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The parliament of Poland is the bicameral legislature of Poland. It is composed of an upper house (the Senate) and a lower house (the Sejm). Both houses are accommodated in the Sejm and Senate Complex in Warsaw. The Constitution of Poland does not refer to the Parliament as a body, but only to the Sejm and Senate.
Members of both houses are elected by direct election, usually every four years. The Sejm has 460 members, while the Senate has 100 senators. To become law, a bill must first be approved by both houses, but the Sejm can override a Senate refusal to pass a bill.
On certain occasions, the Marshal of the Sejm summons the National Assembly, a joint session of the members of both houses. It is mostly ceremonial in nature, and it only convenes occasionally, such as to witness the inauguration of the President. Under exceptional circumstances, the constitution endows the National Assembly with great responsibilities and powers, such as to bring the President before the State Tribunal (impeachment). The largest party in the Sejm is Law and Justice (PiS) with 194 out of 460 seats in Sejm. Senate Pact 2023 is leading in the Senate with 66 out of 100 seats. The two debating halls have designated seats for the deputies, senators and the single Marshal (speaker) of each. Senators and deputies are equipped with voting devices.
After election deputies and senators will remain or splinter into deputy or senatorial groupings, or have no affiliations and sit as "independents". In both chambers, there are two formal sizes of groups: Clubs (Polish : kluby, klub (sg.) which are the entire party groups of the elected, where none have splintered away or defected to another klub) and circles (Polish : koła, koło (sg.)). The primary difference between these is the degree of right to join and contribute to the relevant Seniors' Konwent (Polish : Konwent Seniorów), the procedural committee that determines the drafting of agendas and chamber workings.
The National Assembly (Polish : Zgromadzenie Narodowe) is the name of a joint sitting of the Sejm and the Senate. It is headed by the Marshal of the Sejm (or by the Marshal of the Senate when the former is absent).
Under the 1997 Constitution of Poland the National Assembly has the authority to
The National Assembly is also called in order to
In the periods 1922–1935 and 1989–1990, it was this joint sitting which elected the President of the Republic of Poland by an absolute majority of votes. In and from 1935, it was replaced by an Assembly of Electors, which consisted of the Marshal of the Senate (as president of the Assembly of Electors), the Marshal of the Sejm, the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice, the General Armed Forces Inspector, 50 electors elected by the Sejm, and 25 electors elected by the Senate. The Senate was abolished in 1946 so in 1947 Bolesław Bierut was elected President only by the Sejm. There were no presidents from 1952 until 1989 when the Senate was restored and the National Assembly elected Wojciech Jaruzelski as President.
Since 1990, the President has been elected by the people. However, the President is still sworn in before the National Assembly, which is also the only organ which can declare the President's permanent incapacity to perform his duties, or bring an indictment against him before State Tribunal.
From 1992 to 1997, the National Assembly drafted and passed a new Constitution, which was approved by a national referendum on 25 May 1997.
Parliamentary Group [3] | Chair | Type | # of deputies | # of senators | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Law and Justice | Mariusz Błaszczak | Parliamentary club | 189 | 34 | ||
Civic Coalition | Zbigniew Konwiński | Parliamentary club | 157 | 41 | ||
Third Way | Poland 2050 | Mirosław Suchoń | Parliamentary club | 33 | 12 | |
Polish Coalition | Krzysztof Paszyk | Parliamentary club | 32 | |||
The Left | Krzysztof Gawkowski | Parliamentary club | 26 | 9 | ||
Confederation | Stanisław Tyszka | Parliamentary club | 18 | — | ||
Kukiz'15 | Paweł Kukiz | Deputies' circle | 3 | — | ||
Ind. Senators Circle (Senate Pact 2023) | Zygmunt Frankiewicz | Senators' circle | — | 4 | ||
The Sejm, officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland.
The president of Poland, officially the president of the Republic of Poland, is the head of state of the Republic of Poland. Their rights and obligations are determined in the Constitution of Poland. The president heads the executive branch. In addition, the president has the right to dissolve parliament in certain cases, can veto legislation, represents Poland in the international arena, and is the commander-in-chief.
The Senate is the upper house of the Polish parliament, the lower house being the Sejm. The history of the Polish Senate stretches back over 500 years; it was one of the first constituent bodies of a bicameral parliament in Europe and existed without hiatus until the final partition of the Polish state in 1795. The contemporary Senate is composed of 100 senators elected by a universal ballot and is headed by the Marshal of the Senate. The incumbent Marshal of the Senate is Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska.
The Marshal of the Sejm is the speaker (chair) of the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish Parliament. The office traces its origins to the 15th century. In modern Poland, the full title is Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland.
The Supreme Court is the highest court in the Republic of Poland. It is located in the Krasiński Square, Warsaw.
The Constitution of the Polish People's Republic was a supreme law passed in communist-ruled Poland on 22 July 1952. It superseded the post-World War II provisional Small Constitution of 1947, which in turn replaced the pre-war April Constitution of 1935.
Rafał Szymon Grupiński is a Polish politician, member of the Sejm (2005–2023) and member of the Senate since 2023. He serves in the current Senate as the Deputy Marshal.
The acting president of the Republic of Poland is a temporary post provided for by the Polish Constitution.
The Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland is the presiding officer of the Senate of Poland. The marshal is also third person according to the Polish order of precedence, after President of the Republic of Poland and Sejm Marshal, and second in line to become Acting President of the Republic of Poland. Because of both precedence order and succession order, the marshal is commonly referred to as the "third person in state". The person who functions as their second-in-command is the Deputy Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland.
Polish presidential inauguration is an event marking the beginning of a new term for the president of Poland. According to Article 130 of the current Constitution of Poland (1997) the only condition of taking the office of President of Poland is taking the oath before the National Assembly. All other events are purely ceremonial.
The Left is a political alliance in Poland. Initially founded to contest the 2019 parliamentary election, the alliance now consists of the New Left and Left Together.
The 9th term Sejm and the 10th term Senate was the legislature of the Republic of Poland following the 2019 Polish parliamentary election held on 13 October 2019 which returned 460 deputies to the Sejm and 100 senators to the Senate.
Piotr Zgorzelski is a Polish politician and teacher, who served as the starosta of Płock County from 2010 to 2011. He was elected to serve as an MP in the Sejm in 2011, re-elected in 2015, 2019, and 2023. He has been serving as a Deputy Marshal of the Sejm since 12 November 2019.
The 10th term Sejm and the 11th term Senate is the legislature of the Republic of Poland following the 2023 Polish parliamentary election held on 15 October 2023 which returned 460 deputies to the Sejm and 100 senators to the Senate.