2007 Polish parliamentary election

2007 Polish parliamentary election

← 2005 21 October 2007 2011 →

All 460 seats in the Sejm
231 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout53.82% (Increase 13.31pp)
  First party Second party
 
Donald Tusk (6165309851) (cropped).jpg
Jarosław Kaczyński, 2004.jpg
Leader Donald Tusk Jarosław Kaczyński
Party PO PiS
Last election 24.1%, 133 seats 27.0%, 155 seats
Seats won 209 166
Seat change Increase 76 Increase 11
Popular vote 6,701,010 5,183,477
Percentage 41.5% 32.1%
Swing Increase 17.4pp Increase 5.1pp

  Third party Fourth party
 
Aleksander kwasniewski konferencja.jpg
Waldemar Pawlak candidate 2010 D crop.jpg
Leader Aleksander Kwaśniewski Waldemar Pawlak
Party LiD PSL
Last election 17.6%, 55 seats* 7.0%, 25 seats
Seats won 53 31
Seat change Decrease 2 Increase 6
Popular vote 2,122,981 1,437,638
Percentage 13.2% 8.9%
Swing Decrease 4.4pp* Increase 1.9pp

Seats won by Sejm District

Government before election

Kaczyński cabinet
PiS

Government after election

First Tusk cabinet
POPSL

Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 21 October 2007. All 460 members of the Sejm and 100 senators of the Senate were elected. The largest opposition group, Civic Platform (PO), which soundly defeated the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party and its allies. Throughout the campaign, polls showed conflicting results as to which of the two parties had the greater support, yet by the closing week the polls had swung in favour of Civic Platform. Three other political groups won election into the Sejm, the centre-left Left and Democrats coalition, the agrarian Polish People's Party, and the tiny German Minority group. Both of Law and Justice's former minor coalition partners, the League of Polish Families and the Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland suffered an enormous voter backlash, failing to cross the 5% electoral threshold in order to enter the Sejm. Consequently, both parties lost all of their seats.

Early elections were called after the Sejm voted for its own dissolution, due to serious allegations of massive corruption on the part of Andrzej Lepper, leader of the Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland, whose party served as a junior coalition partner to the government of Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński.[1] All 460 seats in the Sejm and all 100 seats in the Senate were up for election.

Prime Minister and PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński stepped down from office on 15 November, with Civic Platform leader Donald Tusk sworn in as Poland's Prime Minister on the following day. Civic Platform consequently formed a coalition majority government with the Polish People's Party.

The turnout for the elections was 54%, an increase of 13pp from the 2005 elections, seeing the highest voter turnout in a Polish parliamentary election since the semi-free elections of 1989.

  1. ^ "Polish MPs choose early election". BBC News. 2007-09-07. Retrieved 2012-05-17.