Silesian Regional Party (, , ) is a regionalist political party in Poland's Upper Silesia. It was founded on 21 June 2017 and registered on 12 April 2018. The party brought together members of the Silesian Autonomy Movement, the Upper Silesian Union, the Silesian Ferajn, the Democratic Union of Silesian Regionalists, the Union of Silesians, the Silesian Alliance, as well as independent local government officials and local leaders. Nationally, the party is affiliated with the Civic Coalition and ran on its behalf in some electoral districts of Upper Silesia. Regionally, the party also cooperates with another Silesian party, Silesians Together.
History
The formation of the party was announced on 21 June 2017 by a member of the board of the Silesian Voivodeship, a councillor of the Silesian Voivodeship Assembly and vice-chairman of the Silesian Autonomy Movement, Henryk Mercik, and the president of the Upper Silesian Union, Grzegorz Franki. However, the latter withdrew from the initiative in November 2017, due to joining the Civic Platform. Henryk Mercik and Ilona Kanclerz became leaders of the ŚPR, with Janusz Dubiel as spokesperson. Waldemar Murek was temporarily appointed chairman of the main board. The chairman of RAŚ Jerzy Gorzelik also became a leading party activist. The application for party registration was submitted on 13 October 2017 and the court registered the party on 12 April 2018. Four days later, a programme convention of the ŚPR was held in Katowice. In May of the same year, the RAŚ councillors' club in the local assembly was transformed into the ŚPR club. On 12 June, the party's authorities were elected. A 15-member political council was set up, with Henryk Mercik as chairman and Joachim Otte as vice-chairman. It also included Dietmar Brehmer and Marian Makula, among others. The group's main executive board was elected from among the council members. Marek Nowara was elected chairman, Ilona Kanclerz was elected vice-chairman, Jerzy Gorzelik was elected general secretary, Rafał Adamus was elected treasurer and Waldemar Murek and Piotr Snaczke were the other members.
In the 2018 local elections, the ŚPR ran for the regional assemblies in the Silesian and Opole provinces. It gained 3.1% (losing, among others, to another regional party, Ślonzoki Razem, which won 3.23%) and 1.13%, respectively, which translated into 0.38% nationally (14th result among all committees). On the other hand, ŚPR won 3 seats on county councils (2 in Rybnik and 1 in Bieruńsko-Lędziński) and 11 seats on municipal councils, including 5 in the municipality of Lyski (2nd result), where also a ŚPR candidate was elected mayor. Seven other party candidates ran unsuccessfully for mayor (4 for mayor, 1 for mayor and 2 for alderman).
On 2 March 2019, the party convention took place, at which the new leaders of the party were elected. Rafal Adamus became chairman, Zenon Lis became vice-chairman, Piotr Snaczke became secretary and Łukasz Giertler became treasurer. Dietmar Brehmer was also elected to the board.
In the parliamentary elections of the same year, ŚPR activists (three for the Sejm and Henryk Mercik for the Senate) ran on behalf of the Civic Coalition, but failed to gain seats. ŚPR candidates for the Sejm, on the KO lists, received a total of 2452 votes (representing 0.01% nationally).
On 18 February 2021, new party authorities were elected. After Rafał Adamus stepped down as chairman, his successor was Henryk Mercik. The then secretary Roman Kubica was replaced by Tomasz Skowron. In April 2022, Secretary Tomasz Skowron and Vice-chair Marta Bainka were dismissed. Ilona Kanclerz became the new secretary, Marek Bromboszcz the vice-chairman and Marek Polok the treasurer.