Yes! For Poland
A Polish local-government association and political movement advocating decentralisation, stronger municipal autonomy, democratic institutions, and socially and environmentally oriented public policy.
Last updated October 14, 2026
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Overview
Yes! For Poland, known in Polish as Tak! Dla Polski and abbreviated T!DPL, is a Polish association and local-government political movement. Its formal association name is Association "Local Governments for Poland". The organisation was established in Gdańsk on 31 August 2020, the fortieth anniversary of the signing of Poland's August Agreements, and was registered as an association on 6 October 2020 under the name Self-Governments for Poland Association. It emerged from cooperation among mayors, municipal leaders, regional officials, and other local-government activists who sought to create a stronger national voice for municipalities and regions. The movement presents local government as the foundation of democratic and accountable public administration. Its central political objective is to reverse what it describes as the excessive centralisation of power in Poland and to strengthen the principle of subsidiarity: decisions should be taken as close as possible to the communities affected by them. Particular attention is given to small municipalities, rural areas, and villages, which the movement considers insufficiently represented in national policymaking. Its policy platform combines institutional reform with proposals concerning education, healthcare, environmental protection, housing, public finance, and regional development. Yes! For Poland is critical of governments led by the Law and Justice party, especially policies that it argues reduced local-government revenues, transferred authority from municipalities to central institutions, and weakened democratic checks and balances. The movement has advocated a larger share of personal-income-tax revenues for local governments, predictable and adequate financing for delegated responsibilities, greater local participation in the distribution of European Union funds, and the creation of a Local Poland Development Fund focused particularly on small and rural municipalities. It has also proposed allowing municipalities to deduct value-added tax on local investments and strengthening the institutional role of local-government representatives in the legislative process. Its social and public-service programme calls for more local autonomy in education, higher education funding and teacher pay, a simpler core curriculum, and greater professional freedom for teachers. In healthcare, the movement supports transferring selected powers and financial responsibilities to regional governments. Its environmental agenda includes support for local renewable-energy production, anti-smog measures, stronger landscape and public-space protection, and allocating a substantial share of carbon-emissions allowance revenues to municipal environmental investment. The organisation's institutional proposals include constitutional recognition of counties and provinces, an end to mandatory term limits for mayors, freedom to form metropolitan and functional-area associations, stronger authority for county and provincial governments over combined services, and transformation of the Senate into a chamber representing local and regional government. It also supports depoliticising public media, restoring a professional civil service, and replacing the political role of the provincial governor with a narrower legality-supervision function. In December 2021, seven local-government organisations consolidated their cooperation at a convention in Poznań, where Jacek Karnowski, the mayor of Sopot, was elected president of the management board. The movement subsequently developed a formal political profile while retaining its association-based local-government identity. In May 2022, it announced cooperation with Civic Platform, the Polish People's Party, The Left, and Poland 2050. The leaders signed a declaration supporting decentralisation, stronger local autonomy, additional municipal funding, and a dedicated fund for small municipalities. Yes! For Poland later joined the Senate Pact and entered the Civic Coalition in January 2023. In the 2023 parliamentary elections, Jacek Karnowski and Sylwia Bielawska won seats in the Sejm, while Wadim Tyszkiewicz won a Senate seat as an independent Senate Pact candidate. The movement is therefore best understood not as a conventional commercial brand but as a civic and political organisational identity. Its public positioning combines centre-left and pro-European values with a strong institutional focus on municipal self-government, fiscal decentralisation, community participation, and regional development.
History
Yes! For Poland developed from a network of Polish mayors and local-government activists concerned about the concentration of authority and financial resources in the national administration. The association was founded in Gdańsk on 31 August 2020, a date chosen to coincide with the fortieth anniversary of the August Agreements. It was formally entered into the association register on 6 October 2020 as the Self-Governments for Poland Association. The movement initially functioned as a platform for municipal and regional cooperation rather than as a conventional political party. Its supporters argued that local authorities should have greater control over matters affecting residents and should receive stable revenues proportionate to the responsibilities assigned to them. The movement's political environment was shaped by disputes with the Law and Justice-led government over public administration, education, healthcare, local finances, and the perceived recentralisation of state institutions. A major organisational step came at a convention in Poznań on 15 December 2021. Seven local-government organisations were brought together, including initiatives associated with Lower Silesia, Greater Poland, and broader national local-government cooperation. The convention also selected Jacek Karnowski, mayor of Sopot, as president of the management board and gave the movement the public political name Yes! For Poland. Its leaders included prominent mayors and regional politicians such as Rafał Trzaskowski, Jacek Sutryk, Jacek Jaskowiak, Adam Struzik, and Jacek Karnowski. The movement's programme combined a broad institutional demand for decentralisation with specific public-policy proposals. It called for full local-community authority over local matters, stronger financing for municipalities, greater participation of local-government representatives in drafting laws, increased education spending, regional control over parts of healthcare, environmental investment, social and communal housing, and the development of local economic activity. It also proposed transforming the Senate into a chamber of regions, recognising counties and provinces constitutionally, ending compulsory mayoral term limits, allowing metropolitan associations to form freely, and reducing the political role of the provincial governor. Yes! For Poland also became active in public mobilisation. It organised or supported a coordinated local-government action in which selected public buildings turned off their lights to draw attention to what the movement described as the deteriorating financial position of municipalities. More than forty entities reportedly took part. The association prepared legislative proposals, including amendments concerning local-government income, and issued policy recommendations known as the White Book in response to the arrival of more than three million refugees from Ukraine. It also published positions on controversies involving the judiciary, inflation, public institutions, and a controversial parliamentary printing matter known as Print 886. In May 2022, Yes! For Poland formalised cooperation with four principal opposition groupings: Civic Platform, the Polish People's Party, The Left, and Poland 2050. Their leaders signed a declaration prepared by the movement promising stronger local autonomy, greater municipal funding, and a fund for smaller municipalities. The movement subsequently participated in the Senate Pact, seeking to avoid splitting opposition votes. On 21 November 2022, Jakub Chełstowski, marshal of the Silesian regional assembly, joined the association with three councillors. Their move created an association club in the assembly and contributed to the loss of the Law and Justice majority there. In January 2023, the movement joined the Civic Coalition. Several members contested the 2023 parliamentary elections on Civic Coalition or Senate Pact lists. Jacek Karnowski and Sylwia Bielawska won seats in the Sejm, while Wadim Tyszkiewicz won a Senate seat as an independent Senate Pact candidate. The organisation therefore combined local-government advocacy with parliamentary participation while continuing to present decentralisation and subsidiarity as its defining principles. On 29 May 2023, Yes! For Poland and opposition leaders discussed a shared local-government programme. The proposals addressed fiscal stability, local authority over education and healthcare, and climate policy. A public consultation began on 27 June. The movement's continuing identity is that of a pro-democratic, pro-European, centre-left local-government platform seeking to build a stronger Poland from the municipal level upward.
- 2023
Civic Coalition participation
[1]The movement joined the Civic Coalition and participated in the Senate Pact electoral arrangement.
- 2023
Parliamentary representation
[1]Jacek Karnowski and Sylwia Bielawska entered the Sejm, while Wadim Tyszkiewicz won a Senate seat as a Senate Pact candidate.
- 2022
Opposition cooperation declaration
[1]Four opposition parties signed a declaration supporting decentralisation, stronger local finances, and a development fund for small municipalities.
- 2022
Silesian regional assembly club formed
[1]Jakub Chełstowski and three councillors joined, creating an association club in the Silesian regional assembly.
- 2021
Unification convention in Poznań
[1]Seven local-government organisations consolidated their cooperation and elected Jacek Karnowski to lead the management board.
- 2020
Association founded in Gdańsk
[1]Local-government officials established the movement on 31 August 2020.
- 2020
Formal registration
[1]The organisation was entered into the association register on 6 October under the name Self-Governments for Poland Association.
Products and positioning
A pro-decentralisation, pro-European Polish civic and political movement representing local-government interests and advocating stronger municipalities, counties, and regions.
Marketing campaigns
- 2023Local-government programme consultation
Poland
Yes! For Poland and opposition leaders presented proposals on municipal finances, education, healthcare, and climate policy and opened them to public consultation.
Outcome. The consultation was launched on 27 June 2023.
- 2022White Book on support for Ukrainian refugees
Poland
The association prepared recommendations and legal changes addressing the consequences of the arrival of more than three million refugees from Ukraine.
Outcome. The recommendations were presented as guidance for public authorities and local governments.
- 21 Local-Government Theses
Poland
A programme of institutional and policy demands calling for stronger local authority, stable financing, community participation, environmental protection, local control over services, and reform of the Senate into a chamber of regions.
Outcome. The theses became a central reference point for the movement's political platform.
- Local-government lights-out protest
Poland
Selected public buildings turned off their lights in a coordinated action designed to highlight the worsening financial situation of Polish local governments.
Outcome. More than forty entities reportedly participated, increasing public visibility of the funding dispute.
Brand decisions
2023
Entry into the Civic CoalitionStrategyBackground
The movement pursued parliamentary representation for its local-government agenda ahead of the 2023 national elections.
Action taken
Yes! For Poland joined the Civic Coalition and placed members on coalition and Senate Pact electoral lists.
Aftermath
Two members won seats in the Sejm, and an associated independent Senate Pact candidate also won a seat.
2022
Formal cooperation with four opposition partiesStrategyBackground
The movement sought to advance decentralisation while avoiding fragmentation of the opposition vote.
Action taken
It negotiated cooperation with Civic Platform, the Polish People's Party, The Left, and Poland 2050, leading to a shared declaration and participation in the Senate Pact.
Aftermath
Yes! For Poland became more closely integrated with the opposition's electoral and policy coordination.
2021
Adoption of a unified national local-government movementStrategyBackground
Several local-government initiatives sought to consolidate their influence and create a coordinated national platform.
Action taken
Seven organisations unified their cooperation at the Poznań convention and adopted Yes! For Poland as the movement's public political name.
Aftermath
The organisation gained a more coherent structure and became a recognised opposition-aligned political movement.
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