Indirect presidential elections were held in Poland on 19 July 1989. The elections were the first after the office of President of the Republic of Poland had been re-established after a period of Communist rule and were the last in which the President was elected by Parliament (joint houses of the Sejm and Senate). Despite adoption of the democratic system there was only one candidate.
After the Round Table Agreement, which resulted in a semi-free parliamentary election, marked by effective Solidarity victory and de facto loss of the Polish United Workers' Party, on July 4, 1989, Adam Michnik proposed a power-sharing deal between communist and the democratic opposition (Your President, our Prime Minister), according to which Chairman of the Council of State and Communist leader Wojciech Jaruzelski would become president and a solidarity representative Prime Minister (this position indeed went to Tadeusz Mazowiecki in August, albeit after an attempt by Jaruzelski to impose fellow PZPR member Czesław Kiszczak as Prime Minister). After much debate within both camps this conception won.
Jaruzelski ran unopposed, but won by just a one-vote majority needed, as many Solidarity MPs, while supporting the agreement, felt just unable to cast their votes or, to not disturb the process, cast abstain or invalid votes.
Electoral system
The President was elected by the National Assembly, a joint sitting of the Sejm and the Senate, by open ballot. The members of the Assembly were elected in the 1989 Polish parliamentary election; although 460 deputies and 100 senators (making 560 electors) had been elected, senator Grzegorz Białkowski[pl; de] died before the presidential election and his replacement was yet to be chosen.
The composition of the National Assembly was as follows:
The Polish Round Table Talks took place in Warsaw, Communist Poland, from 6 February to 5 April 1989. The government initiated talks with the banned trade union Solidarność and other opposition groups to defuse growing social unrest.
The Polish Mathematical Society is the main professional society of Polish mathematicians and represents Polish mathematics within the European Mathematical Society (EMS) and the International Mathematical Union (IMU).
The Poland men's national basketball team represents Poland in international basketball competitions. They are controlled by the Polish Basketball Federation (PZKosz).
The deputy president of the Council of Ministers, colloquially known as the Deputy Prime Minister, is the deputy of the Prime Minister of Poland and a member of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Poland. They can also be one of the Ministers of the Republic of Poland. The Constitution of the Republic does not limit the number of persons who can hold the position of deputy prime minister simultaneously.
More Than Life at Stake, also known as Stakes Larger Than Life and Playing for High Stakes is a Polish black and white TV series about the adventures of a Polish secret agent in Soviet service, captain Hans Kloss, who acts as a double agent in the Abwehr during Second World War in occupied Poland.
Warsaw City Council, officially the Council of the Capital City of Warsaw is a unicameral governing body of the city of Warsaw, the capital of Poland.
Institute of Philosophy of the University of Warsaw is a research institution located in Warsaw, part of the Faculty of Philosophy and Sociology of the University of Warsaw. It is renowned mainly for its contribution to the development of modern logic and analytic philosophy and to history of ideas. Provides master's degree studies, doctor's degree studies and postgraduate studies in philosophy both in Polish and in English.
Westerplatte or Westerplatte Resists is a 1967 Polish historical film directed by Stanisław Różewicz. It was entered into the 5th Moscow International Film Festival where it won a Silver Prize.
The Polish Film Academy is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures.
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