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All 460 seats to the Sejm of Poland 231 seats are needed for a majority in the Sejm All 100 seats to the Senate of Poland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 50.92% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Seats won by Sejm District | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 25 October 2015 for the eighth term of the Sejm and Senate, which ran from 12 November 2015 until 2019. [1]
The election was won by the largest opposition party, the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS), with 38% of the vote against the governing Civic Platform (PO), which achieved 24%. Official results, announced on 27 October, gave Law and Justice 235 of the 460 seats, a majority of four. [2] PiS vice chairwoman Beata Szydło succeeded PO leader Ewa Kopacz as Prime Minister of Poland, heading a one-party cabinet.
It was the first election for a national parliament in Europe since the 1993 Norwegian elections in which the two largest parties were led by a female candidate, and the second election in history (also since the 1993 Norwegian election) where more than three parties fielded female leadership candidates. It was also the first election in Poland since the restoration of full democracy that a party won an absolute majority in the Sejm.
Following PiS's victory in the May 2015 presidential elections, PiS would have control over both the presidency and parliament for the next eight years.
The process of election for the Sejm is through open party-list proportional representation via the D'hondt method in multi-seat constituencies, with a 5% national threshold for single parties and 8% threshold for coalitions (requirements waived for ethnic minorities). The senate is elected using first-past-the-post voting in single-member districts. [3] To be included on a ballot, a senate candidate must present 2,000 signatures of support from their constituents. [4] For Sejm elections, the threshold is 5,000 signatures per constituency, though that requirement is waived for parties that have already registered lists in at least half of all constituencies (21 out of 41 as of this election). [5]
Overall, the Sejm includes 460 MPs. Should a party have 231 or more deputies in Parliament, it has an absolute majority and can thus govern autonomously, without the need for support from other parties. The constitution can be amended with a supermajority of two-thirds, or 307 deputies.
The date of the election, 25 October, was set by the previous President of Poland, Bronisław Komorowski. [6] The latest possible date for the election to be held was in November 2015, four years after the previous election. Prior to the announcement of the election date, the most likely dates were thought to be in October or November.
In the previous parliamentary elections in 2011 the Civic Platform–Polish People's Party coalition government, in power since 2007, won a second term. All 460 seats in the Sejm and 100 seats in the Senate were up for election.
The opposition party, Law and Justice won the election with 37.58% of the vote against the governing Civic Platform, which gained a 24.09% share. [29] Beata Szydło became the new Prime Minister, succeeding Ewa Kopacz. [30] [31] Law and Justice became the first party in Poland to win majority government in a free election, since 1991. The other parties considered winners were two newcomer parties, Kukiz's Movement (third place) and Ryszard Petru's Modern party (4th place).
Two of the biggest losers were Civic Platform and the Polish People's Party. PO suffered its worst result in a parliamentary election in ten years, ending eight years of political dominance. The PSL, the junior partner in the outgoing government, had its worst result in 25 years (5.13%), just crossing the 5% threshold by a few thousand votes. Another perceived loser was the Democratic Left Alliance, Poland's largest left-wing party, which failed to win a seat for the first time since the change of system. The SLD ran as the largest partner of the United Left, which was 0.5% short of the 8% threshold for electoral alliances to win seats.
Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Law and Justice | 5,711,687 | 37.58 | 235 | +78 | |
Civic Platform | 3,661,474 | 24.09 | 138 | –69 | |
Kukiz'15 | 1,339,094 | 8.81 | 42 | New | |
Modern | 1,155,370 | 7.60 | 28 | New | |
United Left | 1,147,102 | 7.55 | 0 | –67 | |
Polish People's Party | 779,875 | 5.13 | 16 | –12 | |
KORWiN | 722,999 | 4.76 | 0 | New | |
Together | 550,349 | 3.62 | 0 | New | |
Committee of Zbigniew Stonoga | 42,731 | 0.28 | 0 | New | |
German Minority Electoral Committee | 27,530 | 0.18 | 1 | 0 | |
United for Silesia | 18,668 | 0.12 | 0 | New | |
JOW Bezpartyjni | 15,656 | 0.10 | 0 | New | |
Committee of Grzegorz Braun "God Bless You!" | 13,113 | 0.09 | 0 | New | |
Congress of the New Right | 4,852 | 0.03 | 0 | 0 | |
Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland | 4,266 | 0.03 | 0 | 0 | |
Social Movement of the Republic of Poland | 3,941 | 0.03 | 0 | New | |
Citizens to Parliament | 1,964 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
Total | 15,200,671 | 100.00 | 460 | 0 | |
Valid votes | 15,200,671 | 97.47 | |||
Invalid/blank votes | 394,664 | 2.53 | |||
Total votes | 15,595,335 | 100.00 | |||
Registered voters/turnout | 30,629,150 | 50.92 | |||
Source: PKW |
Party or alliance | Votes | % | Seats | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
United Right | Law and Justice | 4,487,339 | 29.52 | 193 | ||
Independents | 746,474 | 4.91 | 26 | |||
Sovereign Poland | 277,622 | 1.83 | 9 | |||
Poland Together | 145,358 | 0.96 | 6 | |||
Right Wing of the Republic | 48,442 | 0.32 | 1 | |||
Piast Faction | 6,452 | 0.04 | 0 | |||
Total | 5,711,687 | 37.58 | 235 | |||
Civic Platform | Civic Platform | 3,142,767 | 20.68 | 126 | ||
Independents | 516,457 | 3.40 | 12 | |||
Polish People's Party [lower-alpha 1] | 2,250 | 0.01 | 0 | |||
Total | 3,661,474 | 24.09 | 138 | |||
Kukiz'15 | Independents | 1,207,419 | 7.94 | 37 | ||
National Movement | 73,641 | 0.48 | 3 | |||
Congress of the New Right [lower-alpha 1] | 25,831 | 0.17 | 1 | |||
Real Politics Union | 12,080 | 0.08 | 1 | |||
Direct Democracy | 7,611 | 0.05 | 0 | |||
Right Wing of the Republic | 4,409 | 0.03 | 0 | |||
Self-Defence [lower-alpha 1] | 2,138 | 0.01 | 0 | |||
Libertarian Party | 1,664 | 0.01 | 0 | |||
Poland Together | 1,306 | 0.01 | 0 | |||
Labour Party | 1,061 | 0.01 | 0 | |||
Sovereign Poland | 1,012 | 0.01 | 0 | |||
Community | 922 | 0.01 | 0 | |||
Total | 1,339,094 | 8.81 | 42 | |||
Modern | Independents | 965,130 | 6.35 | 23 | ||
Modern | 185,188 | 1.22 | 5 | |||
Women's Party | 3,707 | 0.02 | 0 | |||
Polish People's Party [lower-alpha 1] | 875 | 0.01 | 0 | |||
Civic Platform [lower-alpha 1] | 470 | 0.00 | 0 | |||
Total | 1,155,370 | 7.60 | 28 | |||
United Left | Democratic Left Alliance | 694,150 | 4.57 | 0 | ||
Your Movement | 220,326 | 1.45 | 0 | |||
Independents | 164,345 | 1.08 | 0 | |||
The Greens | 35,292 | 0.23 | 0 | |||
Labour Union | 18,181 | 0.12 | 0 | |||
Alliance of Democrats | 3,796 | 0.02 | 0 | |||
Polish Socialist Party | 3,621 | 0.02 | 0 | |||
Polish Labour Party - August 80 | 3,586 | 0.02 | 0 | |||
Social Democracy of Poland | 1,600 | 0.01 | 0 | |||
National Party of Retirees and Pensioners | 1,098 | 0.01 | 0 | |||
Democratic Party – demokraci.pl | 850 | 0.01 | 0 | |||
Total | 1,147,102 | 7.55 | 0 | |||
Polish People's Party | Polish People's Party | 673,483 | 4.43 | 16 | ||
Independents | 106,392 | 0.70 | 0 | |||
Total | 779,875 | 5.13 | 16 | |||
KORWiN | KORWiN | 480,029 | 3.16 | 0 | ||
Independents | 231,810 | 1.53 | 0 | |||
Congress of the New Right [lower-alpha 1] | 8,085 | 0.05 | 0 | |||
National Movement | 2,919 | 0.02 | 0 | |||
Libertarian Party | 88 | 0.00 | 0 | |||
Total | 722,999 | 4.76 | 0 | |||
Together | Together | 501,195 | 3.30 | 0 | ||
Independents | 49,154 | 0.32 | 0 | |||
Total | 550,349 | 3.62 | 0 | |||
Committee of Zbigniew Stonoga | Independents | 42,731 | 0.28 | 0 | ||
German Minority | Independents | 27,530 | 0.18 | 1 | ||
United for Silesia | Independents | 18,668 | 0.12 | 0 | ||
JOW Bezpartyjni | Independents | 15,234 | 0.10 | 0 | ||
National Party of Retirees and Pensioners | 422 | 0.00 | 0 | |||
Total | 15,656 | 0.10 | 0 | |||
Committee of Grzegorz Braun "God Bless You!" | Independents | 11,228 | 0.07 | 0 | ||
Unity of the Nation | 520 | 0.00 | 0 | |||
Real Politics Union | 477 | 0.00 | 0 | |||
Congress of the New Right [lower-alpha 1] | 356 | 0.00 | 0 | |||
Popular National Alliance | 115 | 0.00 | 0 | |||
National Movement | 139 | 0.00 | 0 | |||
Sovereign Poland | 77 | 0.00 | 0 | |||
League of Polish Families | 55 | 0.00 | 0 | |||
Community | 50 | 0.00 | 0 | |||
Law and Justice [lower-alpha 1] | 43 | 0.00 | 0 | |||
National Alliance of the Name of Dmowski Roman | 27 | 0.00 | 0 | |||
Brave Dad | 14 | 0.00 | 0 | |||
Right Wing of the Republic | 12 | 0.00 | 0 | |||
Total | 13,113 | 0.09 | 0 | |||
Congress of the New Right | Congress of the New Right | 2,850 | 0.02 | 0 | ||
Independents | 2,002 | 0.01 | 0 | |||
Total | 4,852 | 0.03 | 0 | |||
Self-Defence | Self-Defence | 2,660 | 0.02 | 0 | ||
Independents | 1,606 | 0.01 | 0 | |||
Total | 4,266 | 0.03 | 0 | |||
Social Movement of the Republic of Poland | Social Justice Movement | 2,753 | 0.02 | 0 | ||
Independents | 986 | 0.01 | 0 | |||
White-Red | 192 | 0.00 | 0 | |||
Freedom and Equality | 10 | 0.00 | 0 | |||
Total | 3,941 | 0.03 | 0 | |||
Citizens to Parliament | Independents | 1,790 | 0.01 | 0 | ||
Alliance of Democrats | 155 | 0.00 | 0 | |||
Civic Platform [lower-alpha 1] | 19 | 0.00 | 0 | |||
Total | 1,964 | 0.01 | 0 | |||
Total | 15,200,346 | 100.00 | 460 | |||
Source: National Electoral Commission [lower-alpha 2] |
Constituency | Turnout | PiS | PO | Kukiz'15 | Modern | ZL | PSL | KORWiN | Razem | MN | Others | Lead |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 – Legnica | 46.71 | 35.70 | 25.24 | 9.59 | 7.15 | 10.45 | 3.89 | 4.32 | 3.64 | - | 0.00 | 10.46 |
2 – Wałbrzych | 44.83 | 31.15 | 32.65 | 8.81 | 6.64 | 8.76 | 3.18 | 4.30 | 3.41 | - | 1.09 | 1.50 |
3 – Wrocław | 54.08 | 31.21 | 30.49 | 8.74 | 10.65 | 6.10 | 2.60 | 5.22 | 4.21 | - | 0.77 | 0.72 |
4 – Bydgoszcz | 47.87 | 30.20 | 29.64 | 7.77 | 7.30 | 10.04 | 6.07 | 4.54 | 3.76 | - | 0.68 | 0.56 |
5 – Toruń | 44.90 | 33.57 | 25.77 | 8.32 | 6.50 | 10.76 | 6.75 | 3.90 | 3.65 | - | 0.78 | 7.80 |
6 – Lublin | 52.01 | 47.57 | 16.59 | 9.32 | 4.54 | 5.98 | 7.74 | 5.00 | 2.75 | - | 0.52 | 30.98 |
7 – Chełm | 45.30 | 48.02 | 12.31 | 10.47 | 3.75 | 7.11 | 11.39 | 4.37 | 2.39 | - | 0.18 | 35.71 |
8 – Zielona Góra | 44.63 | 28.27 | 28.21 | 8.75 | 9.99 | 10.02 | 5.12 | 4.99 | 3.99 | - | 0.65 | 0.06 |
9 – Łódź | 56.74 | 29.90 | 31.28 | 7.24 | 8.99 | 10.48 | 2.70 | 4.78 | 4.63 | - | 0.00 | 1.38 |
10 – Piotrków Trybunalski | 50.26 | 46.95 | 15.46 | 10.08 | 5.59 | 7.47 | 7.48 | 3.91 | 3.06 | - | 0.00 | 31.49 |
11 – Sieradz | 48.47 | 39.93 | 21.18 | 8.92 | 5.32 | 8.18 | 7.86 | 4.10 | 3.54 | - | 0.98 | 18.75 |
12 – Chrzanów | 54.46 | 49.05 | 20.42 | 8.67 | 5.79 | 5.33 | 3.03 | 4.45 | 3.26 | - | 0.00 | 28.63 |
13 – Kraków | 58.81 | 38.62 | 24.61 | 7.26 | 9.73 | 6.38 | 2.70 | 6.35 | 3.88 | - | 0.48 | 14.01 |
14 – Nowy Sącz | 52.18 | 60.56 | 13.95 | 7.83 | 3.69 | 2.55 | 4.16 | 4.31 | 2.13 | - | 0.80 | 46.61 |
15 – Tarnów | 51.85 | 51.99 | 14.71 | 9.60 | 4.54 | 3.41 | 8.08 | 4.72 | 2.43 | - | 0.53 | 37.28 |
16 – Płock | 46.22 | 43.78 | 16.44 | 8.41 | 5.15 | 8.14 | 10.66 | 4.07 | 3.35 | - | 0.00 | 27.34 |
17 – Radom | 49.38 | 47.49 | 17.55 | 8.41 | 4.81 | 4.82 | 9.42 | 3.91 | 2.62 | - | 0.98 | 29.94 |
18 – Siedlce | 50.56 | 51.10 | 13.55 | 8.36 | 4.63 | 4.35 | 10.23 | 4.35 | 2.66 | - | 0.76 | 37.55 |
19 – Warsaw I | 70.80 | 29.89 | 27.54 | 7.76 | 13.39 | 8.55 | 0.72 | 6.18 | 5.54 | - | 0.43 | 2.35 |
20 – Warsaw II | 60.00 | 38.80 | 25.12 | 7.22 | 10.01 | 5.66 | 3.80 | 4.81 | 3.85 | - | 0.73 | 13.68 |
21 – Opole | 43.12 | 27.77 | 26.23 | 12.57 | 7.14 | 6.75 | 3.68 | 3.95 | 3.02 | 8.14 | 0.75 | 1.54 |
22 – Krosno | 47.47 | 53.51 | 13.76 | 9.15 | 3.97 | 4.56 | 7.28 | 4.28 | 2.32 | - | 1.17 | 39.75 |
23 – Rzeszów | 52.56 | 56.11 | 13.11 | 9.28 | 4.16 | 4.42 | 4.67 | 4.96 | 2.29 | - | 1.00 | 43.00 |
24 – Białystok | 47.10 | 45.38 | 16.74 | 9.07 | 5.37 | 7.35 | 8.07 | 4.66 | 2.59 | - | 0.77 | 28.64 |
25 – Gdańsk | 52.55 | 29.61 | 34.72 | 7.15 | 9.17 | 6.59 | 3.02 | 5.00 | 3.98 | - | 0.75 | 5.11 |
26 – Gdynia | 51.28 | 31.22 | 33.46 | 8.02 | 8.22 | 6.64 | 3.23 | 4.43 | 4.05 | - | 0.75 | 2.24 |
27 – Bielsko-Biała | 56.35 | 40.42 | 23.57 | 9.36 | 8.27 | 6.56 | 3.42 | 4.68 | 3.72 | - | 0.00 | 16.82 |
28 – Częstochowa | 49.83 | 35.82 | 20.95 | 11.63 | 6.74 | 11.12 | 4.99 | 4.27 | 3.64 | - | 0.84 | 14.87 |
29 – Gliwice | 49.12 | 30.51 | 28.99 | 12.19 | 8.90 | 7.21 | 2.50 | 5.09 | 4.15 | - | 0.48 | 1.52 |
30 – Rybnik | 51.82 | 39.59 | 24.21 | 11.31 | 6.33 | 5.93 | 1.79 | 4.53 | 3.33 | - | 2.98 | 15.38 |
31 – Katowice | 53.92 | 32.92 | 28.37 | 10.05 | 8.66 | 6.77 | 0.99 | 5.55 | 4.08 | - | 2.61 | 4.55 |
32 – Sosnowiec | 51.41 | 29.65 | 25.56 | 10.24 | 8.97 | 13.97 | 2.35 | 4.81 | 4.44 | - | 0.00 | 4.09 |
33 – Kielce | 46.82 | 42.81 | 17.25 | 9.41 | 4.98 | 7.87 | 9.51 | 4.14 | 2.80 | - | 1.23 | 25.56 |
34 – Elbląg | 41.30 | 31.56 | 30.12 | 8.24 | 5.82 | 7.69 | 6.69 | 4.73 | 3.80 | - | 1.34 | 1.44 |
35 – Olsztyn | 43.13 | 30.42 | 27.07 | 8.97 | 6.82 | 8.76 | 8.44 | 5.10 | 3.74 | - | 0.68 | 3.35 |
36 – Kalisz | 47.27 | 31.85 | 24.69 | 7.98 | 7.04 | 8.82 | 10.98 | 4.25 | 3.17 | - | 1.23 | 7.16 |
37 – Konin | 46.64 | 37.41 | 20.23 | 8.83 | 6.94 | 11.77 | 6.86 | 3.99 | 3.98 | - | 0.00 | 17.18 |
38 – Piła | 46.07 | 27.26 | 31.02 | 9.01 | 6.98 | 9.15 | 7.66 | 4.07 | 3.92 | - | 0.93 | 3.76 |
39 – Poznań | 60.23 | 23.90 | 35.65 | 6.06 | 14.49 | 8.07 | 1.91 | 4.77 | 4.60 | - | 0.55 | 11.75 |
40 – Koszalin | 43.63 | 28.58 | 30.07 | 9.41 | 8.06 | 11.38 | 4.13 | 4.46 | 3.90 | - | 0.00 | 1.49 |
41 – Szczecin | 47.27 | 29.09 | 31.93 | 8.42 | 8.66 | 8.56 | 3.88 | 5.33 | 4.12 | - | 0.00 | 2.84 |
Poland | 50.92 | 37.58 | 24.09 | 8.81 | 7.60 | 7.55 | 5.13 | 4.76 | 3.62 | 0.18 | 0.69 | 13.49 |
Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Law and Justice | 5,993,433 | 39.99 | 61 | +30 | |
Civic Platform | 4,323,789 | 28.85 | 34 | –29 | |
Polish People's Party | 1,109,675 | 7.40 | 1 | –1 | |
United Left | 595,206 | 3.97 | 0 | 0 | |
Modern | 394,817 | 2.63 | 0 | New | |
Kukiz'15 | 207,156 | 1.38 | 0 | New | |
KORWiN | 186,510 | 1.24 | 0 | New | |
JOW Bezpartyjni | 113,669 | 0.76 | 0 | New | |
Citizens to Parliament | 84,246 | 0.56 | 0 | New | |
Congress of the New Right | 79,946 | 0.53 | 0 | 0 | |
Democratic Party | 64,829 | 0.43 | 0 | 0 | |
National Revival of Poland | 57,012 | 0.38 | 0 | 0 | |
German Minority Electoral Committee | 40,472 | 0.27 | 0 | 0 | |
Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland | 20,913 | 0.14 | 0 | 0 | |
Social Movement of the Republic of Poland | 14,316 | 0.10 | 0 | New | |
Whites–Reds | 10,973 | 0.07 | 0 | New | |
Committee of Zbigniew Stonoga | 10,167 | 0.07 | 0 | New | |
Slavic Union | 9,562 | 0.06 | 0 | New | |
Committee of Grzegorz Braun "God Bless You!" | 7,916 | 0.05 | 0 | New | |
Real Politics Union | 6,190 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 | |
Patriotic Poland | 6,090 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 | |
National Movement | 5,462 | 0.04 | 0 | New | |
Labour Party | 3,380 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | |
Piast – Unity of the Thoughts of European Nations | 1,786 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
Independents | 1,640,571 | 10.95 | 4 | 0 | |
Total | 14,988,086 | 100.00 | 100 | 0 | |
Valid votes | 14,988,086 | 96.12 | |||
Invalid/blank votes | 604,947 | 3.88 | |||
Total votes | 15,593,033 | 100.00 | |||
Registered voters/turnout | 30,629,150 | 50.91 | |||
Source: PKW, PKW |
Political analysts noted that the election marked the first time in the post-communist era that a political party received enough votes to form a majority government. [32] [33] BBC News suggested that Law and Justice's strategy of putting forward Szydło as its candidate for prime minister was a "winning formula" in the election. Szydło was widely perceived as being more moderate than PiS' outspoken leader, Jarosław Kaczyński. However, it also noted that Kaczyński could step into the role of prime minister after the election. [33]
According to the Associated Press, the new Sejm was the most right-wing parliament in Europe due to the absence of centre-left MPs in the chamber. All five parties in the Sejm tilted rightward on social issues. Between them, left-leaning alliances only gained 11 percent of the vote. [34]
Kopacz swiftly conceded defeat after exit polls from TVP showed PiS on its way to a majority, while Kaczyński declared victory and hailed his party's historic majority. [35] Kaczyński also paid tribute to his late brother, President Lech Kaczyński, who died in the 2010 plane crash. [31]
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Poland Comes First, also rendered as Poland is the Most Important, shortened to Poland First, and abbreviated to PJN, was a centre-right, conservative liberal, political party in Poland. It was formed as a more moderate breakaway group from Law and Justice (PiS). By early 2011, the party had eighteen members of the Sejm, one member of the Senate, and three members of the European Parliament. Poland Comes First ceased to exist as a political party in December 2013, when it joined the new centre-right party led by Jarosław Gowin named Poland Together.
Parliamentary elections to both the Senate and the Sejm were held in Poland on 9 October 2011. The previous election, in 2007, resulted in a Civic Platform–Polish People's Party government. All seats of both Houses were up for re-election.
Barbara Anna Nowacka is a Polish politician who has served as Minister of National Education since December 2023. In October 2015 she became leader of the United Left coalition for the 2015 Polish parliamentary election, bringing together Labour Union, Your Movement, the Democratic Left Alliance, the Greens, and the Polish Socialist Party. Nowacka is the daughter of the late Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Policy Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka. Since 2016 she has been the leader of the Polish Initiative.
The Polish Constitutional Tribunal crisis has been an ongoing political conflict in Poland starting in the second half of 2015 over the appointment of five of the 15 judges of the Constitutional Tribunal.
Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 13 October 2019. All 460 members of the Sejm and 100 senators of the Senate were elected. The ruling right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) won re-election to a second term retaining its majority in the Sejm. However, it lost its majority in the Senate to the opposition. With 43.6% of the popular vote, Law and Justice received the highest vote share by any party since Poland returned to democracy in 1989. The turnout was the highest for a parliamentary election since the first free elections after the fall of communism in 1989. For the first time after 1989, the ruling party controlled one house, while the opposition controlled the other.
The United Right was a parliamentary group formed by Jarosław Gowin and Zbigniew Ziobro with their respective parties, Poland Together and United Poland. After their cooperation at 2015 Polish parliamentary election with the Law and Justice party, 'United Right' became a media label for the ruling right-wing political alliance of Law and Justice with its aforementioned partners in Poland.
The 2023 Polish parliamentary election took place on Sunday, 15 October 2023, per the Polish Constitution. Seats in both the lower house, the Sejm, and the Senate were contested. At the polls, a referendum - containing four questions concerning economic and immigration policy of the government - was also voted on.
The far-right Law and Justice party came to power in 2015, at the height of Europe's migrant crisis, after running a campaign that inspired choruses of "Poland for Poles".
Since taking control of both the presidency and the parliament in November 2015, Poland's far-right Law and Justice (PiS) party has swiftly changed the rules for public media, the secret service, education, and the military.
Poland's ultra-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government followed suit last year.
Poland's ultra-conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS) won a second term in office last month, a victory that critics fear will accelerate the country's slide towards authoritarianism.
Today, it is the main voice holding the ruling far-right Law and Justice (PiS) party accountable, while facing constant attacks from that government.
Since the 2015 election of the far-right Law and Justice party in Poland, the country's history with the Holocaust has become a point of contention with Israel.
In the 2015 Polish parliamentary election, the far-right Law and Justice Party, or PiS, won with an outright majority (meaning they did not need to form a coalition to govern), something that had not been done in Poland since the fall of communism in 1989.
He had then recently left the far right Law and Justice (PiS) party over its failure to push through a constitutional amendment that would have banned abortion in all cases.
In Poland, the far-right Law and Justice bested a broad alliance of moderate politicians.