ona Gora

Independence: 11 November 1918 (independent republic proclaimed)

National holiday: Constitution Day, 3 May (1791)

Constitution: interim "small constitution" came into effect in
December 1992 supplementing the heavily amended constitution of 22
July 1952; referendum for a new constitution to be held 25 May 1997

Legal system: mixture of Continental (Napoleonic) civil law and
holdover communist legal theory; changes being gradually introduced as
part of broader democratization process; limited judicial review of
legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state : President Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI (since 23 December
1995)
head of government: Prime Minister Wlodimierz CIMOSZEWICZ (since 7
February 1996), Deputy Prime Ministers Roman JAGIELINSKI (since 7
March 1995), Marek BELKA (since NA February 1997), and Miroslaw
PIETRIEWICZ (since 7 February 1996)
cabinet: Council of Ministers responsible to the prime minister and
the Sejm; the prime minister appoints and the Sejm approves the
Council of Ministers
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term;
election first round held 5 November 1995, second round held 19
November 1995 (next to be held NA November 2000); prime minister and
deputy prime ministers elected by the Sejm; election last held NA 1996
(next to be held September 1997)
election results: Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI elected president; percent of
legislative vote, second round - Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI 51.7%, Lech
WALESA 48.3%; Wlodimierz CIMOSZEWICZ selected prime minister

Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly or Zgromadzenie
Narodowe consists of the Senate or Senat (100 seats; members are
elected by a majority vote on a provincial basis to serve four-year
terms) and the Sejm (460 seats; members are elected under a complex
system of proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 19 September 1993 (next to be held 14
September 1997); Sejm elections last held 19 September 1993 (next to
be held 14 September 1997)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by
party - post-communist parties (PSL 34, SLD 37), post-Solidarity
parties (UW 6, NSZZ 12, BBWR 2), non-communist, non-Solidarity
(independents 7, unaffiliated 1, vacant 1); Sejm - percent of vote by
party - NA; seats by party - post-communist parties (SLD 171, PSL
132), post-So