Polish parliamentary election, 2015
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| Powiats with party plurality ■ – Law and Justice
■ – Civic Platform
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Parliamentary elections to both the Sejm and Senate were held in Poland on 25 October 2015.
The election was won by the largest opposition party Law and Justice (PiS) with 37.6% of the vote against the governing Civic Platform (PO), which achieved 24.1%. Beata Szydło succeeded Ewa Kopacz as Prime minister of Poland, and formed a one-party cabinet.
Official results, announced on 27 October, gave the conservative Law and Justice Party a majority, with 235 of 460 seats (51 percent).[3]
It was the first European election since the Norway 1993 elections in which the two largest parties fielded a female candidate as leader, and the second election in history (also since Norway 1993) where more than three parties fielded female leadership candidates. It was also the first election in Poland since the introduction of liberal democracy in 1989 that a party won an absolute majority in parliament.
Electoral system
The process of election for the Sejm is through open party-list proportional representation via the D'hondt method in multi-seat constituencies, with a 5% threshold for single parties and 8% threshold for coalitions (requirements waived for national minorities). The senate is elected using first-past-the-post voting in single-member districts.[4] To be included on a ballot, a senate candidate must present 2,000 signatures of support from their constituents.[5] For Sejm elections, the threshold is 5,000 signatures per constituency, though that requirement is waived for parties who have already registered lists in at least half of all constituencies (21 out of 41 as of this election).[6]
Overall, the Sejm includes 460 MPs. Should a party have 231 or more deputies in Parliament, it has an absolute majority and could thus govern autonomously, without a coalition partner. The constitution can be amended with a supermajority of two-thirds, or 307 deputies.
Election date
The date of the election, 25 October, was set by the previous President of Poland, Bronisław Komorowski.[7] The latest possible date for the election to be held was in November 2015, four years after the previous election. Prior to the announcement of the election date, the most likely dates were thought to be in October or November.
In the previous parliamentary elections in 2011 the Civic Platform–Polish People's Party coalition government continued, which had been in power since 2007. All 460 seats in the Sejm and 100 seats in the Senate were up for election.
Parties standing in the election
Nationwide committees
Regional committees
Opinion polls
Results
The opposition party, Law and Justice won the election with 37.58% of the vote against the governing Civic Platform, which gained a 24.09% share.[34] Beata Szydło became the new Prime Minister, succeeding Ewa Kopacz.[35][36]
| Parties | Sejm | Senate | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | Seats | ± | Seats | ± | |||
| Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, PiS) | 5,711,687 | 37.58 |  7.69 |
235 / 460 |
78 |
61 / 100 |
30 | ||
| Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska, PO) | 3,661,474 | 24.09 |  15.09 |
138 / 460 |
69 |
34 / 100 |
34 | ||
| Kukiz'15 (K'15) | 1,339,094 | 8.81 | 42 / 460 |
42 |
— | ||||
| Modern (Nowoczesna, .N) | 1,155,370 | 7.60 | 28 / 460 |
28 |
— | ||||
| United Left (Zjednoczona Lewica, ZL) | 1,147,102 | 7.55 | 11.26 |
—[lower-alpha 1] | 67 |
— | |||
| Polish People's Party (Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe, PSL) | 779,875 | 5.13 | 3.23 |
16 / 460 |
12 |
1 / 100 |
1 | ||
| KORWiN | 722,999 | 4.76 | — | — | |||||
| Together (Partia Razem) | 550,349 | 3.62 | — | — | |||||
| Regional committees | |||||||||
| Committee of Zbigniew Stonoga (KWW ZS) | 42,731 | 0.28 | — | — | |||||
| German Minority (Mniejszość Niemiecka, MN) | 27,530 | 0.18 | 0.01 |
1 / 460 |
 |
— | |||
| United for Silesia (Zjednoczeni dla Śląska, ZdŚ) | 18,668 | 0.12 | — | — | |||||
| JOW Bezpartyjni | 15,656 | 0.10 | — | — | |||||
| Committee of Grzegorz Braun "God Bless You!" (Szczęść Boże!) | 13,113 | 0.09 | — | — | |||||
| Congress of the New Right (Kongres Nowej Prawicy, KNP) | 4,852 | 0.03 | 1.03 |
— | — | ||||
| Self-Defence (Samoobrona) | 4,266 | 0.03 | 0.04 |
— | — | ||||
| Social Movement of the Republic of Poland (Ruch Społeczny) | 3,941 | 0.03 | — | — | |||||
| Citizens to Parliament (Obywatele do Parlamentu, OdP) | 1,964 | 0.01 | — | — | |||||
| Independents (Niezależni) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 4 / 100 |
| ||
| Total | 15,200,671 | 100 | 460 | 100 | |||||
- Notes
- ↑ United Left was running as a coalition, therefore was subject to an 8% election threshold rather than 5% for single parties.
The perceived winner of the election was Law and Justice, which made history as the first and only party in Poland to win majority government in a free election, since 1991. The other parties considered winners were two newcomer parties, Kukiz's Movement (3rd place) and Ryszard Petru's, Modern party (4th place).
On the other hand, the losers were Civic Platform - ending their eight years of political dominance, with their worst outcome for a parliamentary election in 10 years. Other perceived losers, included the Polish People's Party, which with its worst result in nearly 25 years (5.13%), barely scraped into the Sejm; and especially the Democratic Left Alliance, Poland's largest left-wing party and dominant group of the United Left, which for the first time in a quarter century, would not be represented in the national parliament.
Reactions
Political analysts noted that the election marked the first time in the postcommunist era that a political party received enough votes to form a majority government.[38][39] The BBC News suggested that Law and Justice's strategy of putting forward a candidate more politically moderate than its outspoken leader, Jarosław Kaczyński, was a "winning formula" in the election, but also noted that Kaczyński could step into the role of prime minister after the election.[39]
Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz swiftly conceded defeat after the exit polls were released, as Kaczyński declared victory and hailed his party's historic majority.[40] Kaczyński also paid tribute to his late brother, President Lech Kaczyński, who died in the 2010 plane crash.[36]
See also
- History of Poland (1989–present)
- List of political parties in Poland
- Polish constitutional crisis, 2015
References
- ↑ "Poland's shock election result has just made the EU even more of a mess – Spectator Blogs". Spectator Blogs.
- ↑ http://uatoday.tv/society/poland-508355.htm
- ↑ "Poland's Eurosceptics win outright majority in parliament". Reuters. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
- ↑ Álvarez-Rivera, Manuel (17 October 2015). "Election Resources on the Internet: Elections to the Polish Sejm, Part I". electionresources.org. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
- ↑ "Notes on the Senate" (PDF). Senate of Poland. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
- ↑ "Sejm of the Republic of Poland". Sejm. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
- ↑ Rylukowski, Wojciech (17 July 2015). "Komorowski announces elections date". Warsaw Business Journal. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
- ↑ "Polish premier's departure leaves party facing test". Financial Times.
- ↑ "Origin, Ideology and Transformation of Political Parties". google.de.
- ↑ "Pension Reforms in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe". google.de.
- ↑ Copsey, Nathaniel (2013). Poland:An Awkward Partner Redeemed. The Member States of the European Union (Second ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 191.
- ↑ Szczerbiak, Aleks (2012). Poland Within the European Union: New awkward partner or new heart of Europe?. Routledge. p. 2.
- ↑ De Waele, Jean-Michel; Pacześniak, Anna (2012). The Europeanisation of Poland's political parties and party system. Europeanisation and Party Politics. ECPR Press. p. 125.
- ↑ http://www.sobieski.org.pl/tworzenie-szans-dla-wszystkich/
- ↑ Easton, Adam (7 October 2011). "Poland heads into close-fought election". BBC News. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
- ↑ "Poland's crumbling government". The Economist. 25 September 2006. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
- ↑ "Law and Justice". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
- ↑ Szczerbiak, Aleks (2012), Poland Within the European Union: New awkward partner or new heart of Europe?, Routledge, pp. 1, 13
- ↑ Porter-Szűcs, Brian (2011), Faith and Fatherland: Catholicism, Modernity, and Poland, Oxford University Press, p. 201
- ↑ Minkenberg, Michael (2007), "Between Tradition and Transition: the Central European Radical Right and the New European Order", Europe for the Europeans: The Foreign and Security Policy of the Populist Radical Right, Ashgate, p. 261
- ↑ Jennifer Lees-Marshment (2 July 2009). Political Marketing: Principles and Applications. Routledge. pp. 103–. ISBN 978-1-134-08411-1.
- ↑ "Poland's United Left puts forward candidate for PM". Polskie Radio dla Zagranicy.
- 1 2 "Do Zjednoczonej Lewicy dołączył nowy koalicjant". interia.pl. 14 September 2015.
- ↑ "United Left presents its new leader and PM candidate". WBJ.
- ↑ "Start – Zjednoczona Lewica". Zjednoczona Lewica.
- 1 2 Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung. "Marxismus". bpb.de.
- ↑ "Where Does the Left Come From?". internationalviewpoint.org.
- ↑ "Polska Partia Pracy". partiapracy.pl.
- ↑ "Maverick MEP Korwin-Mikke launches new party". Polskie Radio dla Zagranicy.
- ↑ "Maverick MEP Korwin-Mikke launches new party – National". Thenews.pl. 23 January 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
- ↑ Rightist Party That Made Auschwitz Joke Wins Polish Elections Haaretz, 27 October 2015
- ↑ "Kulturalny flesz dnia: KUKIZ vs. PIERSI, WILDSTEIN vs. PESZEK, SHIRLEY TEMPLE". wpolityce.pl.
- ↑ Poland expected to turn inward under right-wing party Washington Post, 26 October 205
- ↑ Lyman, Nick (25 October 2015). "Law and Justice Party Wins in Poland's Parliamentary Elections". New York Times. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
- ↑ "Poland conservatives 'win election'". BBC News. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
- 1 2 Cienski, Jan (25 October 2015). "Polish right sweeps parliamentary elections". Politico. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
- ↑ "KOMUNIKAT PAŃSTWOWEJ KOMISJI WYBORCZEJ z dnia 26 października 2015 r. o zbiorczych wynikach głosowania na listy kandydatów na posłów w skali kraju" (PDF) (in Polish). pkw.gov.pl. October 26, 2015. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
- ↑ "Poland Ousts Government as Law & Justice Gains Historic Majority". Bloomberg. 25 October 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
- 1 2 "Poland elections: Conservatives secure decisive win". 25 October 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
- ↑ "Eurosceptic conservatives win Polish election – exit poll". RTÉ News. 25 October 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015.