Political outline

Executive Power

The President is the head of State, elected by universal suffrage for a five year term. The Prime Minister is the head of the government. He is appointed by the President, an appointment which must be confirmed by the lower house of Parliament (as a general rule, he is the leader of the majority party or coalition), for a four year term of office. The Prime Minister holds the executive power, which includes the enforcement of the law and the management of the country's current affairs. The Council of Ministers is proposed by the Prime Minister and approved by the lower house before being appointed by the President.

Legislative Power

The legislative power in Poland is bi-cameral. Parliament is composed of the Senate (upper house, which has 100 seats and whose members are elected by a majority vote on a provincial basis, for a four year term of office) and of the Sejm (lower house, which has 460 seats and whose members are elected by a complex system of proportional representation, for a four year term of office). The President has the right to veto legislation passed by Parliament, but the latter can supplant him by a majority of two thirds of the Sejm.

Main political parties

Poland has a multi-party system and is generally governed by a coalition government. The country's main political parties are:
- The SLD (Democratic Left Alliance), a successor of the communist party, recast as a social democratic party;
- The PO (Civic Platform), a liberal conservative party;
- The PD (Democratic Party), a liberal social party;
- The UP (Labour Union), a social democratic party rooted in the anti-communist opposition;
- The PiS (Law and Justice), a right wing group based on a platform of law and order;
- The LPR (Polish Family League), an extreme right nationalist and Roman Catholic party (anti EU);
- The PSL (Polish Peasant Party), a group situated center left, representing the farming community;
- The SRP (Self defense of the Polish Republic), a left wing party with the Polish unions.

Current political leaders

President : Bronislaw Komorowski (President by interim until next elections)
Prime Minister: Donald TUSK (since 16 November 2007)
Deputy Prime Ministers: Waldemar PAWLAK (since 16 November 2007) and Grzegorz SCHETYNA (since 16 November 2007)

Next election dates

Presidential elections: October 2015
Sejm : October 2011