Polish legislative election, 1952
Encyclopedia
The Polish legislative election of 1952 was the first election
to the Sejm
, the parliament
of the People's Republic of Poland
, and second in Communist Poland. They took place on 26 October. The official rules for the elections were outlined in the new Constitution of the People's Republic of Poland
and lesser acts.
they are considered the least free of the elections in Poland, an occurrence common during the era of Stalinization when the communist government tried to tighten its control over society as much as possible. The opposition was persecuted, including through arrests and torture, and not allowed to run in the elections. Candidates were vetted by the Communist party organization, Front Jedności Narodowej, and the number of candidates permitted to run in the elections was equal to the number of seats in parliament.
There were 425 seats. The number of seats would be increased in the subsequent elections.
The official results showed that 99.8% of the Communist party's candidates were successful. Candidates from the FJN parties took 91.2% of the Sejm, with 8.7% falling to the nominal "independents." PZPR, with 273 seats (64.2% total), achieved its best result ever, both in total number of seats and percentage of the Sejm controlled. However, as the other parties and "independents" were in fact subordinate to PZPR, its control of the Sejm was, in fact, total. Such sham elections would continue till the Polish legislative election, 1989
.
The Sejm elected in 1951 was supposed to be replaced in elections of 1956, but due to political shifts in Poland, the new elections
took place in early 1957 in a more liberal atmosphere, although still not free.
The reported turnout was 95%.
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
to the Sejm
Sejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
, the parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
of the People's Republic of Poland
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
, and second in Communist Poland. They took place on 26 October. The official rules for the elections were outlined in the new Constitution of the People's Republic of Poland
Constitution of the People's Republic of Poland
The Constitution of the People's Republic of Poland was passed on 22 July 1952. Created by the Polish communists in the People's Republic of Poland, it was based on the 1936 Soviet Constitution , and it superseded the post-war provisional Small Constitution of 1947 which, at its turn, had declared...
and lesser acts.
Background
The elections, as all others held under the communist regime in Poland, were not free and were falsified, again a common occurrence of that time. Along with the Polish legislative election of 1947Polish legislative election, 1947
The Polish legislative election of 1947 was held on January 19, 1947 in the People's Republic of Poland. The anti-communist opposition candidates and activists were persecuted and the eventual results were falsified...
they are considered the least free of the elections in Poland, an occurrence common during the era of Stalinization when the communist government tried to tighten its control over society as much as possible. The opposition was persecuted, including through arrests and torture, and not allowed to run in the elections. Candidates were vetted by the Communist party organization, Front Jedności Narodowej, and the number of candidates permitted to run in the elections was equal to the number of seats in parliament.
There were 425 seats. The number of seats would be increased in the subsequent elections.
Results
The results were as follows:| Party | Seats | % | |
| Polish United Workers' Party Polish United Workers' Party The Polish United Workers' Party was the Communist party which governed the People's Republic of Poland from 1948 to 1989. Ideologically it was based on the theories of Marxism-Leninism.- The Party's Program and Goals :... |
273 | 64.2% | |
| United People's Party United People's Party (Poland) The United People's Party was an agrarian political party in the People's Republic of Poland. It was formed on 27 November 1949 from the merger of the communist Stronnictwo Ludowe party with remnants of the independent People's Party of Stanisław Mikołajczyk .ZSL became - as intended from its very... |
90 | 21.3% | |
| Independents | 37 | 8.7% | |
| Democratic Party (Poland) Democratic Party (Poland) The Democratic Party is a Polish centrist party. The party faced a revival in 2009, when it was joined by liberal politician Paweł Piskorski, formerly member of Civic Platform.-History:The party was established on April 15, 1939... |
25 | 5.9% | |
The official results showed that 99.8% of the Communist party's candidates were successful. Candidates from the FJN parties took 91.2% of the Sejm, with 8.7% falling to the nominal "independents." PZPR, with 273 seats (64.2% total), achieved its best result ever, both in total number of seats and percentage of the Sejm controlled. However, as the other parties and "independents" were in fact subordinate to PZPR, its control of the Sejm was, in fact, total. Such sham elections would continue till the Polish legislative election, 1989
Polish legislative election, 1989
The Polish legislative election of 1989 was the tenth election to the Sejm, the parliament of the People's Republic of Poland, and eleventh in Communist Poland...
.
The Sejm elected in 1951 was supposed to be replaced in elections of 1956, but due to political shifts in Poland, the new elections
Polish legislative election, 1957
The Polish legislative election of 1957 was the second election to the Sejm, the parliament of the People's Republic of Poland, and the third in Communist Poland). It took place on 20 January, during the liberalization period following Władysław Gomułka's ascension to power. Although freer than...
took place in early 1957 in a more liberal atmosphere, although still not free.
The reported turnout was 95%.
See also
- Polish legislative election, 1947Polish legislative election, 1947The Polish legislative election of 1947 was held on January 19, 1947 in the People's Republic of Poland. The anti-communist opposition candidates and activists were persecuted and the eventual results were falsified...
- first elections under communist regime in Poland - Polish legislative election, 1989Polish legislative election, 1989The Polish legislative election of 1989 was the tenth election to the Sejm, the parliament of the People's Republic of Poland, and eleventh in Communist Poland...
- last elections under communust regime in Poland
External links
List of members of Polish Sejm from 1952 to 1956 on Polish WikipediaFurther reading
- Jerzy Drygalski, Jacek Kwasniewski, No-Choice Elections, Soviet Studies, Vol. 42, No. 2 (Apr., 1990), pp. 295-315, JSTOR
- George Sakwa, Martin Crouch, Sejm Elections in Communist Poland: An Overview and a Reappraisal, British Journal of Political Science, Vol. 8, No. 4 (Oct., 1978), pp. 403-424,