter-Makers" ().
Rozwój Plus has a network of members, events, and parliamentary base, making it a de facto standalone political party. Its members were to be forced out of PiS on 24 July 2026 after refusing the party leadership's demand to dissolve R+ and sign a loyalty oath prohibiting membership in any political movements besides PiS. However, PiS' political committee decided against doing so, assigning Karol Karski, the party discipline spokesman, to conduct individual hearings. While Karski affirmed that R+ members remain members of PiS, on 29 July Morawiecki founded a new parliamentary club for the association, which was registered the next day. On 13 August, PiS disciplinary committee decided to exclude every member of the association's parliamentary club.
History Founding and internal party dispute
Rozwój Plus was founded on 15 April 2026 by Mateusz Morawiecki. Upon its foundation, about 50 politicians of Law and Justice, including its MPs, senators, and MEPs, declared their support for the initiative. The foundation was seen as a result of the escalating conflict within the party between its moderate wing — the "Scouts" led by Morawiecki, and its dominant conservative wing — the "Butter-Makers" (), led by Przemysław Czarnek, Jacek Sasin, Tobiasz Bocheński, and Patryk Jaki. The conflict was caused by the nomination of Przemysław Czarnek as the Law and Justice's candidate for prime minister in the next Polish parliamentary election in March 2026. As Czarnek represents a national-conservative wing of the party, the "Scouts" criticized his nomination as an abandonment of centrist voters, and the conflict escalated given Czarnek's failure to improve the party's standing in the polls.
Czarnek's nomination for prime ministerial candidate boosted the "Butter-Makers"; however, the support for PiS in the polls fell from 32% in 2025 to 25%, its lowest level in 14 years, following Czarnek's nomination. Under Czarnek, the party's conservatives tried to remove Morawiecki from leadership positions, regain voters from two parties further right - Confederation Liberty and Independence and the Confederation of the Polish Crown, and tap into the popularity of the President Karol Nawrocki, who had grown distant from PiS after his victory in favor of creating his own movement, which was dubbed "Polish MAGA" by the media. However, the "Butter-Makers" failed at all three tasks, leaving them unable to suppress the "Scouts" and their growing criticisms. A Super Express poll found that amongst PiS voters, 34% wanted Morawiecki to succeed Kaczyński as the party leader, compared to 21% wanting Czarnek as the successor instead.
In reaction to the foundation of the association, the party spokesman Rafał Bochenek declared that the membership in Rozwój Plus is incompatible with membership in Law and Justice. Bochenek threatened disciplinary measures against those who joined Rozwój Polski, while the leader of Law and Justice, Jarosław Kaczyński, warned that he would exclude the association's members from the party's electoral list in the upcoming parliamentary election. Rozwój Plus was founded without the knowledge of Kaczyński. However, on 21 April, Kaczyński and Morawiecki held a meeting late at night.
After the meeting, Kaczyński and Morawiecki declared that a compromise had been reached under which Rozwój Plus would operate as a new expert council of the party. Kaczyński stated that he accepted that the party would have "two lungs", referring to the party's factions of "Scouts" and "Butter-Makers". However, Morawiecki went on to formally register Rozwój Plus as a standalone association, which took place on 14 May.
In response, on June 9, the "Butter-Makers", led by Jacek Sasin, announced the creation of their own political association, Poland First (), which was to play the role of the conservative "lung" of the party. Poland First was an answer to Morawiecki's association, and its stated goals were preserving the unity of PiS and supporting the campaign and candidacy of Czarnek. Poland First numbered 100 PiS MPs. Two minor conservative associations were formed as well - Marek Suski founded Lech Kaczyński's Centre Agreement Association (), consisting of the "old guard" of PiS who descended from Centre Agreement, the precursor to PiS, as well as Conservative Forum ().
Break with Kaczyński Despite initially tolerating the association and its registration in May, relations between the "Scouts" and PiS leadership significantly soured in July. Following the Order of the White Eagle controversy, Czarnek, accusing Ukraine of glorifying and promoting Banderism, declared that PiS would "force the EU to stop financing, in any way, Ukraine's armament and reconstruction" until Ukraine changes its stance and policies. This statement was considered openly anti-Ukrainian and was then denounced by Kaczyński, who stated that military assistance to Ukraine "is absolutely necessary" and that "Czarnek’s remarks will be addressed by the party leadership". Morawiecki also criticized Czarnek's statement, arguing that Czarnek and his wing of the party are attempting to outflank the far-right pro-Russian Grzegorz Braun from the right instead of focusing on the ruling Civic Coalition and the recent South Hospital scandal.
Subsequently, the "Scouts" also criticized PiS leadership for their promises of the "Czarnek effect", a promised boost in the polls that nominating Czarnek would bring, which failed to materialize. Morawiecki had also started boycotting numerous PiS gatherings, instead organizing debates and panels on behalf of Rozwój Plus. At the end of June, Morawiecki announced that Rozwój Plus would organize a large barbecue event on 31 July named "Rozwój Plus plus Wy", where Morawiecki and his political environment would discuss socioeconomic issues with voters. The media interpreted the barbecue as a show of political strength given its large scope and date, with 31 July seen "as a signal in itself: it marks the end of the political season, just before the strategic lull in the first half of August."
According to Rzeczpospolita, Kaczyński reacted to the announcement with fury, as Morawiecki did not consult the event with him, and the event was also seen as a breach of the agreement reached in April to make Rozwój Plus an expert council of PiS. Believing that only a few MPs would stay with Morawiecki when threatened with expulsion, Kaczyński decided to act against Rozwój Plus. According to Newsweek, internal party polls conducted by presidential advisor Piotr Agatowski were also decisive in Kaczyński's judgement, as they showed that Rozwój Plus would only win 2.8% of the popular vote, with PiS losing only 0.7 pp to it. This was in contrast to public media polls in which Rozwój Plus polled between 6 and 7%.
Ultimatum + Members of the Sejm and European Parliament who signed onto the letter to Jarosław Kaczyński Member Parliamentary position Member Parliamentary position Anna Baluch Member of the Sejm Krzysztof Lipiec Member of the Sejm Ryszard Bartosik Member of the Sejm Grzegorz Lorek Member of the Sejm Waldemar Buda Member of the EP Marzena Machałek Member of the Sejm Zbigniew Chmielowiec Member of the Sejm Grzegorz Macko Member of the Sejm Anna Cicholska Member of the Sejm Mateusz Morawiecki Member of the Sejm Janusz Cieszyński Member of the Sejm Piotr Müller Member of the EP Michał Cieślak Member of the Sejm Daniel Obajtek Member of the EP Member of the Sejm Monika Pawłowska Member of the Sejm Elżbieta Duda Member of the Sejm Grzegorz Puda Member of the Sejm Michał Dworczyk Member of the EP Paweł Rychlik Member of the Sejm Robert Gontarz Member of the Sejm Łukasz Schreiber Member of the Sejm Andrzej Gut-Mostowy Member of the Sejm Olga Semeniuk-Patkowska Member of the Sejm Marcin Gwóźdź Member of the Sejm Sławomir Skwarek Member of the Sejm Marcin Horała Member of the Sejm Mirosława Stachowiak-Różecka Member of the Sejm Paweł Jabłoński Member of the Sejm Krzysztof Szczucki Member of the Sejm Marek Jakubiak Member of the Sejm Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk Member of the Sejm Fryderyk Kapinos Member of the Sejm Agnieszka Ścigaj Member of the Sejm Łukasz Kmita Member of the Sejm Ryszard Terlecki Member of the Sejm Maria Koc Member of the Sejm Włodzimierz Tomaszewski Member of the Sejm Wiesław Krajewski Member of the Sejm Sylwester Tułajew Member of the Sejm Andrzej Kryj Member of the Sejm Wojciech Zubowski Member of the Sejm Krzysztof Kubów Member of the Sejm Ireneusz Zyska Member of the Sejm Anna Kwiecień Member of the Sejm On 15 July, Bochenek announced that the party's presidium adopted a resolution "prohibiting the activity and participation of PiS party members in associations, foundations, and other political organizations." It gave its members time until 23 July to obey the ruling, and those who failed to do so would be excluded from the party. PiS members had to sign a loyalty oath, confirming that they have abandoned any political association, foundation, or organization besides PiS.
Poland First was immediately dissolved after the resolution, all of its members signing the oath. According to Onet, PiS leadership believed that only about 20 to 25 MPs are hardline allies of Morawiecki, while the rest of Rozwój Plus were opportunists who struggled with their region and were looking for patrons. The "Butter-Makers" would speculate in the media that only about 10 MPs out of the 40 active in Rozwój Plus would refuse to sign the oath, thus leaving Morawiecki isolated. On 17 July, 45 members of Rozwój Plus published a letter to Kaczyński in which they stated that their aim is party unity, adding that "unity – even when there are differences of opinion on the way forward – remains a prerequisite for lasting victory and responsibility for the state". At the same time, the letter said that PiS must "reconnect with those groups that have drifted away from us in recent years and to regain their trust."
One "Scout", Daniel Obajtek, did agree to sign the oath and thus leave Rozwój Plus. The loyalty oath was also signed by , who did not join Rozwój Plus, but is a "Scout". All other "Scouts" , however, did not, refusing to leave the association.
As a result, on 23 July, the day the deadline ended, Morawiecki and Kaczyński held talks in what the media called a "last chance meeting" with the purpose of finding a compromise. In the meeting, Morawiecki reportedly offered numerous concessions, such as limiting the number of association's conferences, or establishing a joint advisory council between Rozwój Plus and PiS. In total, Morawiecki presented 21 proposals to end the rift. However, no agreement was reached.
Attempted expulsion from PiS