The party’s current leader, Szymon Hołownia, said on Friday that he had proposed a compromise solution to the two candidates who advanced to the second round of internal elections for party leader.
Speaking to private broadcaster Polsat News, he said he had suggested they consider a form of joint leadership, sharing responsibility in an effort to reconcile rival factions within the party.
According to Michał Gramatyka, a deputy digital affairs minister and Polska 2050 politician, one of the candidates, Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, has accepted an invitation to meet Hołownia.
Gramatyka told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that the second contender, Paulina Hennig-Kloska, has not yet confirmed whether she will attend.
He said Pełczyńska-Nałęcz informed party members of her decision via an internal messaging channel.
Hennig-Kloska, however, told Polsat News earlier that day that Hołownia had not contacted her directly.
She also pointed out that Polska 2050’s statutes do not currently allow for co-chairmanship of the party.
While stressing she was open to dialogue after the internal elections, she said it was not standard political practice to arrange meetings through the media.
The idea of joint leadership was first floated earlier this week, when Pełczyńska-Nałęcz wrote to party members proposing that she and Hennig-Kloska become co-leaders as a response to what she described as a systemic crisis within the party.
Reports of private chat fuel tensions
The dispute has intensified following reports by the news website Onet, which published excerpts from a closed online chat group reportedly set up by Hołownia.
According to the report, the group – named "2026" – included a small circle of his closest allies but none of the leadership candidates.
Messages cited by Onet suggest discussions about delaying or bypassing the internal leadership election.
Two government ministers affiliated with Polska 2050 – Marta Cienkowska and Adriana Porowska – were reported to have taken part in the exchange.
Both told Onet the conversations were private and informal.
Cienkowska said the language used reflected personal relationships rather than official conduct, while Porowska described a remark about "declaring Szymon king" as a joke.
Hennig-Kloska criticised what she described as unacceptable language and practices revealed in the reports, saying they ran counter to the democratic standards agreed when Polska 2050 was founded.
On Monday evening, the party’s national council decided that the second round of the leadership election would be repeated by 31 January, with Hennig-Kloska, the climate and environment minister, and Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, the minister of funds and regional policy, once again facing each other.
(ał)
Source: PAP, Onet.pl