Sejm

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The

The liberum veto was abolished with the adoption of the Constitution of 3 May 1791, a piece of legislation which was passed as the "Government Act", and for which the Sejm required four years to propagate and adopt. The constitution's acceptance, and the possible long-term consequences it may have had, is arguably the reason that the powers of Habsburg Austria, Russia and Prussia then decided to partition the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, thus putting an end to over 300 years of Polish parliamentary continuity. It is estimated that between 1493 and 1793, a Sejm was held 240 times, the total debate-time sum of which was 44 years.^[1]

After the fall of the Duchy of Warsaw, which existed as a Napoleonic client state between 1807 and 1815, and its short-lived Sejm of the Duchy of Warsaw, the Sejm of Congress Poland was established in Congress Poland of the Russian Empire; it was composed of the king (the Russian emperor), the upper house (Senate), and the lower house (Chamber of Deputies). Overall, during the period from 1795 until the re-establishment of Poland's sovereignty in 1918, little power was actually held by any Polish legislative body and the occupying powers of Russia, Prussia (later united Germany) and Austria propagated legislation for their own respective formerly-Polish territories at a national level.^[1]

• 
  Tadeusz Rejtan tries to prevent the legalisation of the first partition of Poland by preventing the members of the Sejm from leaving the chamber (1773). Painting by Jan Matejko

The Chamber of Deputies, despite its name, consisted not only of 77 envoys (sent by local assemblies) from the hereditary nobility, but also of 51 deputies, elected by the non-noble population. All deputies were covered by Parliamentary immunity, with each individual serving for a term of office of six years, with third of the deputies being elected every two years. Candidates for deputy had to be able to read and write, and have a certain amount of wealth. The legal voting age was 21, except for those citizens serving in the military, the personnel of which were not allowed to vote. Parliamentary sessions were initially convened every two years, and lasted for (at least) 30 days. However, after many clashes between liberal deputies and conservative government officials, sessions were later called only four times (1818, 1820, 1826, and 1830, with the last two sessions being secret). The Sejm had the right to call for votes on civil and administrative legal issues, and, with permission from the king, it could also vote on matters related to the fiscal policy and the military. It had the right to exercise control over government officials, and to file petitions. The 64-member Senate on the other hand, was composed of voivodes and kasztelans (both types of provincial governors), Russian envoys, diplomats or princes, and nine bishops. It acted as the Parliamentary Court, had the right to control "citizens' books", and had similar legislative rights as did the Chamber of Deputies.^[1]

In the

In the second half of the 19th century, Poles were able to become members of the parliaments of Austria, Prussia and Russia, where they formed Polish Clubs. Deputies of Polish nationality were elected to the Prussian Landtag from 1848, and then to the German Empire's Reichstag from 1871. Polish Deputies were members of the Austrian State Council (from 1867), and from 1906 were also elected to the Russian Imperial State Duma (lower chamber) and to the State Council (upper chamber).^[1]

After the

During the

• 
  Stanisław Dubois speaking to envoys and diplomats in the Sejm, 1931
• 
  Józef Beck, Minister of Foreign Affairs, delivers his famous Honour Speech in the Sejm, 5 May 1939.

The Sejm in the Polish People's Republic had 460 deputies throughout most of its history. At first, this number was declared to represent one deputy per 60,000 citizens (425 were elected in 1952), but, in 1960, as the population grew, the declaration was changed: The constitution then stated that the deputies were representative of the people and could be recalled by the people, but this article was never used, and, instead of the "five-point electoral law", a non-proportional, "four-point" version was used. Legislation was passed with majority voting.

Under the

When the Sejm was not in session, the State Council had the power to issue decrees that had the force of law. However, those decrees had to be approved by the Sejm at its next session.[4] In practice, the principles of democratic centralism meant that such approval was only a formality.

The Senate was abolished by the referendum in 1946, after which the Sejm became the sole legislative body in Poland.^[1] Even though the Sejm was largely subservient to the Communist party, one deputy, Romuald Bukowski (an independent) voted against the imposition of martial law in 1982.^[6]

Third Polish Republic

After the

national assembly, while the Sejm remained the first house. The Sejm is now composed of 460 deputies elected by proportional representation

every four years.

Between 7 and 20 deputies are elected from each constituency using the d'Hondt method (with one exception, in 2001, when the Sainte-Laguë method was used), their number being proportional to their constituency's population. Additionally, a threshold is used, so that candidates are chosen only from parties that gained at least 5% of the nationwide vote (candidates from ethnic-minority parties are exempt from this threshold).^[1]

• 
  The Sejm building in Warsaw
• 
  The Sejm's main hall
• 
  Sessions chamber in the Sejm
• 
  Sessions chamber viewed from the rostrum
• 
  Marshal's chair in the sessions chamber
• 
  Sejm cross
• 
  Column hall in the Sejm

Historical composition of the Sejm

Second Republic (1918–1939)

KPP   PPS   NZR   NPR   SCh   Centrolew   PSL "L"   PSL "W"   PSL "P"   PZL   Minorities   Jews   Germans   Ukrainians   Others/Independent   Catholic Bloc   SKL   ZLN/ChZJN   BBWR   OZN   SN
1919	35 32 12 59 46 35 11 2 4 18 140
1922	2 41 18 2 49 70 66 18 5 10 163
1928	5 64 11 26 40 55 6 17 23 34 38 125
1930	79 5 7 21 6 14 249 63
1935	25 181
1938	5 18 21 164

PRL (1945–1989)

PPR   PZPR   PPS   SL/ZSL   PSL "NW"   SD   PSL   Independent   KO "S"   SP   PAX   ChSS [pl]   PZKS [pl]   Znak
1947	114 116 109 7 41 28 3 12
1952	273 90 25 37
1957	239 118 39 58 5
1961	256 117 39 37 3 3 5
1965	255 117 39 36 5 3 5
1969	255 117 39 37 5 2 5
1972	255 117 39 37 5 2 5
1976	261 113 37 37 5 2 5
1980	261 113 37 32 7 5 5
1985	245 106 35 53 9 7 5
1989	173 76 27 161 10 8 5

Third republic (since 1989)

SRP   UP   SLD / NL   "S"    RP   PSL[m] / TD   Germans   BBWR   PO / KO   UD   UW   Others   .N   KLD   AWS   PPPP   PL   PC   ZChN   PiS   K'15    KPN   Konf   LPR
1991	60 27 48 7 36 62 16 37 28 44 49 46
1993	41 171 132 4 16 74 22
1997	164 27 2 6 60 201
2001	53 216 42 2 65 44 38
2005	56 55 25 2 133 155 34
2007	53 31 1 209 166
2011	27 40 1 207 28 157
2015	1 138 16 28 235 42
2019	49 1 134 30 235 11
2023	26 157 65 194 18

Standing committees

The Sejm has several

standing committees with responsibilities in particular areas.^[9][10][11]

Permanent committees

• Administration and Internal Affairs
• Agriculture and Rural Development
• Constitutional Accountability
• Culture and Media
• Deputies' Ethics
• Digitization, Innovation and Modern Technology
• Economy and Development
• Education, Science and Youth
• Energy, Climate and State Assets
• Environment Protection, Natural Resources and Forestry
• European Union Affairs
• Foreign Affairs
• Health
• Infrastructure
• Justice and Human Rights
• Legislative
• Liaison with Poles Abroad
• Local Self-Government and Regional Policy
• Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation
• National and Ethnic Minorities
• National Defense
• Petition
• Physical Education and Sport
• Public Finances
• Rules and Deputies' Affairs
• Senior Policy
• Social Policy and Family
• Special Services
• State Control

Extraordinary committees

• For changes in codification
• To consider draft laws regarding the right to terminate pregnancy

Investigative committees

• To investigate the legality, correctness, and purposefulness of actions taken with the goal of preparing and holding the Polish Presidential Elections in 2020 in the form of postal voting
• To investigate the legality, correctness and purposefulness of actions, as well as the occurrence of abuse, neglect, and omissions regarding the legalisation of stay for foreigners within the territory of the Republic of Poland between 12 November 2019 and 20 November 2023
• To investigate the legality, correctness, and purposefulness of operational and reconnaissance activities taken among others with the use of the "Pegasus" software by the members of the council of ministers, special forces, police, tax control authorities and customs control authorities, bodies established to prosecute criminals, and the proscecutor's office between 16 November 2015 and 20 November 2023

Current standings

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Standings in the 10th Sejm and the 11th Senate

Affiliation		Deputies (Sejm)			Senators (Senate)
		Results of the 2023 election	As of 16 April 2025	Change	Results of the 2023 election	As of 16 April 2025	Change
Parliamentary clubs
	Law and Justice	194	190	4	34	34
	Civic Coalition	157	157		41	41
	Poland 2050	33	32	1	11	12	1
	Polish People's Party	32	32
	The Left	26	21	5	9	9
Deputative clubs
	Confederation	18	16	2	—	—
Deputative circles
	Razem	—	5	5	—	—
	Free Republicans	—	4	4	—	—
Senatorial circles
	Independents and Locals	—	—		—	3	3
Independents
	Independents	—	3	3	5	—	5
Total members		460	460		100	100
	Vacant	—	0		—	0
Total seats		460			100

See also

• Electoral districts of Poland (1935–39)
• Polish constitutional crisis, 2015

Types of sejm

• Confederated sejm (Sejm skonfederowany)
• Convocation sejm
  (Sejm konwokacyjny)
• Coronation sejm
  (Sejm koronacyjny)
• Election sejm
  (Sejm elekcyjny)
• National Assembly of the Republic of Poland
  (Zgromadzenie Narodowe)
• Sejmik
  • Voivodeship sejmik (Sejmik wojewódzki)

Notable sejms

• Silent Sejm (Sejm Niemy 1717)
• Convocation Sejm (1764)
  (Sejm konwokacyjny)
• Repnin Sejm (Sejm Repninowski 1767–1768)
• Partition Sejm (Sejm rozbiorowy 1773–1776)
• Great Sejm (Sejm Wielki 1788–1792)
• Grodno Sejm (Sejm grodzieński 1791)
• Silesian Sejm
  (Sejm Śląski 1920–1939)
• Contract Sejm (Sejm Kontraktowy 1989)

Notes

1. ^ Though the by-laws of the Sejm do not mention such a position, the leader of the largest opposition party is called leader of the opposition by convention.^{[citation needed]}
2. ^
   •   PO (125)
   •   .N (10)
   •   Greens (3)
   •   iPL (2)
   •   T!DPL (2)
   •   Au (1)
   •   Independent (13)
3. ^ Marek Biernacki
4. ^
   •   PSL (28)
   •   CdP (3)
   •   Independent (1)^[c]
5. ^ Daria Gosek-Popiołek, Dorota Olko, Joanna Wicha
6. ^
   •   NL (18)
   •   Independent (3)^[e]
7. ^ Adam Gomoła elected on Third Way list
8. ^
   •   PiS (181)
   •   ONRP (6)
   •   Independent (3)
9. Andrzej Zapałowski
10. ^
    •   NN (8)
    •   RN (7)
    •   Independent (1)^[i]
11. ^
    •   K'15 (3)
    •   WiD (1)
12. ^
    •   KKP (2)
13. ^ PSL was a left-wing party until about 2008,^[7] and shifted towards the centre-right afterwards.^[8]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} "Poznaj Sejm". opis.sejm.gov.pl. Archived from the original on 15 October 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
2. ^ Davies, Norman (1982). God's Playground: A History of Poland. Columbia University Press. p. 302.
3. ^ Strauss, Herbert Arthur (1993). Hostages of Modernization: Studies on Modern Antisemitism, 1870-1933/39. Walter de Gruyter. p. 985.
4. ^ ^{a b} Chapter 3 of 1952 Constitution
5. ^ Poland: a country study. Library of Congress Federal Research Division, December 1989.
6. ^ The Associated Press (22 October 1992). "Romuald Bukowski; Polish Legislator, 64". The New York Times.
7. ^ Gerber, Alexandra (2011). Being Polish/Becoming European: Gender and The Limits of Diffusion in Polish Accession to the European Union (PDF) (Doctor of Philosophy (Sociology) thesis). Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan. p. 167.
8. ^ Szustakiewicz, Przemysław (2010). "Ideologia Polskiego Stronnictwa Ludowego na początku XXI wieku". Studia Politologiczne (in Polish). 18 (1). Instytut Nauk Politycznych Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego: 232.
9. ^ "Komisje stałe - Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej". www.sejm.gov.pl. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
10. ^ "Komisje nadzwyczajne - Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej". www.sejm.gov.pl. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
11. ^ "Komisje śledcze - Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej". www.sejm.gov.pl. Retrieved 28 January 2024.

External links

• Official website
• Description of the modern Sejm's role in the Polish political system
• CNN Election Watch

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