The split

On Friday, 24 July 2026, Jarosław Kaczyński, the 77-year-old chairman of Poland's Law and Justice (PiS) party, appeared before media at the party's Warsaw headquarters and announced that more than 30 MPs would leave the party. The exact number was still being determined, he said, and he left open whether former prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki, the leader of the rebel faction, would be among them. The announcement marked the culmination of a months-long power struggle over the party's political direction.

“Everyone knew what the consequences would be if they didn't sign. And they made the decision they made.”

Roots of the conflict

The rift began in March when Kaczyński nominated hardline conservative Przemysław Czarnek as the party's candidate for prime minister in the 2027 parliamentary election. The move was intended to win back voters who had drifted to far-right rivals such as Konfederacja and the Confederation of the Polish Crown. Morawiecki, who served as prime minister from 2017 to 2023 and is seen as a technocratic, economically liberal conservative, had expected to lead the party himself. He warned that the sharp rightward turn would alienate centrist voters.

In April, Morawiecki launched an internal faction called "Development Plus" (Rozwój Plus) to rally moderate supporters. "In my grouping, thousands of people are involved who want to reach entrepreneurs and young people," he said, arguing that PiS must return to being a broad centre-right party.

“In my grouping, thousands of people are involved who want to reach entrepreneurs and young people.”

The loyalty ultimatum

Kaczyński viewed the faction as a threat and demanded its dissolution. He set a deadline of Thursday, 23 July, for all PiS MPs to sign a loyalty declaration. Morawiecki refused both demands. A crisis meeting on Thursday ended without agreement. Earlier in the week, Kaczyński had made an emotional appeal on X, urging unity: "I appeal to my colleagues to pause and drink a glass of cold water. The enemy is elsewhere and is rubbing its hands at the sight of the dispute within PiS.... Only united will we win. The Poles would not forgive anything else."

“I appeal to my colleagues to pause and drink a glass of cold water. The enemy is elsewhere and is rubbing its hands at the sight of the dispute within PiS.”

What it means for Polish politics

The split undermines the conservative camp's effort to unseat Prime Minister Donald Tusk in the 2027 election. PiS had hoped to build momentum after Karol Nawrocki's victory in the May 2025 presidential election, but the party's poll numbers have been weakening since last autumn. The party that ruled Poland from 2015 to 2023, clashing with Brussels over judicial reforms and LGBTQ+ rights, now faces an uncertain future. Its fragmentation could benefit Tusk's pro-EU coalition. The rupture also highlights a broader dilemma for Europe's right-wing parties: whether to radicalise to capture far-right voters or to moderate to remain a viable coalition partner.