Polish parliamentary election, 1991
Encyclopedia
The Polish parliamentary election in 1991 to the Sejm
and the Senate of Poland
was held on October 27. In the Sejm elections, 27,517,280 citizens were eligible to vote, 11,887,949 (43.2%) of them cast their votes, 11,218,602 (94.4%) of those were counted as valid. In the Senate elections, 43.2% of citizens cast their votes, 96.5% were valid. It was the first entirely free election held in Poland since 1922
, and only the third free election in the country's history. No political party
obtained a decisive majority and a coalition government
had to be formed. 460 members of parliament (poseł) were elected; 391 from 6980 candidates from 37 regional lists of candidates and 69 from country-wide lists of candidates.
Elections were supervised by the National Electoral Commission (Państwowa Komisja Wyborcza). 37 regional (okręgowe) commissions were formed, and 22,341 district (obwodowe), staffed by 197,389 citizens.
A remarkable 111 parties competed and 29 parties (listed below) won Parliamentary seats. The success of the frivilous Polish Beer-Lovers' Party
with 16 seats gained news coverage worldwide.
Senate
election
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 ....
and the Senate of Poland
Senate of Poland
The Senate is the upper house of the Polish parliament, the lower house being the 'Sejm'. The history of the Polish Senate is rich in tradition and stretches back over 500 years, it was one of the first constituent bodies of a bicameral parliament in Europe and existed without hiatus until the...
was held on October 27. In the Sejm elections, 27,517,280 citizens were eligible to vote, 11,887,949 (43.2%) of them cast their votes, 11,218,602 (94.4%) of those were counted as valid. In the Senate elections, 43.2% of citizens cast their votes, 96.5% were valid. It was the first entirely free election held in Poland since 1922
Polish legislative election, 1922
The Polish legislative election, 1922 lasted from 2 to 12 November and was the second election in the Second Polish Republic. The elections were won by Polish Right party, National Populist Association , however it did not obtain a majority - it got only 98 out of 444 seats...
, and only the third free election in the country's history. No political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
obtained a decisive majority and a coalition government
Coalition government
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...
had to be formed. 460 members of parliament (poseł) were elected; 391 from 6980 candidates from 37 regional lists of candidates and 69 from country-wide lists of candidates.
Elections were supervised by the National Electoral Commission (Państwowa Komisja Wyborcza). 37 regional (okręgowe) commissions were formed, and 22,341 district (obwodowe), staffed by 197,389 citizens.
A remarkable 111 parties competed and 29 parties (listed below) won Parliamentary seats. The success of the frivilous Polish Beer-Lovers' Party
Polish Beer-Lovers' Party
The Polish Beer-Lovers' Party was a satirical Polish political party that was founded in 1990 by satirist Janusz Rewiński. Originally, the party's goal was to promote cultural beer-drinking in English-style pubs instead of vodka and thus fight alcoholism.The humorous name and disillusionment with...
with 16 seats gained news coverage worldwide.
Senate
Senate of Poland
The Senate is the upper house of the Polish parliament, the lower house being the 'Sejm'. The history of the Polish Senate is rich in tradition and stretches back over 500 years, it was one of the first constituent bodies of a bicameral parliament in Europe and existed without hiatus until the...
election