Konfederacja Polski Niepodległej na drodze do wolnych i demokratycznych wyborów

The Confederation of Independent Poland was the first democratic political party in the People’s Republic of Poland. The article presents its activity between 1979 and 1991 and concentrates on its internal organization, its program and above all on its place in the political system. Additionally, it presents the party’s evolution from an illegal and anti-regime political party to a classical parliamentary fraction. Deliberations concentrate on the period of regime transformation after the Round Table, focusing on the Confederation’s election campaigns: in 1989 – contractual parliamentary elections, in 1990 – local elections, in 1990 – presidential elections and in 1991 – parliamentary election. However the article focuses mainly on the preparations and the course of the 1991 parliamentary elections, as they were the first free and democratic parliamentary election in Poland after the Second World War, and its organisation was the Confederation’s most important goal since its establishment.