Sejm

Sejm of the Republic of Poland Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej
10th term
Type
Type	Lower house of the Polish parliament
History
Founded	1493 (historical) 1921 (contemporary)
Leadership
Marshal of the Sejm	Szymon Hołownia, PL2050 since 13 November 2023
Deputy Marshal of the Sejm	Monika Wielichowska, PO Dorota Niedziela, PO Piotr Zgorzelski, PSL Włodzimierz Czarzasty, NL Krzysztof Bosak, RN since 13 November 2023
Senior Marshal	Marek Sawicki, PSL since 13 November 2023
Prime Minister	Donald Tusk, PO since 13 December 2023
Leader of the Opposition[a]	Jarosław Kaczyński, PiS since 13 December 2023
Structure
Seats	460 deputies (231 majority)
Political groups	Government (242)   KO (157)[b]   PSL – TD (32)[c]   PL2050 – TD (32)   L (21)[e] Confidence and supply (1)   Independent (1)[f] Opposition (217)   ZP (190)[g]   KWiN (18)[h]   LR (5)   WR (4)[i]
Committees	29 Administration and Internal Affairs Agriculture and Rural Development Constitutional Accountability Culture and Media Deputies' Ethics Digitization, Innovation and Modern Technology Economy and Development Education, Science and Youth Energy, Climate and State Assets Environment Protection, Natural Resources and Forestry European Union Affairs Family and Women Rights Foreign Affairs Health Infrastructure Justice and Human Rights Legislative Liaison with Poles Abroad Local Self-Government and Regional Policy Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation National and Ethnic Minorities National Defense Physic Education and Sport Public Finances Rules and Deputies' Affairs Senior Policy Social Policy and Family Special Services State Control
Elections
Voting system	Open-list proportional representation in 41 constituencies (5% national election thresholda)
Last election	15 October 2023
Next election	On or before 11 November 2027
Meeting place
The Sejm and Senate Complex, Warsaw
Website
sejm.gov.pl
Footnotes
a 8% for coalitions, 0% for ethnic minority electoral committees

The Sejm (English: /seɪm/, Polish: [sɛjm] ^ⓘ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland.

The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the transition of government in 1989. Along with the upper house of parliament, the Senate, it forms the national legislature in Poland known as National Assembly (Polish: Zgromadzenie Narodowe). The Sejm comprises 460 deputies (singular deputowany or poseł) elected every four years by universal ballot. The Sejm is presided over by a speaker, the "Marshal of the Sejm" (Marszałek Sejmu).

In the Kingdom of Poland, the term Sejm referred to an entire two-chamber parliament, comprising the Chamber of Deputies (Izba Poselska), the Senate and the King. It was thus a three-estate parliament. The 1573 Henrician Articles strengthened the assembly's jurisdiction, making Poland a constitutional elective monarchy. Since the Second Polish Republic (1918–1939), Sejm has referred only to the lower house of parliament.

During the existence of the Polish People's Republic, the Sejm, then a unicameral parliament, was the supreme organ of state power in the country. It was the only government branch in the state, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs were subservient to it. However, in practice it was widely considered to be a rubber stamp legislature which existed to approve decisions made by the ruling party, the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR) as a formality, and which had little or no real power of its own.
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