This autumn is marked by important elections in our neighbours. The elections in Slovakia will decide on the new composition of the National Council, in Poland the new composition of the Sejm and the Senate will be elected.
See everything you need to know about the Polish elections.
Election date
Parlament elections will take place on Sunday, October 15, 2023. They will decide on the new composition of the Polish Sejm and Senate. Polish President Andrzej Duda decided on the date. Parliamentary elections are held every four years.
Parliamentary elections 2019
The last parliamentary elections in Poland took place on October 13, 2019. Jarosław Kazcyński’s Law and Justice party won with 43.59%. Voter turnout exceeded the 60% mark (61.74%), it was the highest voter turnout since 1989.
Election system in Poland
Poland has a bicameral parliament, which consists of two chambers – Sejm a Senate.
- The Sejm consists of 460 deputies who are elected by the proportional electoral system. Political parties that want to enter the Sejm must obtain 5% of the votes, for coalitions the electoral clause is set at 8%.
- The Senate consists of 100 members, who are elected by a majority voting system.
Who is running and polls
According to polls before the parliamentary elections in Poland, the ruling nationally conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS) of Jaroslaw Kaczyński, which won four years ago and has been ruling Poland since 2015, remains the strongest party. the Civic Platform party of ex-prime minister and former President of the European Council Donald Tusk.
In June, according to surveys, both parties had around 30% support, with Kaczyński’s Law and Justice (PiS) party leading by less than four percentage points. Around 10 percent were the far-right Confederation, the Third Way coalition and the Left.
| Page | Pollster (%) | CBOS (%) | United Surveys (%) | IBRiS (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PiS | 34,3 | 33 | 34,2 | 34,2 |
| Civic coalition | 30,7 | 27 | 29,7 | 28,3 |
| Confederation | 11 | 8 | 11,5 | 11,7 |
| The third way | 9,8 | 5 | 10,2 | 10,6 |
| Left | 7,8 | 5 | 9,7 | 9,7 |
| Pollster pro Super Express from June 18, CBOS from June 18, United Surveys pro Wirtualna Polska from June 11, IBRiS pro Polsat from June 11. | ||||
Even just before the elections, the situation in the polls did not change much. Kaczyński’s Law and Justice (PiS) party is still leading with the support of over 30% of voters. However, its chances of forming a majority in the Sejm are uncertain. The Civic Coalition enjoys around 26 percent support, the Confederation, the Third Way and the Left still hold around 10 percent.
Polish attitude towards Ukraine
Recently, there has been a growing debate about how strong Polish support for Ukraine actually is, where the war conflict is still raging after the attack by Russia in February last year.
Polish-Ukrainian relations are going through a difficult period, and the uproar caused by the inaccurate translation of the Polish Prime Minister’s words certainly did not help. Indeed, foreign news agencies and media such as the BBC quoted the report with the wrongly timed verb. The report therefore sounded like Poland would cut off arms supplies to Ukraine.
Illegal migration is also a campaign topic raised by conservatives. The country’s security and the future of generous welfare programs are also addressed. The government is under attack before the elections because of the so-called visa affair. The issuance of visas in African and Asian countries was apparently accompanied by corruption and clientelism.
More about the Ukrainian-Polish dispute here:
Presidents Andrzej Duda and Volodymyr Zelenskyy have been great friends for a very long time. But only the current sharp disagreements regarding the export of Ukrainian grain will show how strong this relationship really is.
When are the next elections in Poland?
The next election will take place in Poland in 2025. It will be a presidential election. The current president is Andrzej Duda.
