Sejmik

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A Sejmik (diminutive of Sejm , the Polish Parliament ) is a regional self-governing body in Poland. In the course of the administrative reform of 1998, they were re-established at voivodship level ( Sejmik województwa ). The Sejmik elects the voivodeship executive, which is presided over by the voivodship marshal.

“Sejmik” was also the name of the regional assemblies of estates in the Kingdom of Poland-Lithuania , which existed on several levels.

history

There have been regular sejmiks since the statute of Nieszawa issued by King Casimir IV . This included regular meetings of the Szlachta , which among other things led to the development of the two-chamber system in the Sejm .

In the Polish part of the empire, the small nobility gained more and more leadership, while in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania the magnates continued to set the tone. The Sejmiks reached their peak at the turn of the 17th to the 18th century, when they were able to determine the duration of their conference period without authorization. This was suppressed in the Silent Sejm of 1717. The Sejmiks existed until the Third Partition of Poland in 1795.

Levels and tasks of the Sejmiks in Poland-Lithuania

Sejmiks were usually held in the open. There were several types:

  • In a General Sejmik ( Sejmik generalny, Conventiones generales ), Sejm members of a certain region met, mainly to coordinate their voting behavior in the Big Sejm . Fixed conference venues emerged for the various landscapes of the empire: Koło for Greater Poland , Nowy Korczyn for Lesser Poland , Warsaw for Mazovia , Sądowa Wisznia for the Ruthenian countries and Wołkowysk for Lithuania.
  • The delegates of the individual voivodships met in a land or territorial sejmik ( Sejmik ziemski , Conventiones particulares or Terrestri ). Before the establishment of the Great Sejm, their importance was extremely important.
  • The representatives of a district met in a Sejmik des Powiat ( Sejmik powiatowy ).

They could come together for different purposes:

  • In a Pre-Sejm ( Sejmik przedsejmowy ) the deputies met to elect deputies to the Great Sejm. The number was based on the size of the voivodeship. Occasionally, MPs from several voivodeships also met.
  • In a Wahlsejmik ( Sejmik elekcyjny ) higher voivodeship officials were elected.
  • The reports of the Sejm members were heard in a relational sejmik ( Sejmik relacyjny ), and the Sejm's legislative resolutions ( konstytucje sejmowe ) were also presented there.
  • The judges of the Crown Tribunal in Piotrków Trybunalski and the Lithuanian Tribunal in Grodno have been elected in a deputation sejmik ( Sejmik deputatacki ) since King Stephan Báthory .
  • In an economic sejmik ( Sejmik gospodarczy ) the administration of the voivodeship was supervised.

Sejmiks were convened by the king or voivod . The king (or his representative) laid down the matters to be discussed in a document ( legacja królewska ). The nobility of the respective voivodeship could be elected, the representatives of other estates only had an advisory vote. A Sejmik - like the Sejm of the entire empire - could be blocked by a Liberum veto , which in turn led to the formation of aristocratic confederations that forced majority decisions. Each Sejmik elected a Sejmik Marshal to preside over them.