Polish parliamentary election, 2001

Polish parliamentary election, 2001

1997 ← 23 September 2001 → 2005

All 460 seats in the Sejm 231 seats were needed for a majority in the Sejm All 100 seats in the Senate   First party Second party Third party   Leader Leszek Miller Maciej Płażyński Andrzej Lepper Party Democratic Left Alliance Civic Platform Self-Defence Leader since December 1997 24 January 2001 10 January 1992 Leader's seat 9 – Łódź 25 – Gdańsk 40 – Koszalin Last election 164 seats, 35.7% N/A N/A Seats won 216 65 53 Seat change +52 +65 +53 Popular vote 5,342,519 1,651,099 1,327,624 Percentage 41% 12.7% 10.2% Swing +9.2% +12.7% +10.1%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Lech Kaczyński Jarosław Kalinowski Roman Giertych Party Law and Justice Polish People's Party League of Polish Families Leader since 22 March 2001 11 October 1997 21 April 2001 Leader's seat 25 – Gdańsk 18 – Siedlce 20 – Warsaw II Last election N/A 27 seats, 5.9% N/A Seats won 44 42 38 Seat change +44 +15 +38 Popular vote 1,236,787 1,168,659 1,025,148 Percentage 9.5% 9% 7.9% Swing +9.5% +1.7% +7.9

Prime Minister before election Jerzy Buzek Solidarity Electoral Action New Primer Minister Leszek Miller Democratic Left Alliance

Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 23 September 2001. In the Sejm elections, 46.29% of citizens cast their votes, 96.01% of those were counted as valid. In Senate elections, 46.28% of citizens cast their votes, 96.46% were valid.

The elections were won by the centre-left Democratic Left Alliance – Labor Union alliance, which fell just short of an outright majority in the Sejm. The right-wing vote splintered, with Solidarity Electoral Action (AWS), which had won 201 seats in 1997, losing all its seats. Two parties that had been formed from AWS – Civic Platform and Law and Justice – won 65 and 44 seats respectively.

The left-wing nationalist Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland (SRP) increased its vote 100-fold from 1997 and won 53 seats, coming third. The new socially conservative League of Polish Families also entered the Sejm for the first time, winning 38 seats, behind the Polish People's Party.

Results

Sejm

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Democratic Left Alliance – Labor Union	5,342,519	41.0	216	+52
Civic Platform	1,651,099	12.7	65	New
Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland	1,327,624	10.2	53	+53
Law and Justice	1,236,787	9.5	44	New
Polish People's Party	1,168,659	9.0	42	+15
League of Polish Families	1,025,148	7.9	38	New
Solidarity Electoral Action	729,207	5.6	0	–201
Freedom Union	404,074	3.1	0	–60
Social Alternative Movement	54,266	0.4	0	New
German Minority	47,230	0.4	2	0
Polish Socialist Party	13,459	0.1	0	New
German Minority Upper Silesia	8,024	0.1	0	0
Polish Economic Union	7,189	0.1	0	New
Polska Wspólnota Narodowa	2,644	0.0	0	New
Invalid/blank votes	541,483	–	–	–
Total	13,559,412	100	460	0
Registered voters/turnout	29,364,455	46.3	–	–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Senate

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Democratic Left Alliance – Labor Union	10,476,677	80.1	75	+47
Senate 2001	6,582,224	50.4	15	–
Polish People's Party	3,631,234	27.8	4	+1
Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland	1,158,887	8.9	2	–
League of Polish Families	1,097,058	8.4	2	New
Real Politics Union	469,815	3.6	0	0
Local lists	3,624,697	27.7	2	–3
Invalid/blank votes	479,179	–	–	–
Total	13,590,426	100	100	0
Registered voters/turnout	29,364,455	46.3	–	–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

• 

  Distribution of seats in the Sejm

• 

  Distribution of seats in the Senate

References

• Obwieszczenie Państwowej Komisji Wyborczej z dn. 26 IX 1997 r., Monitor Polski. Nr 109, poz. 1186
• Obwieszczenie PKW z dn. 26 IX 2001 r., Dz.U. Nr 109, poz. 1187