Parliament of Poland

"Polish Parliament" redirects here. For the expression, see Polish parliament (expression).
Parliament of Poland
Parlament Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej
Polish coat of arms
Type
Type
Bicameral
Houses
  • Senate (upper)
  • Sejm (lower)
Leadership
Bogdan Borusewicz, PO
since 5 November 2007
Radosław Sikorski, PO
since 24 September 2014
Structure
Seats
  • 560
  • consisting of
  • 100 senators
  • 460 deputies
Senat VIII.svg
Senate political groups

Government

Other

Sejm 2011.svg
Sejm political groups

Government

Other

Elections
First-past-the-post voting
Proportional Representationa
Senate last election
9 October 2011
Sejm last election
9 October 2011
Senate next election
October 2015
Sejm next election
October 2015
Meeting place
Sejm building, Warsaw
Footnotes
a Open-list proportional representation in 41 constituencies (5% national election threshold, 8% national election threshold for coalitions).
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Poland

Politics portal

The parliament of Poland consists of an upper house – the Senate – and a lower house, the Sejm. Both houses are accommodated by the Sejm building complex in Warsaw. The parliament itself is without an official name; Poland's constitution refers only to the Sejm and the Senate.

Members of both houses are elected by popular elections, usually held 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. The Sejm can override a Senate refusal to pass a bill.

On certain occasions, the Marshal of the Sejm summons the National Assembly that consists of the members of both houses of parliament. Its function is mostly ceremonial in nature and it convenes only occasionally, such as to witness the inauguration of the President. Under exceptional circumstances, the constitution endows the National Assembly with significant responsibilities, such as the power to bring the President before the State Tribunal (impeachment).

Latest election

 Summary of the 09 October 2011 Polish parliamentary election results[3]
Parties Sejm Senate
Votes p.r.%(*)% Seats +/– MPs %/
votes %
Seats +/–
Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska, PO) 5,629,77318,3039,18207–2–2.3363+3
Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, PiS) 4,295,01613,9629.89157–9–2.2231–8
Palikot's Movement (Ruch Palikota, RP) 1,439,4904,6710.0240+40
Polish People's Party (Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe, PSL) 1,201,6283,908.3628–3–0.552+2
Democratic Left Alliance (Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej, SLD) 1,184,3033,848.2427–26–4.91
Poland Comes First (Polska jest Najważniejsza, PJN) 315,3931,022.19—†—†
Congress of the New Right (Kongres Nowej Prawicy, KNP) 151,8370,491.06
Polish Labour Party (Polska Partia Pracy, PPP) 79,1470,250.55
Right of the Republic–Real Politics Union (Prawica) 35,1690,110.24–0.44
German Minority (Mniejszość Niemiecka, MN) 28,0140,090.201–0.03
Our Home Poland (Nasz Dom Polska) 9,7330,030.05–1.48
Independents (Niezależni) N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A4+3
Total 14,369,503 460 100
  • Registered voters: 30,762,931
  • Votes counted: 15,050,027 (48,92%)
  • Invalid votes: 680,524
  • Valid votes: 14,369,503 (95,48%)
  • p.r.%(*) = percentage of valid votes for that party, from overall registered voters list(30,762,931)

†PjN did not exist at the previous election, but had 15 Sejm seats and 1 Senate seat when the previous Parliament was dissolved.[4]

Members

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Senators by party". Senate RP. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "Members of Parliament (MPs) by party". Sejm RP. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  3. Polish State Electoral Commission: Results for elections to the Sejm and Senate, 2011
  4. News of the formation of PJN in the Sejm