Sejm
| Sejm of the Polish Commonwealth Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej | |
|---|---|
| Bicameral legislature | |
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | Bicameral |
| Houses |
|
| Leadership | |
| Majority Leader |
Domicylla Gorecka, PPS Since April 4, 2012 |
| Structure | |
| Seats |
|
| Political groups |
PPS PEP NFP PCDP Liberal Alliance |
| Length of term7 | Five years |
| Elections | |
| Voting system | Mixed member proportional |
| Last election | 3 November 2010 |
| Next election | 1 October 2014 |
Description
The Sejm of the Polish Commonwealth is a bicameral legislature in Poland-Lithuania. It is comprised of the lower house, which is called the Sejm, and an upper house (as of 2014) called the Senate of the Republic or Senate for short.
The Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej (Sejm of the Polish Commonwealth) is made up of 648 members, called przedstawiciele, or reperesentatives. The przedstawiciele are elected from województwa (voivodeships/provinces), one from a district in that voivodeship. The system to elect the Sejm is mixed member proportional, where there are two choices in each vovoideship: favored candidate and favorite party. Half of the votes in each vovoideship are given to the "first past the post" winner, while the others are adjusted to better represent the poll numbers and will of the people. From there, the przedstawiciele are sent to the Sejm, where they carry out the daily governance.
The Senate, when it comes into power, will be directly elected with the first past the post system, and will be in place to review the bills passed by the Sejm. It may also propose its own bills. Both houses of the Sejm will have to pass the same version of a bill before it can reach the President of the Polish Republic for signing.
Powers
The Sejm has the following powers, granted to it by the 2014 Polish Constitution. It can:
- Write laws regarding regular life
- Regulate commerce
- Declare war
- Create bureaucracy that helps regulate commerce
- Ratify treaties
- Amend the constitution
- Override Presidential veto with a super majority
- Impeach officials of the executive or judicial branch
- Collect taxes
- Set and approve a budget
- Purchase land and/or companies to provide for the common good
