Senate of Poland
 |
Coat of Arms of the Senate |
The
Senate (
Senat) is the upper house of the
Polish parliament. It consists of 100 senators elected by universal ballot and is headed by the speaker of Senate (
Marszałek Senatu).
The Senate can be traced back to a council of royal advisors. In the
Nobles' Democracy, the Senate was the upper chamber of the
Sejm, and consisted of members of the royal cabinet and the royal court, together with
voivods, prefects and castellans (all appointed by the king), and Catholic bishops (see
Senatorial offices for details).
In the so-called
Second Polish Republic, senators were elected by universal ballot. After a referendum organized in
1946 by the
Communist regime, the Senate was abolished in the post-
Second World War People's Republic of Poland. It was only re-established after the
fall of communism in
1989.
The term of office of a senator is four years. The Senate may reject or amend the bills passed by the Sejm but any rejection or amendment may still be overruled by an absolute majority vote in the Sejm. A joint session of the Senate and the Sejm is known as a
National Assembly. Traditionally, the Senate takes particular care of
Polonia, Polish communities outside Poland.
Senators are elected by a
plurality bloc voting method (rare internationally), where several candidates with the highest support are elected from each
electorate, and each voter selects their whole preferred set. The exact number of senators from each electorate is dependent on its population and varies from two to four.
#
Jerzy Adamski #
Andrzej Anulewicz #
Franciszek Bachleda-Księdzularz#
Marek Balicki #
Janusz Lucjan Bargieł#
Tadeusz Bartos #
Maria Berny #
Adam Biela #
Janusz Stefan Bielawski#
January Bronisław Bień #
Franciszek Bogdan Bobrowski #
Krystyna Maria Bochenek (since September 2004) #
Krzysztof Wawrzyniec Borkowski#
Władysław Bułka#
Czesława Christowa #
Andrzej Chronowski#
Zygmunt Alojzy Cybulski #
Gerard Czaja#
Jolanta Ryszarda Danielak #
Krystyna Doktorowicz #
Kazimierz Drożdż #
Bernard Drzęźla #
Henryk Dzido #
Józef Dziemdziela#
Genowefa Maria Ferenc#
Witold Feliks Gładkowski#
Zbigniew Gołąbek #
Stanisław Huskowski (since April 2004) #
Sławomir Izdebski#
Andrzej Jaeschke#
Zdzisława Janowska#
Zdzisław Jarmużek #
Ryszard Jarzembowski#
Kazimierz Jaworski (since
29 September 2004) #
Krzysztof Jurgiel (since
22 October 2003)#
Dorota Maria Kempka #
Apolonia Klepacz #
Janusz Konieczny #
Aleksandra Koszada#
Marian Kozłowski #
Zbigniew Kruszewski #
Olga Teresa Krzyżanowska #
Zbigniew Jerzy Kulak#
Anna Maria Kurska #
Irena Kurzępa#
Kazimierz Kutz#
Grzegorz Lato#
Marian Piotr Lewicki#
Grzegorz Marek Lipowski #
Teresa Liszcz #
Bogusław Litwiniec#
Janusz Józef Lorenz #
Mirosław Lubiński (since
7 May 2003)#
Włodzimierz Łęcki #
Władysław Mańkut#
Jerzy Markowski #
Ryszard Matusiak (since
28 July 2004) #
Grzegorz Jan Matuszak #
Bogusław Mąsior#
Mieczysław Mietła#
Stanisław Nicieja#
Grzegorz Andrzej Niski #
Longin Hieronim Pastusiak#
Kazimierz Pawełek #
Wojciech Jerzy Pawłowski #
Jerzy Pieniążek #
Krzysztof Marek Piesiewicz #
Wiesław Michał Pietrzak #
Zbyszko Piwoński #
Sergiusz Plewa #
Bogdan Leszek Podgórski #
Lesław Paweł Podkański #
Jolanta Popiołek#
Zbigniew Religa #
Zbigniew Romaszewski#
Tadeusz Rzemykowski #
Wiesława Regina Sadowska #
Janina Sagatowska #
Wojciech Paweł Saługa (since
29 September 2004) #
Ewa Aleksandra Serocka#
Krystyna Helena Sienkiewicz#
Dorota Simonides#
Zofia Maria Skrzypek-Mrowiec (since
29 September 2004) #
Ryszard Józef Sławiński #
Robert Maciej Smoktunowicz #
Jerzy Kazimierz Smorawiński #
Andrzej Kazimierz Spychalski#
Henryk Tadeusz Stokłosa#
Alicja Stradomska #
Jerzy Zdzisław Suchański#
Jan Szafraniec#
Józef Sztorc#
Krzysztof Szydłowski #
Maria Szyszkowska #
Andrzej Jan Wielowieyski #
Edmund Kazimierz Wittbrodt#
Tadeusz Wnuk#
Zbigniew Stanisław Zychowicz#
Marian ŻenkiewiczFormer senators
#
Jerzy Edmund Cieślak (died 25.04.2004 r.) #
Henryk Gołębiewski (till
31 January 2003) #
Genowefa Grabowska - elected MEP on 13.06.2004 #
Adam Graczyński (died 26.08.2004)#
Adam Gierek - elected MEP on 13.06.2004 #
Adam Jamróz (till
10 July 2003) #
Mieczysław Janowski - elected MEP on 13.06.2004 r. #
Jan Józef Lipski (died 10. 09. 1991)#
Marian Noga (till
14 January 2004 )#
Grażyna Ewa Staniszewska - elected MEP on 13.06.2004
*
Sejm*
Politics of Poland*
Senate*
official website
