Before it became a registered political party in 2006, Social Movement was a political faction within the
Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland. It emerged in the 2000s amongst local party activists in
Mazowsze, and became known for social justice actions such as protesting, legally challenging and obstructing evictions. The faction was devoted to rural and agrarian issues, which was something that Self-Defence started from as an agrarian trade union in the 1990s. The unofficial leader of the faction, Sławomir Izdebski, also led an agrarian trade union in the area. In result, the faction was considered a
peasant movement and was particularly known amongst the farmers and in the countryside. Conflict between Social Movement and the authorities of the party emerged after the
2005 Polish parliamentary election. As the party was preparing for the
2006 Polish local elections, electoral lists that the party would register excluded many long-time party activists in favour of new but connected members or independent candidates that the party established cooperation with. Soon, the problem of SRP's electoral lists turned into a scandal, as it was alleged that Lepper promised places on electoral lists and would exclude those who did not have enough money; this turned into a practice of candidates buying positions on the party's list. Izdebski declared that he was one of the victims to the party's electoral list trading, as it was demanded of him to be included in the list only to be excluded when someone paid more for his place. Members of the faction now accused the party of being an "extortion sect" and replacing party veterans with wealthy businessmen, betraying the socialist ideals of the party. Despite the emerging scandals and the expulsion of Izdebski from the party, Social Movement hesitated on creating a new party, hoping to exert pressure on Lepper and reach an agreement with him to reform the party. Ultimately SRP was able to prevent Social Movement from participating in the 2006 local elections, issuing a local complaint to the national electoral committee in which he accused Self-Defence Social Movement of plagiarizing SRP. The committee recognized Social Movement as an impostor party and declared their electoral lists invalid. Social Movement also pressed SRP on the lists scandal, with Izdebski filing a notification on suspicion of committing a crime against Lepper. Izdebski accused Lepper of extorting money from Samoobrona candidates, forcing them to sign promissory notes worth hundred thousands of PLN and conditioning their inclusion of electoral lists on the basis of the sum of their party donations. In 2007, Social Movement disbanded and joined
Self-Defence Rebirth, a much larger breakaway party founded in reaction to the attempt to form
League and Self-Defence, a coalition between SRP and far-right
League of Polish Families. ==Leadership==