Presidential election in Poland 1995

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Presidential election in Poland
November 5, 1995 (first ballot)
November 19, 1995 (second ballot)

	Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland
	Aleksander Kwaśniewski
	be right	9,704,439
		51.72%

	independent
	Lech Wałęsa
	be right	9,058,176
		48.28%
Election results by voivodeship

President of the Third Polish Republic
Before the election, Lech Walesa was independent Elected Aleksander Kwaśniewski SdRP

The 1995 presidential election in Poland was the popular election of the Polish head of state on November 5 and 19, 1995. In the runoff election , the social democrat Aleksander Kwaśniewski prevailed against the incumbent Lech Wałęsa and was elected President of the Republic of Poland for a five-year term .

background

The five-year term of President Wałęsa, who was elected on December 9, 1990 , began on December 22, 1990 and was to expire on December 22, 1995. According to the constitution, the Sejm Marshal Józef Zych called the popular election for November 5, 1995. The electoral rules at that time corresponded to the constitutional amendment of 1992 (“small constitution”) and are basically still in force today. All citizens who were entitled to vote in parliamentary elections were given the right to vote, and those who had also reached the age of 35 by the day of the election were given the right to vote. The nominations had to show the written support of at least one hundred thousand eligible citizens. If no candidate had the necessary majority of over 50% of the votes cast on the first election day, a second election round would have to be called, which should take place two weeks after the first election day. The two candidates who received the most votes in the first round of voting ( runoff ) would be admitted to this competition . The Supreme Court was responsible for determining the validity of the election and for the President of the National Assembly to be sworn in .

The political parties that emerged from the “ Solidarity ” movement could not agree on a person in the run-up to the election and proposed several candidates, the number of which only changed as a result of the negotiations under the auspices of Prelate Józef Maj (“Convent of Saint Catherine”) has reduced insignificantly. On the other hand, there was the unity of the left around party chairman Aleksander Kwaśniewski .

The vote

Candidates

Leszek Bubel
Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz
Janusz Korwin-Mikke
Lech Kaczyński
Jacek Kuroń
Aleksander Kwaśniewski
Andrzej Lepper
Marek Markiewicz
R. Leszek Moczulski
Jan F. Olszewski
Waldemar Pawlak
Jan Pietrzak
Lech Wałęsa

The following candidates were able to show 100,000 signatures of the eligible voters within the set deadline and were allowed to participate in the first round of voting after verification by the election committee:

Leszek Bubel (* 1957) - goldsmith, journalist, publisher, former member of the Sejm (1991–1993), self-proclaimed "leading anti-Semite of the republic"
Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz (* 1952) - qualified lawyer, President of the Central Bank (since 1992), professor of administrative law (since 1994), member of the Solidarność trade union (since 1980), conservative politician
Janusz Korwin-Mikke (* 1942) - philosopher, columnist, libertarian politician ( Union for Realpolitik )
Tadeusz Koźluk (* 1930) - doctor of law, rector of a private university
Jacek Kuroń (1934–2004) - historian, member of the Sejm for the Social Liberal Freedom Union (from 1989), civil rights activist, former Minister of Labor and Social Affairs (1989–1990 and 1992–1993), former activist of the Solidarność trade union and opposition activist, Former educator in the scout movement, former member of the PVAP (1952–1953 and 1956–1964)
Lech Kaczyński (1949–2010) - qualified lawyer, former senator (1989–1991), former non-party member of the Sejm (1991–1993), former advisor to President Wałęsa, former activist of the Solidarność trade union and oppositionist, supported by the liberal - Conservative Center Alliance

Aleksander Kwaśniewski (* 1954) - economist (without diploma), party chairman of the Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland (since 1990), former member of the PVAP (1977–1990), activist and temporarily chairman of the party youth organization

Andrzej Lepper (1954–2011) - farmer, entrepreneur, chairman of the self-defense union (since 1992), former member of PVAP (1978–1980)

Marek Markiewicz (* 1952) - lawyer, lawyer, journalist, former activist of the "Solidarność" union and opposition activist, former Sejm member (1991–1993), former chairman of the Media Council (1993–1994)

Robert Leszek Moczulski (* 1930) - lawyer, historian and journalist, former member of the Sejm (1991–1993) and nationalist oppositionist ( Confederation of Independent Poland ), former member of the PVAP (1949–1950)

Jan Ferdynand Olszewski (1930–2019) - lawyer, attorney, chairman of the conservative movement for the reconstruction of Poland (since 1995), former opposition member, former prime minister (1991–1992), freemason

Waldemar Pawlak (* 1959) - agricultural machine technician , farmer, chairman of the Polish Farmers' Party , member of the Sejm (since 1989), former prime minister (1992 and 1993–1995)

Bogdan Pawłowski (* 1945) - sports scientist, building contractor, former member of PVAP (1968–1974)

Jan Pietrzak (* 1937) - satirist, cabaret artist

Kazimierz Piotrowicz (* 1944) - bronze caster , entrepreneur

Lech Wałęsa (* 1943) - electrician, incumbent President of the Republic of Poland, former chairman of the “Solidarność” trade union (1980–1990) and opposition, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1983)

Tadeusz Zieliński (1926–2003) - qualified lawyer, adjunct professor , acting commissioner for civil rights , former senator (1989–1991), supported by the Social Democratic Labor Union

Another candidate submitted the signatures on time, but was excluded from the election after the examination because the documents had formal deficiencies:

Bolesław Tejkowski (* 1933) - civil engineer, sociologist, founder of the right-wing extremist " Polish Völkischer Gemeinschaft " (1990), political-religious activist (Slavic Neopaganism ) in the 1970s , former member of the PVAP (1951–1957)

Renunciation of candidacy

Of the seventeen admitted candidates, four had renounced their candidacy before the first ballot:

Robert Leszek Moczulski, Marek Markiewicz and Bogdan Pawłowski in favor of incumbent Lech Wałęsa
Lech Kaczyński in favor of Jan Ferdynand Olszewski

Thus, thirteen people ran for the office of President in the first ballot.

The vote

Ballot	candidate	Number of votes	% of valid votes	Supporting party
1st ballot, November 5, 1995
	Leszek Bubel	6 825	0.04%
	Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz	492 628	2.76%
	Janusz Korwin-Mikke	428 969	2.40%	UPR
	Tadeusz Koźluk	27 259	0.15%
	Jacek Kuroń	1,646,946	9.22%	UW
	Aleksander Kwaśniewski	6 275 670	35.11%	SdRP
	Andrzej Lepper	235 797	1.32%	Samoobrona
	Jan Olszewski	1,225,453	6.86%	RdR
	Waldemar Pawlak	770 419	4.31%	PSL
	Jan Pietrzak	201 033	1.12%
	Kazimierz Piotrowicz	12 591	0.07%
	Lech Wałęsa	5,917,328	33.11%
	Tadeusz Zieliński	631 432	3.53%	UP
	Invalid votes	330 868
Since none of the candidates achieved the required majority, the second ballot was ordered for November 19, 1995, to which Aleksander Kwaśniewski and Lech Wałęsa were allowed.
2nd ballot, November 19, 1995	Aleksander Kwaśniewski	9 704 439	51.72%	SdRP
	Lech Wałęsa	9 058 176	48.28%
	Invalid votes	383 881
With that, Aleksander Kwaśniewski was elected President of the Republic of Poland .

After the election

After the election, the Supreme Court had to determine the electoral validity for the first time. The election results were challenged by numerous eligible voters who filed individual and media-organized class actions. The main criticism was that the official election notice on the candidate Aleksander Kwaśniewski provided information about “higher education” while the candidate did not complete his studies with a diploma. The Chamber of Administration of the Supreme Court took note of this, but on December 9, 1995, with five separate votes , ruled that the election was valid. She found that the information could not have a significant influence on voting behavior, especially since the controversies surrounding Kwaśniewski's conclusion had already been publicly discussed before the first round of elections.

On December 23, 1995, Kwaśniewski took the oath of office at the National Assembly. At the same time, his mandate was officially declared expired.

Footnotes

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ Obwieszczenie Państwowej Komisji Wyborczej z dnia 7 listopada 1995 r. o wynikach głosowania i wyniku wyborów Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, zarządzonych na dzień 5 listopada 1995 r. In: Dziennik Ustaw, sejm.gov.pl. November 7, 1995, accessed December 23, 2012 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Obwieszczenie Państwowej Komisji Wyborczej z dnia 20 listopada 1995 r. o wynikach głosowania i wyniku wyborów Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej w drugiej turze głosowania, przeprowadzonej w dniu 19 listopada 1995 r. In: Dziennik Ustaw, sejm.gov.pl. November 20, 1995, accessed December 23, 2012 .
↑ Orzecznictwo Sądu Najwyższego Izba Administracyjna, Pracy i Ubezpieczeń Społecznych 1996/1/1 Orzecznictwo Sądu Najwyższego Izba Administracyjna, Pracy i Ubezpieczeń Społecznych 1996/1/2. In: Orzecznictwo Sądu Najwyższego (sygn.akt III SW 1102/95). December 9, 1995, accessed December 29, 2012 .
↑ postanowienie Marszałka Sejmu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 23 grudnia 1995 r. w sprawie stwierdzenia wygaśnięcia mandatu posła Aleksandra Kwaśniewskiego. In: Monitor Polski, sejm.gov.pl. December 23, 1995, accessed December 23, 2012 .

[Wahlergebnis1-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ Obwieszczenie Państwowej Komisji Wyborczej z dnia 7 listopada 1995 r. o wynikach głosowania i wyniku wyborów Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, zarządzonych na dzień 5 listopada 1995 r. In: Dziennik Ustaw, sejm.gov.pl. November 7, 1995, accessed December 23, 2012 .

[Wahlergebnis2-2] Obwieszczenie Państwowej Komisji Wyborczej z dnia 20 listopada 1995 r. o wynikach głosowania i wyniku wyborów Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej w drugiej turze głosowania, przeprowadzonej w dniu 19 listopada 1995 r. In: Dziennik Ustaw, sejm.gov.pl. November 20, 1995, accessed December 23, 2012 .

[Gueltigkeit-3] Orzecznictwo Sądu Najwyższego Izba Administracyjna, Pracy i Ubezpieczeń Społecznych 1996/1/1 Orzecznictwo Sądu Najwyższego Izba Administracyjna, Pracy i Ubezpieczeń Społecznych 1996/1/2. In: Orzecznictwo Sądu Najwyższego (sygn.akt III SW 1102/95). December 9, 1995, accessed December 29, 2012 .

[Mandat-4] postanowienie Marszałka Sejmu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 23 grudnia 1995 r. w sprawie stwierdzenia wygaśnięcia mandatu posła Aleksandra Kwaśniewskiego. In: Monitor Polski, sejm.gov.pl. December 23, 1995, accessed December 23, 2012 .