The electoral system to the Sejm and Senate in 1989 in the parliamentary debate of the 9th term Sejm of the Polish People’s Republic

Abstract

The changes that took place in Poland in 1989, caused by the economic and political crisis, could not have happened without the introduction of a new electoral ordinance to the Sejm and the reactivated Senate. The purpose of this article is to present how both electoral laws were shaped. Despite the fact that the main assumptions of both legal acts were developed during the Round Table talks, the Sejm was solely responsible for the drafting of these regulations. This article presents the most significant documents containing the drafts of both ordinances as well as the most important theses presented during parliamentary debates, which were a key element of the legal changes that took place at that time. Importantly, the then 9th term Sejm of the Polish People’s Republic, dominated mainly by deputies of the Polish United Workers’ Party and the so-called satellite parties, that is the United People’s Party and the Democratic Party, did not deny the necessity to amend Polish legislation. This is particularly essential because the electoral law to the Sejm significantly limited the position of the communist party by granting parliamentary seats to opposition activists.