Poland Parliamentary elections 2015

Do you think it would change anything if the President was elected directly in the States? People know who they're voting for anyway.

In Bush v Gore the ex-vice president won the popular vote yet lost the election I beleive.

strzyga,I'm referring to the fact that a candidate can win in the electoral college even if he loses in the popular vote.It doesn't happen often,but just the fact that it can....

Rybnik,that's what I'm referring to.That goes directly against the principle of the peoples vote.I'm glad that Poland doesn't have such a body as that.

Do you mean the polls?


That must mean that some people like the Democratic candidate more, but vote for a Republican senator, and vice versa. Well I suppose that happens - you get the whole package or nothing. There's some logic to it too, certainly it makes life easier for the one who wins.

Strzyga,Technically,if every citizen in the U.S. voted for a candidate,but said candidate didn't get enough electoral votes then he would lose.

Indeed. I've checked upon the electoral procedure and now I see what you mean. Well, with the principles of the American Constitution it doesn't look like it might change anytime soon. Grin and bear it or move to Poland ;)

strzyga,I would love to go to Poland :),for a visit,despite it's failings I love the U.S.

No place is perfect, politically or otherwise. At least you have cheap petrol in the US :)

strzyga,How is voter turnout in Poland?

I think quite a few states now have laws against this - they are bound to vote for the candidate that they are supposed to represent.

Never quite understood why it is mostly 'winner take all' though - wouldn't a good, simple reform be to allocate electoral college votes according to the percentage of the vote earnt?

Delphiandomine,My point is that like in the case of Bush,If you lose in the popular you should lose.I myself would do away with the electoral college.Big business can manipulate these votes too easily,even if it is to a lesser degree.The reform you speak of is not a bad idea.How powerful is the PM in Poland or where does the power lie?

Oops, the latest poll shows that PiS is 6 points ahead of PO!!! 39% to 33%!!!

It is devastating news. I am dead serious now, but the low energy bulb in our kitchen went dead after a few year`s excellent performance. It is not a joke, ask my wife who was sitting in the kitchen and cracking fresh walnuts. I put it in a box and am going to take to recycle center tomorrow.


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_the_Republic_of_Poland
Polish Constitution reads:

The Prime Minister shall:
represent the Council of Ministers;
manage the work of the Council of Ministers;
issue regulations;
ensure the implementation of the policies adopted by the Council of Ministers and specify the manner of their implementation;
coordinate and control the work of members of the Council of Ministers;

sejm.gov.pl/prawo/konst/angielski/kon1.htm

Basically - the PM is elected by a vote of confidence in the Sejm, after being nominated to the post by the President. What happens in practice is that when it looks like someone has assembled enough parliamentary support - they go to the President and he nominates them to the post. They must then win a vote of confidence in the Sejm to be appointed (formally) as the Chairman of the Council of Ministers - who then appoints the other ministers as appropriate.

In terms of power, the Prime Minister is the most powerful person in the country. The Presidential role is largely ceremonial with some symbolic powers, such as being able to propose legislation and being able to veto legislation, as well as exercising the usual stuff like being Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and so on.

The PM can be removed at any time through a device known as a "constructive vote of no confidence" - this means that he can be removed IF the Sejm also votes at the same time to appoint a successor. No successor means no change of PM. Pawian will know better than me, but I think this is what also happens when the PM resigns.

With the previous President, the problem was that the Constitution was badly written in the respect of foreign affairs. It didn't spell out clearly that the President's role was ceremonial rather than executive - so Lech Kaczynski attempted to intervene in foreign affairs, much to the frustration of the Government.

As i alliterated earlier, I believe that Tusk will step down in 2014 creating a contest within PO for the Premiership (ala Presidential candidate's race), which hopefully Sikorski will win. Sikorski is likely to enjoy a short honeymoon, and later call an election and subsequently rout Kaczynski at the ballot box, and in the process improve PO's standing by an additional 2%.

You might have noticed that he is appearing in the media more frequently, and that is probably one of the reasons, he thinks that Tusk will step aside in 2014.

It's an interesting theory, but I suspect that as long as the opinion polls are in his favour, he'll go for re-election again in 2015. That'll take him through to 2018 - ready to resign and prepare for a run at the Presidency in 2020. Of course, it depends on Europe too - if he's wanted there, he'll go earlier.

The next leader of PO is an interesting question - Sikorski is popular, but don't forget that he lost the Presidential Primary to Komorowski by quite a margin and was widely seen to have lost the debate that they had. I could easily see a female leader - Kopacz, for instance.

Isn`t it the year when Tusk is planning to become a chairman of an important EU body, I forgot which?

She is undoubtedly popular however, I don't think she has the numbers or the standing in the party for that. I could very well imagine her standing in any future contest however, i just don't think she could win-i don't think the vision thing is her strength, although she is a very good pragmatist. In any future contest i think that Schetyna, Sikorski, possibly Kopacz, and possibly Waltz, maybe Nowak, perhaps Gowin, will stand for the leadership.

Schetyna has got the numbers-but he will appeal only to party, Sikorski has got the charisma and standing with the public at large-but not the numbers within the party, though that can change in any leadership contest. (he is the 2nd most trusted politician in Poland). I think that he has learned from the presidential contest, and he is a better politician for having gone through the contest.

When Margaret Thatcher was ousted from her job, i think that there were 3 contenders. Hesletine, Hurd, and Major.

Barosso's job is up fro grabs in 2014, and i think that Tusk would take if it was offered to him. The problem with him continuing for another term after 2015, is that by then he would have become very wearisome to the average joe, meaning that he wouldn't be able to win the presidency in 2019.


Yes it is, Barosso's job is up for grabs in 2014. I think that if PO does well in the Euro election at the time, he will stand every chance of getting the job.

Hague1Cmearon,How many political parties are there in Poland?When are the Senatorial elections held?Does Poland have representatives and congressman or the equivalent?

Three years until the election? In politics, even Polish politics, that's a lifetime!
Anything can happen.
It's all conjecture at this point.
Who knows, Palikot in 2015?

rybnik,are you familiar with the political structure in Poland?

not to any appreciable extent.
I am aware of the major and minor parties, the leaders and more or less what they stand for.
As far as the nuts and bolts of it all, I'm afraid I'm in the dark.
Just as well, I'm having a hard enough time understanding New Jersey and USA politics! lol

ribnik,I understand lol;I'm just trying to figure out the setup not necessarily the nuts and bolts.

p3undone,I do not feel qualified to comment.

Only 4 that count- PO, PIS, RP, PSL, and SLD. - Since they are the ones that are in the Sejm (the lower House). The elections for the Senat are held at the same time as the Sejm - every 4 years, the next election is in 2014. Poland has Members of Parliament - Poslowie in the Sejm and Senatorowie in the Senat. Here is a bit of a description:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sejm_of_the_Republic_of_Poland

Worth pointing out that the Senate in Poland is a rubber stamp more or less - it serves little to no useful purpose in daily politics. It had a purpose post-1989, but these days, it's pretty much redundant. It can't be compared to the US Senate at all.

Tusk is planning a counterstrike - another expose next week. He is believed to propose new economic and social reforms.

PM's 'second expose' to highlight economic and social reforms
Polish PM Donald Tusk will focus on the economy and pro-family policy in his 'second expose' he intends to hold at the Sejm lower house sitting on October 10-12, the daily Gazeta Wyborcza reports.

The PM will also call for European solidarity in the light of the crisis, the paper writes.
In order to promote investments, Tusk will announce further deregulation such as simplifying the process of obtaining building permits.
In a move designed to be a signal for rating agencies, the PM will declare further reforms, including abolition of pension privileges for miners.
At the same time, Tusk will present a pro-family package with benefits for parents and announce an increase in the funds for fighting unemployment, the daily writes.

Finally, Tusk is to announce establishing of a special rescue fund for banks.

warsawvoice.pl/WVpage/pages/article.php/22408/news

Interesting, interesting. The miners will, of course, go crazy - but a pro-family package will mean PiS are powerless to protest - they'll have to leave it to Solidarity.

Even the PiS electorate aren't too keen on miners as far as I can tell - especially if Tusk portrays them as a "privileged elite taking away from the average man".

It is more or less about this:

4. Poland has far too many early retired pensioners and pseudo-disabled persons, far above the EU average and a resulting average retirement age well below 60, similar to Greece and Italy. Many of those "pensioners" then go on to work in the grey/black sector of the economy, thereby making zero contribution to the State budget as they pay no taxes or social security contributions while at the same time milking the budget for all its worth.

economist/blogs/easternapproaches/2012/03/pension-reform-poland