Confederation Liberty and Independence and its anti-vax approach

The Confederation Liberty and Independence is a Polish radical-populist right party founded in 2019. In 2019 parliamentary elections the Confederation gained 11 mandates in Sejm (first chamber of the Polish parliament) and in 2023 elections it gained 18 mandates. It is the only political party present in the parliament that expressly uses anti-vax rhetoric. The party criticizes the whole political class in Poland accusing it to be responsible for deep crisis of the Polish state and criticizing its policy for being against the interests of the people. Moreover, it also uses anti-EU and anti-Ukrainian rhetoric. The Confederation also emphasizes its ties to the traditional values of the Christian-Roman Catholic religion and its political conceptions could be regarded as supporting the idea of constructing the theocratic state. This party is also regarded as supporting anti-feminist or even misogynistic opinions. Its economic agenda is based on the neo-liberal conceptions. The anti-vax approach of the Confederation became a part of its agenda during the COVID-19 pandemic when the vaccines were universally accessible in Poland (late 2020). The anti-vax approach of the Confederation was probably based not only on the ideological reasons but also on the pragmatic political reasons, as almost 40% of the Polish population is not fully vaccinated. First of all, the leaders of the Confederation questioned the fact that COVID-19 pandemic exists, basing on some pseudo-scientific books. Moreover, they were also downplaying the potential effects of being infected by COVID-19. They expressly called the COVID-19 vaccines as not properly checked "medical products", questioned their safety and regarded anti-COVID-19 vaccination as "medical experiment". The vaccination was accepted by the Confederation only as a free decision of the individuals, hence no one should be forced in any way to be vaccinated. The restrictions for unvaccinated persons (like prohibition to enter public places or extra requirements concerning the participation in public events) were called by the leaders of the Confederation as "vaccine apartheid" or "sanitary segregation". According to the politicians of the Confederation, the restrictions concerning the unvaccinated persons would break two basic human rights. First, they would break the prohibition of discrimination, as vaccinated persons would gain unjustified privileges over the unvaccinated ones. Second, it would be against the right to privacy, as the restrictions would require to reveal sensitive information concerning the health of the individual – whether the particular person is vaccinated or not. The idea of introducing "COVID passports" in the EU was described by the Confederation as the first step towards the introduction of social control by the EU, following the example of China with its digital control of the society.