The Legislative Sejm (Polish: Sejm Ustawodawczy) of the Second Polish Republic was the first national parliament (Sejm) of the newly independent Second Polish Republic. It was elected in the 1919 Polish legislative election.

Background

The Legislative Sejm was formed in the aftermath of World War I on the territories of the newly independent Second Polish Republic.[1] In late 1918 Polish state was governed by Józef Piłsudski, who quickly begun the work to organize election to the first Polish national parliament (Sejm) since the Grodno Sejm of 1793, held two years before partitions of Poland ended the independent existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.[1]

History

The elections to the Sejm took place on January 26, 1919.[1] At that time, Poland did not have fixed boundaries, and was involved in territorial conflicts and disputes.[1] On the territories under the nascent Polish state's control, in the lands of former Congress Kingdom and Podlasie region, and western Lesser Poland, 42 electoral districts returned 302 deputies.[2] In addition, 20 Polish deputies to the German Parliament, 26 Polish deputies to the Austro-Hungarian Parliament, and selected candidates from the Cieszyn region (where elections were disrupted due to hostilities) were added to the Sejm.[3] In the coming months, as the Polish control grew over some disputed territories, more elections were held: on April 25, 1919, in Greater Poland and on June 15, 1919 in the Białystok and Podlasie regions.[3] Some deputies who were provisional representatives yielded their seats to the newly elected ones.[3] On March 24, 1922, the Sejm was joined by 20 deputies from the Republic of Central Lithuania (the dissolved Sejm of Central Lithuania).[3] The Sejm thus had a changing number of deputies, starting at 348 and ending its term with 432 members.[3] About 5 million votes were cast in the election.[4]

Important legislation passed by the Sejm included laws on the military draft, land reform, and the development of a constitution, and the state-sponsored health insurance system.[5][6] In 1921 the Sejm passed the March Constitution.[6]

Composition

Due to the changing number of deputies, and the ongoing fragmentation and merger of various parties, there is a number of different composition listings for the Legislative Sejm.[a]

The composition of the Legislative Sejm was as follows:[4][7]

Party or group (Polish name) Party or group (Jędruch) Party or group (Nohlen and Stöver) Votes (Nohlen and Stöver) % (Nohlen and Stöver) Seats (Nohlen and Stöver) Seats (Jędruch)
Związek Ludowo-Narodowynot listedPopular National Union1,616,15729.0140?
?National Democratsnot listed72
Polska Partia SocjalistycznaSocialistPolish Socialist Party515,0629.23534
Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe "Wyzwolenie"Peasant WyzwoleniePolish People's Party "Wyzwolenie"839,91415.15924
Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe "Piast"Peasant PiastPolish People's Party "Piast"232,9834.246listed with no number
Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe Lewicanot listedPolish People's Party "Left"197,8383.512
?not listedPolish United Peasants' Party212,0973.835
?not listedPeasants' Lists234,3994.20
?Peasants' Totalnot listed90
?Conservativenot listed44
Stronnictwo Katolicko-Ludowenot listedCatholic People's Party102,2921.818
?Christian Democratsnot listed31
?National Labornot listed25
?Middle Classnot listed63
?Communistnot listed2
?Minority (German)National Minorities96,6771.722
?Minority (Jewish)Jewish Group602,92710.81116
Narodowa Partia Pracynot listedNational Workers' Union67,2851.232
Bezpartyjni; bez przynależności klubowejSmall parties, independentsLocal lists and independents863,34915.5429
Total5,580,980100394432

Marshal of the Sejm was Wojciech Trąmpczyński.[3]

In July 1922

Party Seats  %
Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe "Piast" Polish Folk 96 22,3
Związek Ludowo-Narodowy 81 18,8
Narodowe Zjednoczenie Ludowe 45 3,9
Polska Partia Socjalistyczna 34 10,4
Narodowo-Chrześcijańskie Stronnictwo Ludowe 26 6,0
Narodowo-Chrześcijański Klub Robotniczy 26 6,0
Klub: Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe "Wyzwolenie" 24 5,6
Narodowa Partia Robotnicza 21 4,9
Klub Pracy Konstytucyjnej 16 3,7
Klub: Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe—Lewica 11 2,5
Zjednoczenie Mieszczańskie 11 2,5
Stronnictwo Katolicko-Ludowe 7 1,6
Narodowa Partia Pracy (II RP) 6 1,4
Rady Ludowe 5 1,1
Komunistyczna Frakcja Poselska 2 0,5
Wolne Zjednoczenie Posłów Narodowości Żydowskiej (Jews) 10 2,9
Niemieckie Stronnictwo Ludowe (Germans) 7 1,6
Independent 4 0,9
Totals 432 100

Notes

a. ^ Neither Nohlen and Stöver nor Jędruch did retain original for Polish parties and groups; they used their own translations. As such, identification with a particular entity was not always possible.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Jacek Jędruch (1998). Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history. EJJ Books. p. 269. ISBN 978-0-7818-0637-4. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  2. ↑ Jacek Jędruch (1998). Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history. EJJ Books. p. 270. ISBN 978-0-7818-0637-4. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jacek Jędruch (1998). Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history. EJJ Books. p. 271. ISBN 978-0-7818-0637-4. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  4. 1 2 Jacek Jędruch (1998). Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history. EJJ Books. p. 289. ISBN 978-0-7818-0637-4. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  5. ↑ Jacek Jędruch (1998). Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history. EJJ Books. p. 273. ISBN 978-0-7818-0637-4. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  6. 1 2 Jacek Jędruch (1998). Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history. EJJ Books. p. 272. ISBN 978-0-7818-0637-4. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  7. ↑ Dieter Nohlen; Philip Stöver (31 May 2010). Elections in Europe: A Data Handbook. Nomos. p. 1491. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7. Retrieved 6 November 2012.

See also

  • Small Constitution (1919)
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