[7] The party was created out of a local anti-poverty protest movement in Łódź Voivodeship that was active in small towns of Zgierz and Skierniewice.
In its declaration, the chairwoman of the party Ewa Majkowska stated that it would defend the interests of the poorest parts of Polish society.
The 14 August was also the last day in which political parties could register their electoral committees for the upcoming election, meaning that the Alternative Social Movement only had 9 hours to do so.
[4] It presented itself as a movement for impoverished, frustrated and dissatisfied voters, and cooperated with steelworkers and mining unions, including individual groups of striking workers.
One of the leaders of the coalition, Mariusz Olszewski, also set up a special telephone line to coordinate transport of aid to the flood victims.
The telephone line was run by the members of the party and would pick up aid packages from those who wanted to help the flood victims but had no time or were located too far away to do so in person.
However, as the 2001 continued, the coalition would become increasingly left-wing, and the 'national left' faction represented by trade unions as well as The Poor of Poland, would establish a dominating role within the Alternative Social Movement.
[3] The Poor of Poland was a left-wing party, and it was ideologically opposed to austerity as well as capitalism, condemning both as the main causes of poverty and wealth inequality.
[5] The party pointed to the side effects of socioeconomic transition of Poland from socialism to free-market capitalism, which divided Polish society into classes and layers, with few becoming wealthy and many being plunged into poverty.
The party argued that the capitalist system is inherently unfair, stating that an overwhelming majority of low-income groups in Poland are the 'hard-working poor' which nevertheless 'have it tough all their lives'.