A breakdown during preparations for an early mayoral election is exposing the Polish right’s difficulty acting as a unified political force.
Poland’s Confederation has been drawn into an open internal dispute after its candidate for mayor of Kraków, Bartosz Bochenchak, failed to collect enough signatures to register for the election. The episode, reported by Wprost on 9 September 2026, has intensified tensions between the New Hope party led by Sławomir Mentzen and the nationalist National Movement, the two main forces within the Confederation.
Representatives of New Hope say the failure resulted from inaction or deliberate obstruction by the National Movement. They claim that the nationalist party handed over only 18 of the 3,000 signatures required for the candidate’s registration. National Movement representatives reject the accusation, attributing the breakdown to communication problems and dissatisfaction with the choice of candidate.
A dispute that has moved beyond internal politics
The row matters because it concerns more than one unsuccessful local campaign. The Kraków episode suggests that the divisions between the Confederation’s constituent parties are now directly obstructing its ability to organise election work. A coalition that cannot coordinate the basic task of gathering signatures risks appearing incapable of presenting itself as a credible governing alternative.
For New Hope, the incident reinforces the case for developing the Confederation as an independent political force. Mentzen’s allies want the grouping to pursue its own political strategy rather than becoming subordinate to a larger conservative bloc. Their response to the Kraków failure has therefore focused on the National Movement’s alleged failure to carry out an agreed responsibility.
The National Movement’s explanation points to a different problem: not simply poor administration, but disagreement over whether the candidate had sufficient backing inside the alliance. Its representatives deny sabotaging the campaign, while saying that communication failures and discontent with the nomination contributed to the lack of signatures. That account nevertheless highlights the same underlying weakness: the coalition’s formal unity has not guaranteed a common electoral commitment.
Competing visions for the right
The conflict reflects a wider struggle over the future direction of Poland’s right. Mentzen’s camp favours an autonomous Confederation, while parts of the nationalist wing are open to closer cooperation with Law and Justice, known by its Polish acronym PiS. These competing approaches create a strategic fault line inside an alliance that already brings together parties with distinct political identities.
The disagreement is consequently not limited to who should have collected signatures in Kraków. It raises the question of whether the Confederation can remain a durable partnership when its principal components differ over its purpose, its alliances and the degree to which it should operate independently. Local election organisation has become a test of the broader political relationship.
The failure also comes as Poland’s right becomes increasingly fragmented. Law and Justice, the Confederation, the Confederation of the Polish Crown and a new political project associated with Mateusz Morawiecki are competing for influence among voters on the right. The proliferation of parties and projects is dispersing that electorate and making it harder to build a single, cohesive right-wing movement.
Pressure before the 2027 parliamentary election
That fragmentation could become more consequential before Poland’s parliamentary election in 2027. If the Confederation’s internal conflict deepens, it may weaken not only the alliance itself but also the wider right’s ability to consolidate around a common political offer. Rival parties could gain room to expand, while voters who might otherwise support a larger bloc face a more divided field.
The Kraków campaign has therefore exposed a practical and strategic vulnerability at the same time. The immediate failure was the inability to secure the required signatures, but the more serious issue is whether the Confederation can resolve disputes before they damage future campaigns. Its next challenge will be to prove that the alliance can turn an agreement between parties into coordinated political action.
Should Poland’s right prioritise a single electoral alliance before 2027, or preserve separate parties with competing strategies?
