Presidential election in Poland 1933

The presidential election in Poland in 1933 was the fifth and final election of the head of state in pre-war Poland . On May 8, 1933, the National Assembly in Warsaw elected the incumbent Ignacy Mościcki for a second seven-year term as President of the Republic of Poland .

background

Since the last election on June 1, 1926 , the National Assembly has been dominated by the supporters of the autocrat Józef Piłsudski . At his instruction, the incumbent should be re-elected more than three weeks before the end of the term of office. The opposition parties therefore boycotted the meeting called for May 8, 1933, so as not to have to legitimize Piłsudski's undemocratic actions.

The vote

The incumbent and candidate

Ignacy Mościcki

Ignacy Mościcki was the only candidate for the election of the President of the Republic of Poland. The retired chemist, professor at Warsaw University of Technology and former entrepreneur, had held office since 1926. The nomination was formally submitted by MP Walery Sławek .

The vote

Under the chairmanship of Sejm Marshal Kazimierz Świtalski , the secret ballot took place in the seventh session of the National Assembly since 1922 (and, apart from the swearing-in of the President on the following day - until 1989). 212 of the 555-member National Assembly were not present. During the attendance check, Senate Marshal Władysław Raczkiewicz temporarily took the chair.

Warsaw, May 8, 1933

Ballot	candidate	Number of votes	%	Supporting parties
1st ballot	Ignacy Mościcki	332	96.8%	Non-party bloc of government supporters
	Invalid votes	11	3.2%
Ignacy Mościcki was therefore re-elected with no votes against.

After the election

The following day at 12:00 p.m. Mościcki was sworn in in the Warsaw Royal Castle for a second seven-year term. After the adoption of the new constitution in April 1935, which gave the president extensive powers, he should vacate the post in favor of Colonel Walery Sławek , according to the scenario devised by supporters of Marshal Piłsudski . The marshal's rapid death prevented these plans, however, and Mościcki remained in office until 1939, when the outbreak of World War II and internment in Romania forced him to resign.

Footnotes

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Protokół z posiedzenia Zgromadzenia Narodowego dla wyboru Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej w Warszawie z dnia 8 maja 1933 r. In: Monitor Polski, sejm.gov.pl. May 9, 1933, accessed December 10, 2012 .  
2. ↑ Protokół Zgromadzenia Narodowego dnia 9 maja 1933 r. In: Monitor Polski, sejm.gov.pl. May 9, 1933, accessed December 10, 2012 .  

literature

• Andrzej Chojnowski: Ignacy Mościcki, prezydent Rzeczypospolitej 1 VI 1926-30 IX 1939 . In: Andrzej Chojnowski, Piotr Wróbel (Ed.): Prezydenci i premierzy Drugiej Rzeczypospolitej . Zakład Narodowy imienia Ossolińskich, Wydawnictwo, Breslau, Warsaw, Krakow 1992, ISBN 83-04-03854-4 , p. 213-233 .