Legislative Sejm (Second Polish Republic)

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The Legislative Sejm or Constituent Sejm (Polish : Sejm Ustawodawczy) was the first national parliament (Sejm), and simultaneously Constituent Assembly of the newly independent Poland, sitting from 1919 to 1922. It was elected in the 1919 Polish legislative election.

Contents

Background

The Legislative Sejm was formed in the aftermath of World War I on the territories of the newly independent Second Polish Republic. [1] In late 1918 Polish state was governed by Józef Piłsudski, who quickly begun the work to organize election to the first Polish national parliament (Sejm) since the Grodno Sejm of 1793, held two years before partitions of Poland ended the independent existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. [1]

History

The elections to the Sejm took place on January 26, 1919. [1] At that time, Poland did not have fixed boundaries, and was involved in territorial conflicts and disputes. [1] On the territories under the nascent Polish state's control, in the lands of former Congress Kingdom and Podlasie region, and western Lesser Poland, 42 electoral districts returned 302 deputies. [2] In addition, 20 Polish deputies to the German Parliament, 26 Polish deputies to the Austro-Hungarian Parliament, and selected candidates from the Cieszyn region (where elections were disrupted due to hostilities) were added to the Sejm. [3] In the coming months, as the Polish control grew over some disputed territories, more elections were held: on April 25, 1919, in Greater Poland and on June 15, 1919 in the Białystok and Podlasie regions. [3] Some deputies who were provisional representatives yielded their seats to the newly elected ones. [3] On March 24, 1922, the Sejm was joined by 20 deputies from the Republic of Central Lithuania (the dissolved Sejm of Central Lithuania). [3] The Sejm thus had a changing number of deputies, starting at 348 and ending its term with 432 members. [3] About 5 million votes were cast in the election. [4]

Important legislation passed by the Sejm included laws on the military draft, land reform, and the development of a constitution, and the state-sponsored health insurance system. [5] [6] In 1921 the Sejm passed the March Constitution. [6]

Composition

Due to the changing number of deputies, and the ongoing fragmentation and merger of various parties, there is a number of different composition listings for the Legislative Sejm. [a]

The composition of the Legislative Sejm was as follows: [4] [7]

Party or group (Polish name)Party or group (Jędruch)Party or group (Nohlen and Stöver)Votes (Nohlen and Stöver)% (Nohlen and Stöver)Seats (Nohlen and Stöver)Seats (Jędruch)
Związek Ludowo-Narodowynot listed Popular National Union 1,616,15729.0140?
? National Democrats not listed72
Polska Partia SocjalistycznaSocialist Polish Socialist Party 515,0629.23534
Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe "Wyzwolenie"Peasant Wyzwolenie Polish People's Party "Wyzwolenie" 839,91415.15924
Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe "Piast"Peasant Piast Polish People's Party "Piast" 232,9834.246listed with no number
Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe Lewicanot listed Polish People's Party "Left" 197,8383.512
?not listed Polish United Peasants' Party 212,0973.835
?not listedPeasants' Lists234,3994.20
?Peasants' Totalnot listed90
?Conservativenot listed44
Stronnictwo Katolicko-Ludowenot listed Catholic People's Party 102,2921.818
? Christian Democrats not listed31
?National Labornot listed25
?Middle Classnot listed63
?Communistnot listed2
?Minority (German)National Minorities96,6771.722
?Minority (Jewish)Jewish Group602,92710.81116
Narodowa Partia Pracynot listed National Workers' Union 67,2851.232
Bezpartyjni; bez przynależności klubowejSmall parties, independentsLocal lists and independents863,34915.5429
Total5,580,980100394432

Marshal of the Sejm was Wojciech Trąmpczyński. [3]

In July 1922

PartySeats %
Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe "Piast" Polish Folk9622,3
Związek Ludowo-Narodowy8118,8
Narodowe Zjednoczenie Ludowe453,9
Polska Partia Socjalistyczna3410,4
Narodowo-Chrześcijańskie Stronnictwo Ludowe266,0
Narodowo-Chrześcijański Klub Robotniczy266,0
Klub: Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe "Wyzwolenie"245,6
Narodowa Partia Robotnicza214,9
Klub Pracy Konstytucyjnej163,7
Klub: Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe—Lewica112,5
Zjednoczenie Mieszczańskie112,5
Stronnictwo Katolicko-Ludowe71,6
Narodowa Partia Pracy (II RP)61,4
Rady Ludowe51,1
Komunistyczna Frakcja Poselska20,5
Wolne Zjednoczenie Posłów Narodowości Żydowskiej (Jews)102,9
Niemieckie Stronnictwo Ludowe (Germans)71,6
Independent40,9
Totals432100

Notes

a. ^ Neither Nohlen and Stöver nor Jędruch did retain original for Polish parties and groups; they used their own translations. As such, identification with a particular entity was not always possible.

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References

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  2. Jacek Jędruch (1998). Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history. EJJ Books. p. 270. ISBN   978-0-7818-0637-4 . Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jacek Jędruch (1998). Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history. EJJ Books. p. 271. ISBN   978-0-7818-0637-4 . Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  4. 1 2 Jacek Jędruch (1998). Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history. EJJ Books. p. 289. ISBN   978-0-7818-0637-4 . Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  5. Jacek Jędruch (1998). Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history. EJJ Books. p. 273. ISBN   978-0-7818-0637-4 . Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  6. 1 2 Jacek Jędruch (1998). Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history. EJJ Books. p. 272. ISBN   978-0-7818-0637-4 . Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  7. Dieter Nohlen; Philip Stöver (31 May 2010). Elections in Europe: A Data Handbook. Nomos. p. 1491. ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7 . Retrieved 6 November 2012.

See also