Sejm

For other uses, seeSejm (disambiguation).

TheSejm(English:/seɪm/,Polish:[sɛjm]), officially known as theSejm of the Republic of Poland(Polish:Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), is thelower houseof thebicameralparliament of Poland.

Sejm of the Republic of Poland Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej
10th term
Type
Type	Lower house of thePolish parliament
History
Founded	1493 (historical) 1921 (contemporary)
Leadership
Marshal of the Sejm	Szymon Hołownia,PL2050 since 13 November 2023
Deputy Marshal of the Sejm	Monika Wielichowska,PO Dorota Niedziela,PO Piotr Zgorzelski,PSL Włodzimierz Czarzasty,NL Krzysztof Bosak,RN since 13 November 2023
Senior Marshal	Marek Sawicki,PSL since 13 November 2023
Prime Minister	Donald Tusk,PO since 13 December 2023
Leader of the Opposition	Jarosław Kaczyński,PiS since 13 December 2023
Structure
Seats	460 deputies(231 majority)
Political groups	Government(239) KO(157) PSL–TD(32) PL2050–TD(32) The Left(18) Confidence and supply(9) The Left(8) Independent(1) Opposition (212) ZP(191) KWiN(18) K'15(3)
Committees	29 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 Family and Women Rights 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 Physic Education and Sport Public Finances Rules and Deputies' Affairs Senior Policy Social Policy and Family Special Services State Control
Elections
Voting system	Open-listproportional representationin41 constituencies(5% nationalelection thresholda)
Last election	15 October 2023
Next election	On or before 11 November 2027
Meeting place
TheSejm and Senate Complex,Warsaw
Website
sejm.gov.pl
Footnotes
a8% for coalitions, 0% for ethnic minority electoral committees

The Sejm has been the highest governing body of theThird Polish Republicsince thetransition of governmentin 1989. Along with theupper houseof parliament, theSenate,it forms the nationallegislatureinPolandknown asNational Assembly(Polish:Zgromadzenie Narodowe). The Sejm is composed of 460deputies(singulardeputowanyorposeł– "envoy" ) elected every four years by auniversal ballot.The Sejm is presided over by aspeakercalled the "Marshal of the Sejm" (Marszałek Sejmu).

In theKingdom of Poland,the termSejmreferred to an entire two-chamberparliament, comprising the Chamber of Deputies (Izba Poselska), theSenateand the King. It was thus a three-estate parliament. The 1573Henrician Articlesstrengthened the assembly's jurisdiction, making Poland aconstitutional electivemonarchy.Since theSecond Polish Republic(1918–1939),Sejmhas referred only to the lower house of parliament.

During the existence of thePolish People's Republic,the Sejm, then aunicameralparliament, was thesupreme organ of state powerin the country. It was the only government branch in the state, and per the principle ofunified power,all state organs were subservient to it. However, in practice it was widely considered to be arubber stamplegislature which existed to approve decisions made by the ruling party, thePolish United Workers' Party(PZPR) as a formality, and which had little to no real power of its own.

History

Kingdom of Poland

Main article:Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland

The first Sejm in Łęczyca. Recording of laws. A.D. 1180

Sejm(an ancientProto-Lechiticword meaning "gathering" or "meeting" ) traces its roots to the King's Councils –wiece– which gained authority during the time ofPoland's fragmentation(1146-1295). The 1180 Sejm inŁęczyca(known as the 'First Polish parliament') was the most notable, in that it established laws constraining the power of the ruler. It forbade arbitrary sequestration of supplies in the countryside and takeover of bishopric lands after the death of a bishop. These earlySejms only convened at the King's behest.

Following the 1493SejminPiotrków,it became a regularly convening body, to which indirect elections were held every two years. Thebicameral systemwas also established; theSejmthen comprised two chambers: theSenat(Senate) of 81 bishops andother dignitaries;and the Chamber of Deputies, made up of 54 envoys elected by smaller localsejmik(assemblies of landed nobility) in each of the Kingdom's provinces. At the time, Poland's nobility, which accounted for around 10% of the state's population (then the highest amount in Europe), was becoming particularly influential, and with the eventual development of theGolden Liberty,theSejm's powers increased dramatically.

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

Main article:Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

In 1791, the "GreatSejm"orFour-YearSejmof 1788–1792 and Senate adopted theMay 3rd Constitutionat theRoyal Castle in Warsaw

Over time, the envoys in thelower chambergrew in number and power as they pressed the king for more privileges. TheSejmeventually became even more active in supporting the goals of the privileged classes when the King ordered that the landed nobility and their estates (peasants) be drafted intomilitary service.

TheUnion of Lublinin 1569, united theKingdom of Polandand theGrand Duchy of Lithuaniaas one single state, thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth,and thus theSejmwas supplemented with new envoys from among theLithuanian nobility.The Commonwealth ensured that the state of affairs surrounding the three-estates system continued, with theSejm,Senate and King forming the estates and supreme deliberating body of the state. In the first few decades of the 16th century, the Senate had established its precedence over theSejm;however, from the mid-1500s onwards, theSejmbecame a very powerful representative body of theszlachta( "middle nobility" ). Its chambers reserved the final decisions in legislation, taxation,budget,andtreasurymatters (including military funding),foreign policy,and theconfirment of nobility.

The 1573Warsaw Confederationsaw the nobles of theSejmofficially sanction and guaranteereligious tolerancein Commonwealth territory, ensuring a refuge for those fleeing the ongoingReformationandCounter-Reformationwars in Europe.

Until the end of the 16th century,unanimitywas not required, and themajority-votingprocess was the most commonly used system for voting. Later, with the rise of thePolish magnatesand their increasing power, theunanimityprinciple was re-introduced with the institution of the nobility's right ofliberum veto(Latin:"freeveto"). Additionally, if the envoys were unable to reach a unanimous decision within six weeks (the time limit of a single session), deliberations were declared void and all previous acts passed by thatSejmwere annulled. From the mid-17th century onward, any objection to aSejmresolution, by either an envoy or a senator, automatically caused the rejection of other, previously approved resolutions. This was because all resolutions passed by a given session of theSejmformed a whole resolution, and, as such, was published as the annual "constituent act" of theSejm,e.g. the "Anno Domini1667 "act. In the 16th century, no single person or small group dared to hold up proceedings, but, from the second half of the 17th century, theliberum vetowas used to virtually paralyze theSejm,and brought the Commonwealth to the brink of collapse.

Theliberum vetowas abolished with the adoption of theConstitution of 3 May 1791,a piece of legislation which was passed as the "Government Act", and for which theSejmrequiredfour 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 ofHabsburg Austria,RussiaandPrussiathen decided topartition the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth,thus putting an end to over 300 years of Polish parliamentary continuity. It is estimated that between 1493 and 1793, aSejmwas held 240 times, the total debate-time sum of which was 44 years.

Partitions

After the fall of theDuchy of Warsaw,which existed as aNapoleonicclient statebetween 1807 and 1815, and its short-livedSejmof the Duchy of Warsaw,theSejmof Congress Polandwas established inCongress Polandof 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 unitedGermany) and Austria propagated legislation for their own respective formerly-Polish territories at a national level.

• 
  Tadeusz Rejtantries to prevent the legalisation of thefirst partition of Polandby preventing the members of theSejmfrom leaving the chamber (1773).PaintingbyJan Matejko

Congress Poland

Main article:Sejm of Congress Poland

The Chamber of Deputies, despite its name, consisted not only of 77 envoys (sent by local assemblies) from the hereditary nobility, but also of 51deputies,elected by the non-noble population. All deputies were covered byParliamentary 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 toread 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). TheSejmhad the right to call for votes oncivilandadministrativelegal issues, and, with permission from the king, it could also vote on matters related to thefiscal policyand the military. It had the right to exercise control over government officials, and to filepetitions.The 64-member Senate on the other hand, was composed ofvoivodesandkasztelans(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 similarlegislativerights as did the Chamber of Deputies.

Germany and Austria-Hungary

In theFree City of Cracow(1815–1846), a unicameral Assembly of Representatives was established, and from 1827, a unicameralprovincialsejmexisted in theGrand Duchy of Poznań.Poles were elected to and represented the majority in both of these legislatures; however, they were largely powerless institutions and exercised only very limited power. After numerous failures in securing legislative sovereignty in the early 19th century, many Poles simply gave up trying to attain a degree of independence from their foreign master-states. In theAustrian partition,a relatively powerlessSejmof the Estatesoperated until the time of theSpring of Nations.After this, in the mid to late 19th century, only in autonomousGalicia(1861–1914) was there a unicameral and functional NationalSejm,theSejmof the Land.It is recognised today as having played a major and overwhelming positive role in the development of Polish national institutions.

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 PrussianLandtagfrom 1848, and then to theGerman Empire'sReichstagfrom 1871. Polish Deputies were members of the Austrian State Council (from 1867), and from 1906 were also elected to the Russian Imperial StateDuma(lower chamber) and to the State Council (upper chamber).

Second Polish Republic

After theFirst World Warand re-establishment of Polish independence, the convocation of parliament, under the democratic electoral law of 1918, became an enduring symbol of the new state's wish to demonstrate and establish continuity with the 300-year Polish parliamentary traditions established before the time of the partitions. Maciej Rataj emphatically paid tribute to this with the phrase: "There is Poland there, and so is theSejm".

During theinterwar periodof Poland's independence, the firstLegislativeSejmof 1919,a Constituent Assembly, passed theSmall Constitution of 1919,which introduced aparliamentary republicand proclaimed the principle of theSejm'ssovereignty.This was then strengthened, in 1921, by theMarch Constitution,one of the most democratic European constitutions enacted after the end of World War I. The constitution established a political system which was based onMontesquieu's doctrine of separation of powers, and which restored the bicameralSejmconsisting of a chamber of deputies (to which alone the name of "Sejm"was from then on applied) and the Senate. In 1919,Roza Pomerantz-Meltzer,a member of theZionistparty, became the first woman ever elected to theSejm.

The legal content of the March Constitution allowed forSejmsupremacy in the system of state institutions at the expense of the executive powers, thus creating a parliamentary republic out of the Polish state. An attempt to strengthen executive powers in 1926 (through the August Amendment) proved too limited and largely failed in helping avoid legislative grid-lock which had ensued as a result of too-great parliamentary power in a state which had numerous diametrically-opposed political parties sitting in its legislature. In 1935, the parliamentary republic was weakened further when, by way of,Józef Piłsudski'sMay Coup,the president was forced to sign theApril Constitution of 1935,an act through which the head of state assumed the dominant position in legislating for the state and the Senate increased its power at the expense of theSejm.

On 2 September 1939, theSejmheld its final pre-war session, during which it declared Poland's readiness to defend itself against invading German forces. On 2 November 1939, the President dissolved theSejmand the Senate, which were then, according to plan, to resume their activity within two months after the end of the Second World War; this, however, never happened. During wartime, the National Council (1939–1945) was established to represent the legislature as part of thePolish Government in Exile.Meanwhile, inNazi-occupied Poland,the Council of National Unity was set up; this body functioned from 1944 to 1945 as the parliament of thePolish Underground State.With the cessation of hostilities in 1945, and subsequent rise to power of the Communist-backedProvisional Government of National Unity,theSecond Polish Republiclegally ceased to exist.

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

Polish People's Republic

TheSejmin thePolish People's Republichad 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 representativeofthe people and could be recalledbythe 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 withmajority voting.

Under the1952 Constitution,the Sejm was defined as "the highest organ of State authority" in Poland, as well as "the highest spokesman of the will of the people in town and country." On paper, it was vested with great lawmaking and oversight powers. For instance, it was empowered with control over "the functioning of other organs of State authority and administration," and ministers were required to answer questions posed by deputies within seven days.In practice, it did little more than rubber-stamp decisions already made by the CommunistPolish United Workers Partyand its executive bodies.This was standard practice in nearly all Communist regimes due to the principle ofdemocratic centralism.

TheSejmvoted on thebudgetand on the periodicnational plansthat were a fixture of communist economies. TheSejmdeliberated in sessions that were ordered to convene by theState Council.

TheSejmalso chose aPrezydium( "presiding body" ) from among its members. ThePrezydiumwas headed by the speaker, orMarshal,who was always a member of theUnited People's Party.In its preliminary session, theSejmalso nominated thePrime Minister,theCouncil of Ministers of Poland,and members of the State Council. It also chose many other government officials, including the head of theSupreme Chamber of Controland members of theState Tribunaland theConstitutional Tribunal,as well as theOmbudsman(the last three bodies of which were created in the 1980s).

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.In practice, the principles of democratic centralism meant that such approval was only a formality.

TheSenatewas abolished by thereferendumin 1946, after which theSejmbecame the sole legislative body in Poland.Even though theSejmwas largely subservient to the Communist party, one deputy, Romuald Bukowski (an independent) voted against the imposition of martial law in 1982.

Third Polish Republic

After theend of communismin 1989, the Senate was reinstated as the second house of a bicameralnational assembly,while theSejmremained the first house. TheSejmis now composed of 460 deputies elected byproportional representationevery four years.

Between 7 and 20 deputies are elected from each constituency using thed'Hondt method(with one exception, in 2001, when theSainte-Laguë methodwas 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).

• 
  TheSejmbuilding inWarsaw
• 
  TheSejm's main hall
• 
  Sessions chamber in theSejm
• 
  Sessions chamber viewed from the rostrum
• 
  Marshal's chair in the sessions chamber
• 
  Sejmcross
• 
  Column hall in theSejm

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 PZKS 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/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

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 autorities, bodies established to prosecute criminals, and the proscecutor's office between 16 November 2015 and 20th of november 2023

Current standings

Standings in the 10th Sejm and the 11th Senate

Affiliation		Deputies (Sejm)			Senators (Senate)
		Results of the 2023 election	As of 8 July 2024	Change	Results of the 2023 election	As of 8 July 2024	Change
Parliamentary clubs
	Law and Justice	194	191	3	34	34
	Civic Coalition	157	157		41	42	1
	Poland 2050	33	32	1	11	12	1
	Polish People's Party	32	32
	The Left	26	26		9	8	1
Deputative clubs
	Confederation	18	18		—	—
Deputative circles
	Kukiz'15	—	3	3	—	—
Senatorial circles
	Independents and Locals	—	—		—	3	3
Independents
	Independents	—	1	1	5	—	5
Total members		460	460		100	99	1
	Vacant	—	0		—	1	1
Total seats		460			100

See also

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

Types ofsejm

• Confederatedsejm(Sejm skonfederowany)
• Convocationsejm(Sejm konwokacyjny)
• Coronationsejm(Sejm koronacyjny)
• Electionsejm(Sejm elekcyjny)
• National Assembly of the Republic of Poland(Zgromadzenie Narodowe)
• Sejmik
  • Voivodeshipsejmik(Sejmik wojewódzki)

Notablesejms

• SilentSejm(Sejm Niemy1717)
• ConvocationSejm(1764)(Sejm konwokacyjny)
• RepninSejm(Sejm Repninowski1767–1768)
• PartitionSejm(Sejm rozbiorowy1773–1776)
• GreatSejm(Sejm Wielki1788–1792)
• GrodnoSejm(Sejm grodzieński1791)
• SilesianSejm(Sejm Śląski1920–1939)
• ContractSejm(Sejm Kontraktowy1989)

External links

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