In Poland, the newly elected parliament met for the first time

Sejm of the Republic of Poland and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki / Collage 24 Channel

A meeting of the new Sejm, the lower house of parliament, took place in Poland. The Senate will meet this afternoon.

The first meeting of the new Sejm began with the national anthem, and then President Andrzej Duda addressed the deputies. Subsequently, the elected senior speaker, Marek Sawicki, delivered the ceremonial speech.

Oath of deputies at the new Seimas

The parliament session was opened by the so-called elder marshals appointed by the president, under whose leadership the new leadership of the Sejm and Senate will be elected.

Last Friday, opposition parties nominated Szymon Gołownia, leader of the Poland 2050 party, for the post of Marshal of the Sejm.

At the same time, the Civic Coalition politician Malgorzata Kidawa-Błonska was elected to the position of Marshal of the Senate.

Resignation of the government at the first meeting

During the first meeting of the Sejm, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and his government tender their resignations.

This is a formal procedure and President Andrzej Duda is expected to give Morawiecki the power to create a new government as his Law and Justice party received the most votes in the elections.

The process of forming a new government began outside the Diet, and President Duda previously said he would hand over this responsibility to Morawiecki.

According to the official election results in October, the United Right Party led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski won. However, it has limited ability to form a majority to form a government.

What is known about the parliamentary elections in Poland

Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on October 15, 2023, with a registered turnout of 74.38%. Voters elected 100 deputies to the Senate (upper house of parliament) and 460 deputies to the Sejm (lower house). The composition of the Sejm is important because the Prime Minister is elected from among it and forms the government.

In the parliamentary elections in Poland, this is the distribution of votes among parties:

• Law and Justice, which has been in power since 2015 and includes President Andrzej Duda, received 36.03% of the vote;
• The largest opposition force is the Civil Coalition, led by former Prime Minister of Poland and European Deputy Donald Tusk – 30.12%;
• “Third way” – 14.44%;
• “Levitsa” – 8.46%;
• Right radical “Confederation” – 7.17%.

The main confrontation was between two parties: Law and Justice (PiS) under the leadership of Jaroslaw Kaczynski and the Citizens' Coalition (KO) under the leadership of the former Prime Minister of Poland and former President of the European Council Donald Tusk.