Permanent Council

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Permanent Council

The Permanent Council (Polish Rada Nieustająca) was the highest administrative authority in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth between 1775 and 1789 and the first modern government in Europe. In Polish was renamed as Zdrada Nieustająca - Permanent Betrayal.

[edit] History

The Permanent Council was created on the insistence of Catherine II of Russia, who saw it as a way to secure her influence over the internal politics of Poland. Contrary to the Sejm, which previously had the same prerogatives, the Council could not be vetoed nor disbanded. Also, it was much less prone to influence of the minor gentry. Finally, both Catherine and her embassador to Poland, O.M. Stackelberg believed, that the Council will be dominated by anti-royal magnates and that it would put an end to his push towards the reforms.

The Council was composed of the King Stanisław August Poniatowski (who acted as a modern prime minister and had two votes instead of one), 18 members of the Senat and 18 members of the Diet. The meetings were supervised by marshal Roman Ignacy Potocki.

The council was divided onto 5 separate ministeries called Departments:

Foreign interests
Military
Police
Treasury
Justice

Among the prerogatives of the Council was heading the state administration, preparation of projects of laws and Sejm acts, which were later accepted by the parliament, control over law obedience and interptetation of the law. Although heavily-criticized, most notably by the so-called Patriotic Party and the Familia, the Council managed to start a period of economical prosperity in Poland and significantly strengthened the power of the monarch in Poland. It was liquidated in 1789 by the Four-Year Sejm and briefly reinstituted in 1793 by the Sejm of Grodno. However, this time it was directly headed by the Russian ambassador. Majority of her members was bribed by Russian embassy in Warsaw.