Pierwsza sesja trzeciej kadencji sejmiku

A voivodeship sejmik ( pl, sejmik województwa), also known as a provincial or regional assembly, is the regional-level elected

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

for each of the sixteen

voivodeships of Poland A voivodeship (; pl, województwo ; plural: ) is the highest-level administrative division of Poland, corresponding to a province in many other countries. The term has been in use since the 14th century and is commonly translated into English as ...

. Machnikowski et al., p. 21 Sejmiks are elected to five-year terms, decided during nationwide

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct v ...

. The size of the legislative assembly varies for each voivodeship depending on the population; in lower populated provinces, there are 30 members, while in the most populous (

Masovian Voivodeship The Masovian Voivodeship, also known as the Mazovia Province ( pl, województwo mazowieckie ) is a voivodeship (province) in east-central Poland, with its capital located in the city of Warsaw, which also serves as the capital of the country. Th ...

) there are 51 members. Elected representatives of an assembly are known as councillors (''radni'').

Origins

The word ''

sejmik A sejmik (, diminutive of ''sejm'', occasionally translated as a ''dietine''; lt, seimelis) was one of various local parliaments in the history of Poland and history of Lithuania. The first sejmiks were regional assemblies in the Kingdom of ...

'' is a diminutive of ''

sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

'', a historical term for an assembly of nobles, and is now the name of the lower house of the Polish National Assembly. The word ''sejmik'' was consciously chosen by lawmakers during regional reorganization reforms in the 1990s to eliminate the term ''rada wojewódzka'' (voivodeship council), as the definition conjured memories of people's councils during the communist

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million ne ...

era. Regulski, p. 46 Initially, elected regional assemblies were created by the government of Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki under his administration's decentralization programme, with the regional assemblies acting as advisory bodies to the centrally-appointed

voivode Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the me ...

. Ochman, p. 16 Surazska, p. 87 Under the administration of

Jerzy Buzek Jerzy Karol Buzek (born 3 July 1940) is a Polish politician and Member of the European Parliament from Poland. He has served as Prime Minister of Poland from 1997 to 2001, since being elected to the European Parliament in 2004, he served as ...

in 1998, the contemporary regional assemblies were created by the

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

with the reorganization of provincial borders and the devolution of powers to the governments of the new voivodeships. Tatur, pp. 65-66

Elections

Assemblies are elected for a five-year term during nationwide

. Similar to nationwide elections for

members, councillors for provincial assemblies are elected from party lists using

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

within a five percent voting threshold for each individual voivodeship.

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...

, p. 14 Following their election and swearing-in, the councillors of an assembly elect a

voivodeship marshal A voivodeship marshal ( pl, marszałek województwa, ) is the head of the provincial-level government for each of the sixteen voivodeships of Poland. Elected by councillors from the provincial assembly, the marshal is the head of the collective ...

(''marszałek województwa'') and at most two vice-marshals from among their ranks, who, along with normally two other members, will form an executive board (''zarząd województwa''). Prokop, p. 144 The board acts as the collective executive body of the voivodeship, and is the province's ''de facto'' cabinet. Prokop, p. 139 The assembly additionally elects a

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

and deputy chairmen from among their ranks, who are tasked in organizing the assembly's business and presiding over debates. Prokop, p. 142 If the assembly fails to elect an executive board within three months following an election, the legislature must dissolve itself and the voivodeship is obliged to call another election. Prokop, pp. 141-142 Earlier elections can also be approved in the event of a public referendum or if the

has dissolved a regional assembly. Prokop, p. 141

Powers

Provincial assemblies can debate, adopt and pass

statutes A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made ...

on matters concerning the province which are not reserved for the administration of the central government. Since the end of the 1990s, the powers of the sejmiks and their respective executive boards have grown. These include matters such as economic development strategies, spatial management plans, managing provincially-controlled rail operators, waste and water management, environmental protection, regional heritage protection, voting on the provincial budget, and appointing a supervisory board to manage voivodeship roads.

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate ...

, p. 256 However, sejmiks are unable to enact provincewide taxes to fund internal policies and projects, and remain dependent on the central government for financing such operations. Throughout its elected term, the assembly reserves the right to hold the marshal and the executive board accountable for their policies. Assemblies can also dismiss the governing

marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...

upon a three-fifths majority

vote of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

, after which results in the collapse of the executive board, and a new marshal and board are chosen.

, p. 17 Assemblies do not, on the other hand, have a say in the choice nor dismissal of the centrally-appointed

for the province. Assemblies are assisted by the voivodeship marshal's office (''urząd marszałkowski''), which provides legal, technical, and bureaucratic services to the body.

List

References

Works cited

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Voivodeship Sejmik Government of Poland Politics of Poland