See what's going on in Warsaw during your stay in the city.

1282 days till Euro 2012

Transportation & Map

If you’d like to find some of Warsaw’s hidden gems, we can recommend a few very interesting places.

Polish Political System

Poland is a parliamentary republic. The supreme law of Poland is the Constitution passed on 2 April 1997, ratified by a national referendum. The government system of the Republic of Poland is based on the separation of and balance between the legislative, executive and judicial powers.

The legislature

The national legislature is bicameral and is vested in the Sejm and the Senate (respectively the lower and upper houses of the Parliament).
The Sejm consists of 460 members. The Presidium, the Council of Seniors and Parliamentary Commissions are its main bodies. The Sejm votes on laws, establishes directives for the activities of the state and supervises the activities of all the other state bodies, including appointments to the Council of Ministers.
The Senate is a representative body. Its major task is to participate in the legislative process and to propose Bills. The Senate consists of 100 Senators. Its institutions are the Speaker of the Senate, the Presidium and Senate Commissions.

The executive

Executive powers are entrusted to the Prime Minister and his Cabinet, referred to as the Council of Ministers, and to the President of the Republic of Poland. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President and approved by the Parliament. He manages the work of the Council of Ministers, supervises local government and is officially the head of the government administration. The President is the most senior representative of the Polish State, nationally and internationally. He is the guardian of the Constitution as well as of Poland’s territorial integrity and the maintenance of international political and military alliances.

The judiciary

Judicial authority is vested in the independent courts and tribunals. The Supreme Court is the highest body supervising the judiciary, which ensures that the judicature of courts and military tribunals is uniform and in accordance with law. Consideration of appeals and annulments come under its power. The Supreme Court arbitrates legal disputes, hears election protests and certifies the validity of parliamentary and presidential elections. Moreover, it certifies the validity of constitutional and nationwide referenda. It also gives its opinion on Bills and other Regulations.

Current political situation

On October 23th, 2005  Lech Kaczyński won the presidential election with 54.04%  of votes and became the new Polish president.

Parliamentary elections held on September 24th 2005 gave seats to six parties (caucuses), with two center-right parties as the winners.  The conservative Law and Justice Party (PIS) and central Civic Platform (PO) had a commanding combined majority, with 26.8 percent and 24.2 of election’s votes. The other parties in the parliament are: Self-Defence (Samoobrona), Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) and the Polish Families’ League (LPR). The winning party - PiS signed a coalition with Self-Defence, representing mostly farmers and people from the rural areas and right wing Polish Families League. Currently Donald Tusk is the Prime Minister of Poland.

Following the first elections to the European Parliament held on 13th June 2004, 54 Polish MEPs represent Poland in the EU.

 source: PAIiIZ

More information: www.paiz.gov.pl ; www.sejm.gov.pl ; www.kprm.gov.pl