Poland's form of Government - 'the winner takes all'

I think what's happening in Poland is illustrating the weakness of a Parliamentary political system. It's a winner take all system. There is no check on the majority party. Hitler did the same in Germany 80 years ago. Some of these European countries would be better suited with an American Republic where there are checks and balances and minority rights. Poland would be wise to move towards that system. It's shocking what's happening. I expected better.

It is not shocking that Poland is finally rejecting Jaruzelski's system with the disgraced constitutional court as the main check. Duda's refusal to swear in the PO judges, essentially a pocket veto, is certainly a balance to keep the losers of a national election in check. Essentially, it has become a "cooling saucer" of popular sentiment masquerading as a court. Poles love complexity, so staggered terms in the Senate relative to the lower house would serve that purpose better. A judiciary with longer terms, either appointed by president subject to confirmation in the Sejm, or where the Sejm names the judges subject to a more clearly defined presidential veto would serve the nation better.

Bollocks.

Entire American continent (with few exceptions) have the American Presidentialist system and we see how it is an entire continent full of tyrants.

The difference is that while in the Parliamentarism a party takes all, at presidentialism ONE MAN takes all.

See how much power complete idiots like Dilma Roussef, Christina Kirchner or Barack Obama accumulated.

And we are not talking about small countries, but about G20 nations (of those, 2 among the top 10 economies of the world) dominated by SINGLE idiots.

It's clear that you have no idea how Parliamentary systems work. It's extremely rare for a party to get an absolute majority. Parliamentary systems are built on compromise (since governments almost always have to be built on the basis of coalitions.


You might mean well, but here's a hint: Busting out the H-bomb means that no one is going to take you seriously.


Parliamentary systems have many checks and balances though they work in different ways than what you might be familiar with from Social Studies.

The current problem stems from one political leader's massive misjudgement and can only end with a) his backing down b) the fall of the government and snap elections c) further alienation of the Polish public from the political process with unpleasant consequences down the road (I'm betting on C, the politician in question has no reverse gear).

Only 40% of Pole's seem to be against the governments actions. So I doubt there will be any dramatic change.

You can take a Pole out of a dictatorship, but..

Oh my, another xenophobic trash.

It's actually very rare for a single party in Poland to have the majority of the seats in parliament. And it is very unusual for a party that wins the support of something-teen percent of adults to the majority of the seats in parliament; the last time that I can think of was the communist regime in the 1980s.


I do wish you would stop trying to apply your American concepts to our Polish reality. Duda's refusal to swear in judges nominated by the previous coalition is very simply illegal and will lead to him being prosecuted if he continues to break the law; hopefully his illegal actions will lead to him being thrown out of his professional association and very properly ostracised by that profession when he tries to go back to it.


Poland should be in the G20 (and not Argentina). Poland is dominated by a single idiot, the Dear Leader Chairman Kaczynski, who is the boss of both that cat Duda (supposedly the president) and whichever puppet he appoints as Prime Minister.

Don't you cry, the real president might be back.

gfx.dlastudenta.pl/photos/naszym_zdaniem/polityka/320komor.jpg

As President Richard Nixon told David Frost, "Well, when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal." There is precedent in Poland for this. Jaruzelski was never convicted of anything, and Jaruzelski is widely regarded as a traitor and communist puppet. Once the constitution gets changed, and it will, there will be no basis to charge Duda with anything anyhow. Duda and PiS have a popular mandate to govern, and that is what they are doing.

You can love Poland or leave Poland.

Poland is not rejecting it, it's a single party that is trying to do so against the Constitution.


This "pocket veto" to which you refer has no basis in Polish law. There's a very good reason why the President doesn't have unlimited powers here and why no such veto exists.


Spoken as only someone that is reading Polish news article through Google Translate can speak.


The President in Poland does not have any real veto powers. as the Constitution makes clear.

By the way, I think that the people of Poland that enacted the Constitution know better about what serves Poland more.

As for the Constitution - it won't get changed. Your knowledge of the Polish Constitution seems to be minimal.

When one party is elected with majorities in both houses of the Sejm, and also wins a presidential election, that party clearly has a mandate to govern in democratic republic. If that party cannot govern due to undemocratic elements in the nation, then the nation itself is not democratic.

Nixon turned out to be wrong, didn't he; and he was speaking about your American system. Here in our Polish system what that cat Duda is doing is very simply illegal.


Firstly, no it won't, PIS don't have the votes to do that. And secondly, he is committing a crime now, changing the law in the future would only stop him from being in breach of the law in the future; it would most certainly not stop him from committing a crime today or yesterday or tomorrow.


They do not have the votes to change the constitution and they do not have the right to ignore the constitution, which is what they are actually doing.


I'm staying put, I made it through the last PIS regime, I can make it through this one.
You are welcome to visit Poland, but do remember that Americans need visas to stay here for more than 90 days.

I think you don't understand the background of this election in the slightest. If a party lies through their teeth before an election, hides all their undesirable elements and then suddenly performs a 180 degree turn after the election, then they can expect what they're getting - an opposition movement that is willing to take to the streets.


There are checks, the problem is that what's happening is absolutely unprecedented. No-one ever thought that a President of a free Poland would completely ignore the law for party political reasons. Even Lech Kaczyński (very reluctantly) obeyed the law - so what's happening now is unthinkable. Duda being punished is almost certain in the future, but the damage is being done now.

Fortunately, the balance here - the ability to take to the streets and protest - is still there. But I think most people are just stunned that Duda and PiS are blatantly ignoring the law - which in turn is helping KOD considerably.

BS and lies!
So far when the previous ruling party had all reins in their hands nobody was going bonkers and hysterical. Out of the sudden the same what was OK and dandy while PO was doing it, is terrible and against Constitution when PiS is ruling.

Primitive agenda.


TK is not infallible and has been acting lately like a political body and in unlawful way. Its ruling are at lest questionable.


Spot on!


He does have veto powers.


Of course it can be changed they are even talking about that right now.


Said a criminal.


Stop your ad hominem trolling.

They learned how to do it from the Obama administration.


Gee how white of you, a British foreigner to invite another foreigner of ancestry of Poland to visit Poland.
Is such an invite even legal ?


Yup and cross the border for one day to visit a non EU country and come back to Poland for another 90 days if desired.


You have just described what the America's political system has done for the last seven years by bastardizing the constitution to just plain totally ignoring it. Obama does it by just signing an executive order if the Constitution forbids it so he can over ride the Constitution.

You have seen me post this over and over here and now it is happening in Poland. Same song different dance.
This is why All American home boy Trump is leading the polls for 2016.


Worse yet the intellectual people in America made it clear BEFORE Obama was elected that this was going to happen yet the give - a - way programs that have enslaved the people are the same ones that voted Obama in.

Obama has signed twenty times the amount of executive orders to over ride the Congress and Senate than all the rest of the Presidents put together have.

If that ain't dictatorship please tell what is.
Welcome to the real world of dirty polytricks Delph......... and it is only going to get worse.

If Jaruzelski didn't get convicted for declaring marshal law, participating in the invasion of a foreign nation, etc., it appears to be impossible for a president to get convicted of anything in Poland. Duda is a legal scholar and he isn't worried about anything. Since you are not Polish,"our" Polish clearly system isn't yours.


Well you and your friends here certainly got your panties all in a bunch over losing democratic elections. However, don't be so sure that you will survive this government and president. Remember that insulting Poland and the Polish president is crime here. People here know who you are and where to find you to have you prosecuted and deported.

Not for much longer, given that the entire department he is currently nominally employed by are publicly criticising him.


No, we're unhappy about the way that the 18%-regime thinks it is above the law and the constitution.


If you're trying to threaten me, child, go right ahead and do your worst. I'd love a chance to publicly point out that that cat Duda is a criminal. Also, you might wish to note that, unlike you, I'm an EU citizen, which means that even if I were to publicly insult Poland and the president, I can't be deported. Looks like we need to add EU law to the long list of things you know less than nothing about.

An accident might be more in order if they really want to get rid of you.


And have you noticed that they are mostly all foreigners to Poland.
I say, "Go back home if you don't like it living in Poland.".


Yet go back and read any of their posts and you will see that they refer to themselves as "WE" and "OUR".


Atta boy Hairy, they got voted in and they can get voted out.
Hopefully by the next election you will be a Polish citizen and will have a say in the matter with a vote.

Is it just me that's absolutely disgusted with this comment?

Johnny, you do realise that many people were killed as a result of "accidents" in Communist Poland? There are families out there missing members of their families because of them, and you think it's appropriate to suggest that such a thing could happen today? What kind of person are you?


Wrong. They are overwhelmingly Polish. There are very, very, very few foreigners involved with these demonstrations.


And I say "Fight for our country's democracy."


It's our country.


There's always a first time, and Duda is heading straight for it. Remember, he won't be able to use his age as a defence.


Something tells me you don't quite understand what the issue is. It's not about the election results.


I do love these kind of threats. Then we remember the hilarious banners from last weekend and remember that these threats are worthless :D

To the last 4 posters, avoid excessive quoting in future

Assassination might be the American way, but in modern, democratic Poland dissent is allowed.

It might but to your dismay it is not.
To insinuate such a thing shows your ignorance in the commonalities between Poland's government and America's modern democratic government.

You mean the American system in which the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces can't even shut down a single military base?

Poland has no culture of assassinations by secret services, unlike the CIA.

It is Congress job to vote to shut them down not the Commander-in- Chiefs to start with.
The Pentagon announced plans last January to close 15 military bases in Europe in an effort to save around $500 million dollars a year.
Read more: dailycaller.com/2015/01/08/as-russia-looms-us-decides-to-close-15-military-bases-in-europe/#ixzz3vFczLJV3


That is why Poland fears Putin and America doesn't.