It's not obvious from the drumbeat of nationalism and clericalism coming out of Poland in recent years, but the country has a long left-wing tradition.

After being absent from the country's parliament for four years, socialists under the banner of the Lewica (Left) party are hoping to make it back to the legislature in Sunday's election.

The Left is a coalition of three smaller groups — the six-month-old Wiosna (Spring) party, Razem (Together), a group of left-wing urban activists, and the largest component, the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), political veterans whose roots lie in the pre-1989 communist party.

POLITICO's poll of polls shows the Left with 14 percent support — behind the ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party with 47 percent and the centrist Civic Coalition with 27 percent.

The three left-wing groupings have a history of arguments and fights — but the prospect of once again being in parliament has concentrated minds. In 2015, left-wing parties fractured the vote between them and none made it over the required threshold to win seats. That surprise failure was a big reason that PiS was able to win an absolute majority in parliament — the first party to do so since 1989.

POLAND NATIONAL PARLIAMENT ELECTION POLL OF POLLS

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“We combined three main waves of the Polish left into one, and the common goal is to bring the Polish left back to the Polish parliament,” said Krzysztof Gawkowski, a 39-year-old professor.

Activists are trying to persuade hesitant voters that the union of the three parties is permanent and that they won't each go their own way once in parliament.

Gawkowski's own journey reflects the soul-searching of the left during its four-year exile from parliament. He had been a member of the SLD for 18 years before quitting to join Wiosna earlier this year.

“When I left for Wiosna, I had a feeling that SLD can’t evolve on its own. Today the cooperation of Razem, Wiosna and the SLD gives new social potential, I feel that in the streets,” he said.

Old reds

The SLD used to be one of the country's dominant political forces — twice forming governments (including the one that led Poland into the EU in 2004). But a series of scandals saw the party shrink and then collapse. The party's traditional electorate — the millions of people who still had fond memories of communist Poland — began to die off.

The resulting rump party was consumed with arcane ideological battles and personality fights while conservatives took power. Center-right or right-wing parties have ruled Poland since 2005.

But four years of PiS governments have led to a revival of the left.

Magda Biejat, the leader of the Razem party in Warsaw, says that there’s a “generational change” between Lewica and the left Poles used to know.

“We brought many new people on the lists ... we travelled a lot around Europe, we understand the left as modern, pro-democratic, European left,” she said.

The SLD was traditionally not all that left-wing, despite its communist roots. It supported liberal economic reforms, led Poland to invade Iraq alongside the U.S., and had close relations with the Catholic Church.

“The SLD made mistakes that we’re not going to repeat,” Biejat said. “Times have changed, and the perception of how the left should function has changed too. A part of this older generation learns from their mistakes and learns a bit from us.”

But in the intervening years, a lot of what had been traditional socialist programs have been appropriated by PiS. The ruling party's generous social welfare programs, lowering of the retirement age and promises to dramatically boost the minimum wage are all classic left-wing ideas.

Gay rights

That's forcing the Left to hunt around for policies that PiS won't touch.

Biejat mentions a secular state — anathema to PiS which has built a tight and mutually beneficial alliance with the conservative wing of the Catholic Church.

The Left also espouses LGBT rights, loosening Poland's restrictive abortion law and decarbonization by 2035 — all stark differences from PiS's program. Like all opposition parties, it vows not to take away the social benefits handed out by PiS.

"PiS proposes a conservative welfare state, and Lewica proposes a modern welfare state," Gawkowski said.

Those policies also serve to differentiate the Left from the Civic Coalition, which has Christian Democratic roots, and from the smaller conservative Polish People's Party.

But all those groupings may have to work together, depending on the outcome of Sunday's vote. If PiS doesn't win an outright majority on its own, the opposition parties have talked of forming an anti-PiS coalition government.

If that happens, it will be the left's first taste of power in over a decade — and unlike in 2015, they'll have a seat at the table.

“We learned what are the limitations and what are the necessities of the political fight. We became the political party to get to the parliament and to change the country from there," said Biejat. "And we managed to do it, while being faithful to our values.”

But she adds that any broad coalition has to have a positive program and not simply be anti-PiS. "We’re not going to do it [the coalition] at all costs. It can’t be another action of 'Everyone against PiS,’ because there’s little behind it. We have to have a feeling that we can deliver on our promises."