Poland

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Poland Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1932x2407, 4465 KB) [edit] Summary Coat of arms of the Republic of Poland Made by Aotaearoa, based on the official specifications in Coat of arms, Colors and Anthem of the Republic of Poland, and State Seals Act (Dz. ... Politics of Poland takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. ...

Constitution President Lech Kaczyński Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński National Assembly Senate Sejm Council of Ministers Ministries Law Supreme Court Constitutional Tribunal State Tribunal Supreme Administrative Court Supreme Chamber of Control Attorney General Ombudsman Political Parties LPR - UPR - PD - PiS - PO - PSL SDPL - SLD - SRP - UP Elections Presidential (after 1989) 1990 - 1995 - 2000 - 2005 Parliamentary (after 1989) 1989 - 1991 - 1993 - 1997 2001 - 2005 European Parliament 2004 Local elections 1990 - 1994 - 1998 - 2002 2006 Polish referenda Voivodeships Flag of the President of Poland The President of the Republic of Poland (Polish: Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej) is directly elected by the people to serve a term of five years. ...  , (born June 18, 1949) is a Polish politician of the conservative party Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (Law and Justice, PiS). ... The Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland represents the Council of Ministers (the Cabinet) and directs their work, supervises territorial self-government within the guidelines and in ways described in the Constitution and other legislation, and acts as the superior for all government administration workers (heading the public service...   (born June 18, 1949) has been the Prime Minister of Poland since July 2006 and is the chairman of Law and Justice (Polish: ), a party which he co-founded in 2001. ... The National Assembly (Zgromadzenie Narodowe) is the name of both chambers of the Polish parliament, the Sejm and the Senate, when sitting in joint session. ... The Polish Senate The Senate (Senat) is the upper house of the Polish parliament. ... The Sejm building in Warsaw. ... The Council of Ministers (cabinet), or Polish government, consists of ministers, heads of departments of ministerial rank, and heads of central institutions. ... // Existing ministries Ministerstwo Finansów (Ministry of Finances) Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) Ministerstwo Spraw WewnÄ™trznych i Administracji (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration) Ministerstwo SprawiedliwoÅ›ci (Ministry of Justice) Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej (Ministry of National Defence) Ministerstwo Rolnictwa i Rozwoju Wsi ( Ministry of Agriculture and Rural... Polish law is a legal system in Poland. ... The Supreme Court of Poland supervises the adjudication in: General courts - these are district, voivodeship, and appeal courts. ... The Constitutional Tribunal of Poland is a judicial body established to resolve disputes on the constitutionality of the activities of state institutions; its main task is to supervise the compliance of statutory law with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. ... The State Tribunal of Poland is the judicial body, which rules on the constitutional liability of people holding the highest offices of state. ... The Supreme Administrative Court of Poland (Polish: ) is the court of last resort in administrative cases i. ... The Supreme Chamber of Control (Polish: Najwyższa Izba Kontroli, short: NIK) is one of the oldest state institutions in Poland, created under the Second Republic on February 7, 1919, barely 3 months after the restoration of Polands independence. ... The Attorney General of Poland (Polish: Prokurator Generalny) is the top prosecuting officer in Poland. ... List of the Polish Ombudsmen: Ewa Łętowska - November 19, 1987 - February 12, 1992 Tadeusz ZieliÅ„ski - February 13, 1992 - May 7, 1996 Adam ZieliÅ„ski - May 8, 1996 - June 29, 2000 Andrzej Zoll - from June 30, 2000 Official site Categories: Poland-related stubs | Politics of Poland ... Political parties in Poland lists political parties in Poland. ... The League of Polish Families (Liga Polskich Rodzin, or LPR) is a conservative extremist political party within the Polish Parliament, and a coalition partner in Polands current ruling government. ... Unia Polityki Realnej (Real Politics Union) is a conservative free-market party in Poland. ... The Democratic Party () is a social liberal party in Poland, publicly announced on February 28 and formally established on May 9, 2005 as an enlargement of the Freedom Union (Unia WolnoÅ›ci), which it legally succeeds. ... Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (Or in English: Law and Justice) is a Polish conservative political party. ... Citizens Platform (Platforma Obywatelska, often also called Civic Platform) is a Polish liberal (libertarian) political party. ... The Polish Peoples Party (Polish: Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe, also known in English as Polish Peasant Party) is a political party in Poland. ... The Social Democratic Party of Poland (Socjaldemokracja Polska, SDPL) is a new leftist political party in Poland founded in April 2004 as a splinter group from Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej (it should not be confused with a former party Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland - SdRP). ... Democratic Left Alliance (Polish: Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej, SLD) is one of the main Polish social democratic political parties. ... Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland (Polish: Samoobrona Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, SO or SRP) is a political party and trade union in Poland. ... Labor Union (Unia Pracy) is a Polish political party. ... Elections in Poland gives information on election and election results in Poland. ... Presidential elections were held in Poland on Sunday November 25 (1st round), and Sunday December 9, 1990 (2n round). ... Presidential elections were held in Poland on Sunday November 5 (1st round), and Sunday November 19, 1990 (2n round). ... Presidential elections were held in Poland on Sunday October 8. ... Presidential elections were held in Poland on October 9 and October 23, 2005. ... Contract Sejm (Polish: ) is a term commonly applied to the Polish Parliament elected in the Polish parliamentary elections of 1989. ... Sejm election Senat election Categories: Politics of Poland | 1991 elections | Elections in Poland | 1991 in Poland ... Sejm election German Minority - 4 MPs Senat election Categories: Politics of Poland | 1993 elections | Elections in Poland | 1993 in Poland ... Sejm election German Minority - 2 MPs Senat election Categories: Politics of Poland | 1997 elections | Elections in Poland ... Sejm election German Minority - 2 MPs Senat election Categories: Politics of Poland | 2001 elections | Elections in Poland ... Parliamentary elections for both houses of the Parliament of Poland were held on September 25, 2005. ... Elections to the European Parliament were held in Poland on June 13, 2004. ... Local elections in Poland SLD-UP - 6644 (14,19%) PSL - 4986 (10,65%) Samoobrona - 1530 (3,27%) LPR - 1065 (2,27%) PiS - 217 (0,46%) PO - 213 (0,45%) PO-PiS - 85 (0,18%) Unia SamorzÄ…dowa - 4 (0,01%) Alternatywa - 1 (0,00%) UPR - 0 (0,00%) other comitets... Local elections were held in Poland in 1990. ... Local elections were held in Poland in 1994. ... Local elections were held in Poland in 1998. ... SLD-UP - 6644 (14,19%) PSL - 4986 (10,65%) Samoobrona - 1530 (3,27%) LPR - 1065 (2,27%) PiS - 217 (0,46%) PO - 213 (0,45%) PO-PiS - 85 (0,18%) Unia SamorzÄ…dowa - 4 (0,01%) Alternatywa - 1 (0,00%) UPR - 0 (0,00%) other comitets - 32088 (68,52%) sum... Polish local elections 2006 schedule: November 12 - first round November 26 - second round Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska) Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość) Categories: | ... There have been several referenda in history of Poland. ... The voivodeship (Polish: województwo) has been a second-level administrative unit in Poland since the 14th century. ... See also: Economy, Foreign relations History, Military Poland became a full member of NATO in March 1999, and of the European Union in May 2004. ... In the period following its emergence in the 10th century, the Polish nation was led by a series of strong rulers who converted the Poles to Christianity, created a strong Central European state and integrated Poland into European culture. ... EU Politics To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

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The Polish legislative election, 1947 was held on January 19, 1947 in the People's Republic of Poland. The anti-communist opposition candidates and activists were brutally persecuted and the eventual results were falsified [Wrona, 1999]. According to the official results, the communist-controlled "Democratic Bloc" (Blok Demokratyczny), composed of the Polish Workers Party (PPR), Polish Socialist Party (PPS), Popular Party (SL), and Democratic Party (SD) and non-partisan candidates, gained 80.1% votes (390 out of 444 seats). In fact, the "Democratic Bloc" gained only about 50% of the votes [1]. Information on politics by country is available for every country, including both de jure and de facto independent states, inhabited dependent territories, as well as areas of special sovereignty. ... January 19 is the 19th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... The Peoples Republic of Poland or Polish Peoples Republic (Polish: Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1989, during its period of rule by the Communist party, officially called the Polish United Workers Party (Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza, or PZPR). ... Anti-communism is opposition to communist ideology, organization, or government, on either a theoretical or practical level. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ... The Polish Workers Party (Polska Partia Robotnicza, PPR) was a communist party in Poland from 1942 to 1948. ... Polish Socialist Party (Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS) was one of the most important Polish political parties 1890-1948. ... Stronnictwo Ludowe (SL, Peoples Party) was a Polish political party, active from 1931 in the Second Polish Republic. ... Stronnictwo Demokratyczne (Democratic Party, SD) is a Polish centrist party established on April 15, 1939. ...

The elections were not free, as opposition candidates were discriminated against and the votes were rigged [Eley, 2002]. Nonetheless, the election gave the Soviet Union and its Polish satellite communist government[2] enough legitimacy to claim that Poland was 'free and democratic', and allowing Poland to sign the charter of the United Nations [Schlesinger 2003]. The 1947 elections would mark the beginning of the 'election farce': every single Polish election until the fall of communism in 1989 would be falsified in a similar way.[Wrona, 1999] Satellite state is a political term that refers to a country which is formally independent but which is primarily subject to the domination of another, larger power. ... The United Nations Charter is the constitution of the United Nations. ... The rise of Gorbachev Although reform stalled between 1964–1982, the generational shift gave new momentum for reform. ...

Background

By 1946, Poland was mostly under the control of the Soviet Union and its proxies, the Polish communists. In 1946 the communists already tested their strength by falsifying the Polish people's referendum, 1946 ("3xYES Referendum") [Buchanan 2005] and banning all right-wing parties (under the pretext of their pro-Nazi stance). By 1947 the only remaining legal opposition was the Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe (Polish Peasant Party) of Stanisław Mikołajczyk, which refused to join the communist alliance[3] [4]. Polish communists can trace their origins to early 1900s and the works tor the first Polish Marxist, StanisÅ‚aw Brzozowki (1878-1911). ... Peoples referendum (referendum ludowe) of 1946, also know as 3 times YES (3 razy TAK) was a referendum held in Poland on 30 June 1946 on the authority of State National Council (Krajowa Rada Narodowa) (order of 27 April 1946). ... In politics, right-wing, the political right, or simply the right, are terms which refer, with no particular precision, to the segment of the political spectrum in opposition to left-wing politics. ... National Socialism redirects here. ... The Polish Peasant Party (Polish: Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe) is a political party in Poland. ... StanisÅ‚aw MikoÅ‚ajczyk StanisÅ‚aw MikoÅ‚ajczyk (1901 - 1966), Polish politician, was Prime Minister of the Polish government in exile during World War II, and later Deputy Prime Minister in postwar Poland. ...

Although the Yalta agreement called for free elections in Poland, those held in January 1947 were controlled by the Polish communists[5]. The election law, introduced before the elections, allowed the government - which since its estabilishment in 1944 was controlled by the communists - to remove over half a million people from the list of those eligible for voting, under false accusations of collaboration with the Nazis or 'anti-government bandits' (i.e. Armia Krajowa and other Polish resistance movements loyal to the Polish government in exile). Over 80,000 members of the Polish Peasant Party were arrested under various false charges in the month preceding the election, and around 100 of them were murdered by the Polish Secret Police (Urząd Bezpieczeństwa, UB)[6]. 98 opposition parliamentary candidates were also crossed from the registration lists under these accusations. Finally, in some regions - especially those known to be strongholds of the Polish Peasants Party - the entire electoral list of that party was disqualified for various technical and legal reasons.[7] The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, was the wartime meeting from February 4 to 11, 1945 between the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. ... Election of Michal Korybut Wisniowiecki as king of Poland at Wola, outside Warsaw ( 1669). ... Polish communists can trace their origins to early 1900s and the works tor the first Polish Marxist, StanisÅ‚aw Brzozowki (1878-1911). ... Election law is a discipline falling at the juncture of constitutional law and political science. ... The PKWN Manifesto, issued on July 22, 1944 The Polish Committee of National Liberation (Polish Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego, PKWN) was a provisional Polish communist government that was created by the Soviet Union. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section can be improved by converting lengthy lists to text. ... National Socialism redirects here. ... The Armia Krajowa (Home Army) or AK functioned as the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II in German-occupied Poland, which was active in all areas of the country from September 1939 until its disbanding in January 1945. ... German supply train blown up by the Armia Krajowa during World War II. Polish resistance movement was a resistance movement in Poland, part of the anti-fascist resistance movement which fought against the occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany during World War II. Resistance to the Nazi German occupation began... The Government of the Polish Republic in Exile was the government of Poland after the country had been occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union during September-October 1939. ... SÅ‚użba BezpieczeÅ„stwa (SB, until 1956 UrzÄ…d BezpieczeÅ„stwa, UB) was the name of the communist intelligence agency and secret police in the Peoples Republic of Poland. ...

The entire falsification action was organized and closely monitored by specialists from Polish secret police, worked closely with their Soviet counterparts like Aron Pałkin and Siemion Dawydow, both high-ranking officers from the Soviet Ministry for State Security. The Soviet assistance was asked for before the referendum of 1946 by a prominent Polish communist, Bolesław Bierut, head of the provisional Polish parliament (State National Council)[8]. Over 40% of the members of the electoral commisions who were supposed to monitor the voting were recruited by the UB [9]. Motto: Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Russian: Workers of the world, unite!) Anthem: The Internationale (1922-1944) Hymn of the Soviet Union (1944-1991) Capital (and largest city) Moscow None; Russian de facto Government Federation of Soviet Republics  - Last President Mikhail Gorbachev  - Last Premier Ivan Silayev Establishment October Revolution   - Declared... The Ministry of State Security (MGB) ( Russian: Министерство государственной безопасности (Ministerstvo Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti)) was the name of the Soviet secret police agency from 1946 to 1953. ... Term of office from February 5, 1947 until November 21, 1952 Profession typesetter Political party communist Spouse Wanda Górska Date of birth April 18, 1892 Place of birth Rury Jezuickie near Lublin Date of death March 12, 1956 Place of death Moscow, Soviet Union BolesÅ‚aw Bierut (real name... State National Council (Polish Krajowa Rada Narodowa, KRN) was a political body formed in the late stages of the Second World War in the Soviet Union, as a begining of new Polish government. ...

The elections

The opposition candidates and activists were brutally persecuted until the very election day and the publicized results were falsified [Wrona, 1999], with the official results known to selected government officials long before the actual elections took place.[10] The real results were not known to anyone, as in the areas government control was high enough, some of the ballot boxes were simply destroyed even before being counted [11] or exchanged with the boxes filled with prepared votes[12]. Where possible, government officials simply filled in the numbers in the relevant documets as per instructions from the communist officials without bothering to count the real votes. [13] In his report to Stalin, after the 1947 results, Pałkin estimated that the real results (i.e. votes cast) gave communists about 50%.[14] The opposition itself estimated that it should have received about 80% of the votes[15] if the elections were not rigged and the voters were not terrorised. A ballot box is a temporarily sealed container, usually cuboid, with a narrow slot in the top sufficient to accept a ballot paper in an election but which prevents anyone from accessing the votes cast until the close of the voting period. ... Iosif (usually anglicized as Joseph) Vissarionovich Stalin (Russian: Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин), original name Ioseb Jughashvili (Georgian: იოსებ ჯუღაშვი&#4314...

A TIME Magazine article covering the elections noted in its lead paragaph: In a spirit of partisan exuberance tempered with terror, Poland approached its first nationwide popular election, ten days hence. By last week most of the combined opposition (Socialist and Polish Peasant Party) candidates had been jailed, and their supporters more or less completely cowed by the secret police, by striking their names from voting lists and by arrest. The Communist-dominated Government ventured to predict an "overwhelming" victory.[16] (Clockwise from upper left) Time magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ...

Aftermath

Many members of opposition parties, including Mikołajczyk - who would have likely become the Prime Minister of Poland if the elections were not rigged [Cockburn, 1997] - saw no hope in further struggle and, fearing for their lives, left the country [Buchanan 2005]. Western governments issued only token protests, if any, which led many anti-Communist Poles to speak of postwar "Western betrayal". In the same year, the new Legislative Sejm voted for the Small Constitution of 1947, and Bolesław Bierut, a Pole who was a Communist and a citizen of the USSR, was elected president of Poland by the parliament. Over the next two years, the Communists would ensure their rise to power by monopolizing political power in Poland under the PZPR[17]. This is a list of Prime Ministers of Poland. ... Western betrayal is a popular term in several Central European nations (including Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, the Baltic States) which refers to the foreign policy of several Western countries during the period from the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 through World War II and to the Cold War... Term of office from February 5, 1947 until November 21, 1952 Profession typesetter Political party communist Spouse Wanda Górska Date of birth April 18, 1892 Place of birth Rury Jezuickie near Lublin Date of death March 12, 1956 Place of death Moscow, Soviet Union BolesÅ‚aw Bierut (real name...

The Communists admitted in the last year of their rule that they had resorted to systematic vote rigging, both in a referendum in June 1946 and in the 1947 parliamentary elections.

Results

The Polish Workers Party (Polska Partia Robotnicza, PPR) was a communist party in Poland from 1942 to 1948. ... Polish Socialist Party (Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS) was one of the most important Polish political parties 1890-1948. ... Stronnictwo Ludowe (SL, Peoples Party) was a Polish political party, active from 1931 in the Second Polish Republic. ... Stronnictwo Demokratyczne (Democratic Party, SD) is a Polish centrist party established on April 15, 1939. ... The Polish Peasant Party (Polish: Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe) is a political party in Poland. ...

References

• Results of the 1947 elections
• Janusz Wrona (ed.), Kampania wyborcza i wybory do Sejmu Ustawodawczego 19 stycznia 1947 (Elections campaign and the elections to the Legislative Sejm of 19 January 1947), Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, 1999 ISBN 83-7059-322-4;
• Geoff Eley, Forging Democracy the History of the Left in Europe, 1850-2000, Oxford University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-19-504479-7 "In January 1947, manifestly rigged Polish elections gave Communists 80.1% of the vote..."Google Print, p.300
• Stephen Schlesinger, Act of Creation: The Founding of the United Nations, Westview Press, 2003, ISBN 0-8133-3324-5 "On January 19, 1947, the first Polish elections were held. They were widely seen as fraudulent." Google Print, p.225
• Alexander Cockburn, The Golden Age Is in Us: Journeys and Encounters, 1987-1994, Verso, 1997, ISBN 0-86091-664-2 "By January [1947...] the fixed Polish election that sent the Peasant Party leader Stanisław Mikołajczyk, who probably should have won, into exile."Google Print, p.157
• Tom Buchanan, Europe's Troubled Peace, 1945-2000: 1945-2000, Blackwell Publishing, 2005, ISBN 0-631-22162-X, "...the elections of January 1947 [...] were clearly rigged."Google Print, p.84

Further reading

• Michał Skoczylas, Wybory do Sejmu Ustawodawczego z 19 stycznia 1947 roku w świetle skarg ludności (Elections to the Legislative Sejm on 19 January 1947 in the light of citizens complains), TRIO, 2003, ISBN 83-88542-43-5