National Assembly (Poland)

National Assembly (Poland)

The National Assembly (Polish: Zgromadzenie Narodowe) is the name of both chambers of the Polish parliament, a lower house, the Sejm of the Republic of Poland and an upper house, the Senate of the Republic of Poland, when sitting in joint session. It is headed by the Marshal of the Sejm (or by the Marshal of the Senate when the former is absent).

In the years 1922–1935 and 1989–1990, it was the National Assembly who elected the President of the Republic of Poland by an absolute majority of votes. In 1935, it was replaced by an Assembly of Electors, which consisted of the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice, the General Armed Forces Inspector, 2/3 of deputies to the Sejm, and 1/3 of Senators. The Senate was abolished in 1946 so in 1947 Bolesław Bierut was elected President only by the Sejm. There were no presidents from 1952 until 1989 when the Senate was restored and the National Assembly elected Wojciech Jaruzelski as President.

Since 1990, the President has been elected by the people. However, the President is still sworn in before the National Assembly, which is also the only organ which can declare the President's permanent incapacity to perform his duties, or bring an indictment against him before State Tribunal.

From 1992 to 1997, the National Assembly drafted and passed a new Constitution, which was approved by a national referendum on 25 May 1997.