1997 Polish parliamentary election

1997 Polish parliamentary election

← 1993 21 September 1997 2001 →
Sejm

All 460 seats in the Sejm
231 seats needed for a majority
Turnout47.93% (Decrease 4.15pp)
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Marian Krzaklewski 2007.jpg
Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz (senator).jpg
Leszek Balcerowicz Conference Reuniting Europe.jpg
Leader Marian Krzaklewski Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz Leszek Balcerowicz
Party AWS SLD UW
Last election Did not exist 20.4%, 171 seats 14.6%, 74 seats*
Seats won 201 164 60
Seat change New Decrease 7 Decrease 14
Popular vote 4,427,373 3,551,224 1,749,518
Percentage 33.8% 27.1% 13.4%
Swing New Increase 6.7pp Decrease 1.2pp*

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Waldemar Pawlak Srebrne Usta 2006 (cropped).jpg
Jan Ferdynand Olszewski.jpg
Norbert Rasch (r.) mit Henryk Kroll (cropped) 3.jpg
Leader Waldemar Pawlak Jan Olszewski Henryk Kroll
Party PSL ROP KWMN
Last election 1,5.4% 132 seats Did not exist 0.7%, 4 seats
Seats won 27 6 2
Seat change Decrease 105 New Decrease 2
Popular vote 956,184 727,072 51,027
Percentage 7.3% 5.6% 0.4%
Swing Decrease 8.1pp New Decrease 0.3pp

Seats won by Sejm District
Senate

All 100 seats in the Senate
51 seats needed for a majority
Turnout47.83% (Decrease 4.27pp)
Party Vote % Seats +/–
AWS

25.25 51 New
SLD

23.48 28 −9
UW

11.35 8 +4
ROP

9.84 5 New
PSL

7.01 3 −33
Independent

14.66 5 −5
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Government before Government after election
Cimoszewicz cabinet [pl]
SLD (SdRP)—PSL
Buzek cabinet
AWSUW

Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 21 September 1997. All 460 members of the Sejm and 100 senators of the Senate were elected. The liberal conservative party Solidarity Electoral Action won the most seats in both chambers of parliament and formed a coalition government with the Freedom Union, another liberal party. The elections were a major setback for the Democratic Left Alliance and the Polish People's Party, which were forced out of government.