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Poland GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Government: Prescribed by 1952 constitution, its
many
amendments, and 1992 Little Constitution that defines
executive
powers. Legislative power centered in popularly elected
bicameral
National Assembly (upper, 100-member Senate; lower,
460-member
Sejm). President, popularly elected to five-year term,
acts as
head of state, approves Sejm nominations for prime
minister (head
of government), and has decree power on many issues. Prime
minister chooses Council of Ministers (cabinet),
responsible to
Sejm and president, to administer government.
Politics: Domination of communist Polish United
Workers
Party Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza (PZPR) ended
1989.
Umbrella opposition coalition Solidarity split several
ways in
1990, joined by various new and revived groups in complex
structure dominated by none. All governments 1989-93 based
on at
least seven parties in coalition, with constant threat of
conflicting agendas causing collapse. Influential parties
had
religious (Party of Christian Democrats, Christian
National
Union), class-based (Polish Peasant Party, Peasant
Alliance), or
broadly political (Democratic Union, Liberal-Democratic
Congress)
agendas. Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland
succeeded
PZPR, maintained some power with democratized platform,
and
achieved plurality in 1993 election as dominant faction of
Alliance of the Democratic Left coalition.
Administrative Divisions: Forty-nine districts
and
three municipalities (Warsaw, Kraków, ód ) with special
status.
Counties basic form of local government, run by directly
elected
county councils. Both levels with substantial autonomy
from
central government.
Foreign Relations: After collapse of Soviet
Union and
its alliances, 1990-91, major shift toward relations with
individual former Soviet states, especially Belarus,
Lithuania,
Russia, and Ukraine. Long-term national security goal
integration
into Western Europe, including European Community (EC) and
North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Regional security
sought in
Visegrád alliance with Czech Republic, Hungary, and
Slovakia.
Improved relations with Germany, continued tension with
Lithuania
1992.
Data as of October 1992
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