Parliamentary elections to both the Senate and the ''Sejm'' (lower house) were held in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

on 9 October 2011. The previous election, in 2007, resulted in a

Civic Platform Civic Platform ( pl, Platforma Obywatelska, PO)The party is officially the Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (''Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''). is a political party in Poland. It is currently led by Donald Tusk. It ...

–

Polish People's Party The Polish People's Party ( pl, Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe, PSL) is an agrarian political party in Poland. It is currently led by Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. Its history traces back to 1895, when it held the name People's Party, although i ...

government. All seats of both Houses were up for re-election.

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Donald Tusk Donald Franciszek Tusk ( , ; born 22 April 1957) is a Polish politician who was President of the European Council from 2014 to 2019. He served as the 14th Prime Minister of Poland from 2007 to 2014 and was a co-founder and leader of the Civic ...

's Civic Platform (PO) won a plurality of seats and Tusk became the first Polish prime minister to be appointed for a second consecutive term since the

fall of communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...

. Both the Civic Platform and its junior partner, the Polish People's Party (PSL), agreed to continue their governing coalition after the election.

Electoral system

The election was for all 460 seats of the Sejm and all 100 seats of the Senate. Candidates for Deputies are nominated either by the electoral committees of the various political parties and or by individual voter committees. The process of election for the Sejm is through

party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be us ...

via the

D'hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is a method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in party-list proportional representation systems. It belongs to the class of highest ...

in multi-seat

constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

(41 in total), with a 5% threshold for single parties and 8% threshold for coalitions (requirements waived for national minorities). The election was the first one to take place under a new Election Code which altered the electoral system in the Senate election from a plurality block voting to the

first-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

, with one member to be returned in each of the 100 single member constituencies. There were 25,993 precincts for 30,512,850 voters.

Election date

The date of the election, October 9, was set by the

President of Poland The president of Poland ( pl, Prezydent RP), officially the president of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), is the head of state of Poland. Their rights and obligations are determined in the Constitution of Pola ...

Bronisław Komorowski Bronisław Maria Komorowski (; born 4 June 1952) is a Polish politician and historian who served as President of Poland from 2010 to 2015. Komorowski served as Minister of Defence from 2000 to 2001. As Marshal of the Sejm, Komorowski exercis ...

, and announced on 4 July. The latest possible date for the election to be held was 30 October 2011, four years after the previous election. Prior to the announcement of the election date, the most likely dates were thought to be 16 October or 23 October. Although the governing coalition had a strong majority, it was suggested that the elections be brought forward to the spring, to avoid the campaign interrupting Poland's

Presidency of the Council of the European Union The presidency of the Council of the European Union is responsible for the functioning of the Council of the European Union, which is the co-legislator of the EU legislature alongside the European Parliament. It rotates among the member state ...

in the second half of the year. The idea was supported by the

Democratic Left Alliance The Democratic Left Alliance () was a social-democratic political party in Poland. It was formed in 9 July 1991 as an electoral alliance of centre-left parties, and became a single party on 15 April 1999. It was the major coalition party in Pol ...

and

Poland Comes First Poland Comes First ( pl, Polska jest Najważniejsza), also rendered as Poland is the Most Important, shortened to Poland First, and abbreviated to PJN, was a centre-right, conservative liberal, political party in Poland. It was formed as a more ...

, but firmly opposed by Law and Justice. The Civic Platform favoured an election date of 23 October. Since the State Electoral Commission decided that 30 October falls too close to the national holiday of

All Saints' Day All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all the saints of the church, whether they are kn ...

, and elections are always held on Sundays, 23 October was the latest possible date to hold the election. In the end, Komorowski decided on 9 October. The idea of holding the election over two days instead of the usual one, to increase turnout, was raised. An election over two days would have cost 130–140 million złoty, compared to 90 million for a one-day election. The single day election option prevailed.

Parties

Civic Platform (PO), the largest governing party under prime minister Donald Tusk, was seeking reelection. Opinion polls over the past four years had fairly consistently shown the PO to have the largest level of popular support among Poland's political parties. PO was seeking either to win majority government in its own right, or to continue its coalition with the smaller Polish People's Party (PSL). During the election campaign, prime minister Donald Tusk ruled out the possibility of a coalition with either Law and Justice or Palikot's Movement. Law and Justice Law and Justice (PiS), is Poland's second largest party as of 2007, and was the leading party of government from 2005–2007. PiS's greatest difficulty this election, was not only that it trailed PO in popular support, but that even if it were to outpoll the PO, it might have had difficulty in finding other parties willing to enter into a coalition with it. Jarosław Kaczyński had publicly denied the possibility of allying his party with the post-communist SLD and relations with the PSL (traditionally viewed by the media as an opportunist coalition partner, ready to form a coalition with everyone) were tense. This tension was exacerbated following PiS's spokesperson Adam Hofman's statement during the election campaign, in which he attacked PSL members in an abusive manner following the airing of the People's Party newest electoral TV ad. Democratic Left Alliance Poland's strongest left-wing party, the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) had struggled since 2005 to regain its position as one of the countries two largest parties. The SLD indicated its potential interest in being a coalition partner with PO following the election. Polish People's Party The Polish People's Party (PSL) is an agrarian-rooted party. It was the minority partner in a coalition government with PO. Although some opinion polls showed popular support for PSL to be dangerously close to the 5% electoral threshold, in the past PSL generally performed a little better than opinion polls indicated. It is widely seen as a coalition partner for every party that happens to need such. Palikot's Movement Palikot's Movement (Ruch Palikota), officially the Movement of Support (''Ruch Poparcia'', RP), is a breakaway faction of the PO that followed MP

Janusz Palikot Janusz Marian Palikot (; born 26 October 1964) is a Polish politician, activist and businessman. Palikot studied philosophy and became wealthy as a businessman who dealt with crates and distilled beverages (dealt with international trade with ta ...

after he had been expelled from the party for his "scandalous" remarks on late President Lech Kaczyński. The RP is distinctive on Poland's political scene in that it is the first party in the country's history that puts strong emphasis on its program's anticlerical features (the usual practice being that parties either try to win the Church's unofficial support or at least do not try to appear anti-Church) along with appeals for putting an end to the anti-abortion policy and introducing civil unions for same-sex couples. In terms of economy, the RP blends leftist and rightist ideas. Poland Comes First A new party on the Polish political scene, Poland Comes First (PJN), emerged as a splinter group from PiS, following the

2010 Polish presidential election Presidential elections were held in Poland on 20 June 2010. As no candidate received a majority of votes in the first round, a second round was held on 4 July 2010. Bronisław Komorowski, the acting President of Poland and vice-chairman of the C ...

. PJN's future parliamentary representation was uncertain, given that most opinion polls showed support levels for PJN to be below the 5% electoral threshold. The party had suffered an almost constant internal crisis since its very foundation that led many of its MPs to leave it for the other parties in Parliament, including the most famous one, chairwoman

Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska Joanna Grażyna Kluzik-Rostkowska (born 14 December 1963) is a Polish people, Polish politician and member of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, Sejm for Civic Platform. She was elected for Law and Justice 2007 Polish parliamentary election, in 2 ...

, who joined the PO. Commentators argue that the PJN failed to establish itself as a real alternative on the political scene, being widely perceived as nothing but a milder variant of the party it had once left. Other parties The only other party contesting all 41 electoral districts for the Sejm in 2011, was the Polish Labour Party (PPP). The remaining parties include

Congress of the New Right The Congress of the New Right ( pl, Kongres Nowej Prawicy, Nowa Prawica or just KNP) is an economically libertarian, socially conservative and Eurosceptic political party in Poland. The party was founded on 25 March 2011 by Janusz Korwin-Mikke ...

(KNP) (21 districts),

Right of the Republic The Right Wing of the Republic ( pl, Prawica Rzeczypospolitej) is a political party in Poland founded by former ''Marshal of the Sejm'' Marek Jurek on 20 April 2007 after he had left Law and Justice on 16 April 2007, when the Sejm failed to pass ...

(PR) (20 districts), Our Homeland Poland (NDP) (9 districts) and German Minority group (MN) (1 district). With the exception of the German Minority group (which as an ethnic minority party is exempt from the 5% election threshold requirement), these parties were not expected to poll the required 5% to enter the Sejm. Some other minor parties, had decided not to contest the elections independently, opting instead to negotiate a place for their candidates on the electoral lists of the larger parties. This strategy had worked for some minor parties in past elections, and seen them get some of their candidates elected in this way.

Campaign

Tusk campaigned on a platform that drew on the record of its economic success during the previous government. He also said that he would pursue a "steady rapprochement" with Russia, in spite of prior rows over missile defence, gas pipelines and the inquiry into the

plane crash An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the ''intention of fl ...

that killed Poland's former president in 2010. Conversely the Law and Justice Party had been distrustful of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Monitors

Various delegations from the electoral boards and of political party representatives from Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, due to hold their own free elections in the coming months, monitored the election in Warsaw, Radom and Płock at the invitations of the Foreign Ministry, as Deputy Foreign Minister

Krzysztof Stanowski Krzysztof Stanowski (born April 12, 1959 in Lublin) is a Polish civic leader and educator. Member and one of the leaders of underground Solidarity in Lublin region after governmental crackdown on Solidarity after the martial law in Poland. For ...

said that "I hope the climax of our help comes when he countries’ policymakersbegin discussing the constitution, reforms in economy and local government." Rania Mbarki, from a local election commission in Tunis, said that "it’s obligatory to stand in the voting booth before putting pen to paper. Here, the ballot papers are marked on tables with families around. There is a discussion. In our country it’s confidential, we can’t say what we have chosen, you can’t show what you have chosen, so this is different for us;" while Mounira Belghouthi, from a local election board in Kairouan, added that the advanced voting machines were more technologically advanced than in Tunisia and they sought to get an idea its usage.

Opinion polls

Opinion polls in the Polish parliamentary election, 2011 were first recorded on 16 May 2010 and culminated before election day on 9 October. The two largest parties, Civic Platform and the Law and Justice Party, reported significant declines in favourability; however, the former's breakaway Palikot Movement recorded a stellar rise, with little changes for the others.

Results

Wybory parlamentarne 2011 zabory powiaty

With all votes counted, voter turnout was 48.92%. In the Sejm, Poznań recorded the highest turnout of 60.2% and Elbląg recorded the lowest turnout with 41.24%. The valid votes were 95.48% of the ballots. In the Senate, voter turnout was 48.92% with one of Warszawa I's seats recording the highest turnout of 73.61% and Opole recording the lowest turnout with 38.1%. The valid votes were 96.57% of the ballots. The Civic Platform party won a plurality with 207 seats in the ''Sejm'', followed by the Law and Justice Party with 157 seats. The breakaway Palikot Movement won 40 seats and the second biggest incumbent coalition party, the Polish People's Party, won 28 seats. The Democratic Left Alliance got 27 seats. In the Senate, Civic Platform won an absolute majority with 63 seats, while Law & Justice came away with 31. The only other party to achieve Senate representation was the Polish People's Party, which won 2 seats. Four independents were also elected.

Sejm

Party breakdown

, - style="background-color:#C0DBFC; text-align:center;" ! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" , Parties and coalitions ! Votes ! % ! Seats , - , rowspan="4" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 5,123,486 , 35.66 , 191 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 491,259 , 3.42 , 16 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Social Democracy of Poland The Social Democracy of Poland ( pl, Socjaldemokracja Polska, SDPL) is a social-democratic political party in Poland. Foundation The party was founded in April 2004 as a splinter group from the post-communist Democratic Left Alliance (SLD). Th ...

, 13,716 , 0.10 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Democratic Party – demokraci.pl The Democratic Party ( pl, Partia Demokratyczna – demokraci.pl), abbreviated to PD, was a minor social-liberal political party in Poland. It had no members of the Sejm, Senate, or European Parliament. Its foundation was publicly announced o ...

, 1,312 , 0.01 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 5,629,773 , 39.18 , 207 , - , rowspan="6" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Law and Justice , 3,545,517 , 24.67 , 132 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 679,793 , 4.73 , 23 , - , style="background-color:#FF0000;", , style="text-align:left;", National-Catholic Movement , 48,647 , 0.34 , 1 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Movement for Reconstruction of Poland Movement for the Reconstruction of Poland ( pl, Ruch Odbudowy Polski, ROP) was a conservative political party in Poland. It participated in the 1997 parliamentary election for the Sejm, where it received 5.6% of the vote, electing six represent ...

, 10,999 , 0.08 , 1 , - , style="background-color:#008000;", , style="text-align:left;",

Piast Faction Piast Faction ( pl, Stronnictwo Piast, SP), informally Piast Party, formerly Polish People's Party "Piast" ( pl, Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe Piast, PSL Piast); is a political party founded in 2006. Piast refers to the medieval Piast dynasty, Pola ...

, 8,678 , 0.06 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#021C72;", , style="text-align:left;",

Right Wing of the Republic The Right Wing of the Republic ( pl, Prawica Rzeczypospolitej) is a political party in Poland founded by former ''Marshal of the Sejm'' Marek Jurek on 20 April 2007 after he had left Law and Justice on 16 April 2007, when the Sejm failed to pass ...

* , 1,382 , 0.01 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 4,295,016 , 29.89 , 157 , - , rowspan="6" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Palikot's Movement Your Movement ( pl, Twój Ruch, which can also be translated as ''Your Move'', TR) is a social liberal, populist and anti-clerical political party in Poland. The party was founded by Janusz Palikot, a former Civic Platform MP, in October 2010 ...

, 1,011,558 , 7.04 , 34 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 310,325 , 2.16 , 4 , - , style="background-color:#000000;", , style="text-align:left;", Reason of the Polish Left , 94422 , 0.66 , 1 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

* , 19,451 , 0.14 , 1 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 1,614 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

* , 1,534 , 0.01 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 1,439,490 , 10.02 , 40 , - , rowspan="2" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 966,426 , 6.73 , 27 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 235,105 , 1.64 , 1 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 1,201,628 , 8.36 , 28 , - , rowspan="14" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 947,056 , 6.59 , 27 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 164,830 , 1.15 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Labour Union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (su ...

, 20,059 , 0.14 , 0 , - , style="background-color:blue;", , style="text-align:left;", Women's Party , 13,751 , 0.10 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Greens 2004 The Greens ( pl, Partia Zieloni, PZ) is a political party in Poland. It was formed in 2003 under the name "Greens 2004" and formally registered itself in February 2004. It supports principles of green politics, and it is positioned on the ce ...

, 12,445 , 0.09 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 11,279 , 0.08 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#007FFF;", , style="text-align:left;",

National Party of Retirees and Pensioners National Party of Retirees and Pensioners ( pl, Krajowa Partia Emerytów i Rencistów, KPEiR) is a minor political party in Poland. The main goal of KPEiR is protecting retired seniors, pensioners and trust-busting. The current leader (Prezes, P ...

, 7,326 , 0.05 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 5,040 , 0.04 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#0000FF;", , style="text-align:left;", Movement for Economic Revival , 1,035 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#FFFF00;", , style="text-align:left;",

Party of Regions The Party of Regions ( uk, Партія регіонів, Partiia rehioniv, ; russian: Партия регионов, Partiya regionov) was a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine formed in late 1997 that then grew to be the biggest party of U ...

, 598 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#FF0000;", , style="text-align:left;", Polish Communist Party , 518 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party ( pl, Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS) is a socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most important parties in Poland from its inception in 1892 until its merger with the communist Polish Workers' ...

, 360 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#000000;", , style="text-align:left;", Reason of the Polish Left , 312 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Samoobrona Rzeczpospolitej Polskiej, SRP) is a nationalist, populist, and agrarian political party and trade union in Poland. Its platform combines left-wing populist economic policies with religio ...

* , 190 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 1,184,303 , 8.24 , 27 , - , rowspan="10" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 192,283 , 1.34 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 120,476 , 0.84 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Alliance of Democrats , 530 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

* , 516 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#000000;", , style="text-align:left;", National People's Movement , 382 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#4B61D1;", , style="text-align:left;", Conservative People's Party , 286 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", League of Polish Families , 265 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#007FFF;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 260 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Law and Justice* , 239 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#800020;", , style="text-align:left;", Union of Polish Monarchist Groups , 156 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 315,393 , 2.19 , 0 , - , rowspan="5" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 78,359 , 0.55 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 69,133 , 0.48 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Real Politics Union The Real Politics Union ( pl, Unia Polityki Realnej, UPR) is a national conservative and economically liberal political party in Poland. In the past it was right-libertarian and classical liberal. Popular support and funding UPR was founded in ...

, 3,310 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#027502;", , style="text-align:left;", Party of Greens of the Republic of Poland , 907 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", League of Polish Families , 128 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 151,837 , 1.06 , 0 , - , rowspan="3" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 44,217 , 0.31 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Polish Labour Party - August 80 , 31857 , 0.22 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Self-Defence Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in ...

* , 3,012 , 0.02 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 79,147 , 0.55 , 0 , - , rowspan="10" style="background-color:#021C72;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 19,964 , 0.14 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#021C72;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 10,884 , 0.08 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 3,267 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#008000;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 370 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", League of Polish Families , 360 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#B80000;", , style="text-align:left;", Europe of the Free Homelands , 65 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#FF0000;", , style="text-align:left;", Polish Nation Organization – Polish League , 59 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#11119c;", , style="text-align:left;",

Christian Democracy of the 3rd Polish Republic ''Chrześcijańska Demokracja III Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej'' (; abbreviated ''ChD III RP'' or ''ChDRP''; en, Christian Democracy of the 3rd Polish Republic) is a Polish political party that was created in 1997 by former Solidarity leader and Po ...

, 41 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#949292;", , style="text-align:left;", Polish Agreement , 31 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#083A7F;", , style="text-align:left;", Labour Faction , 18 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:#021C72; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 35,169 , 0.24 , 0 , - , rowspan="1" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 28,014 , 0.19 , 1 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 28,014 , 0.19 , 1 , - , rowspan="4" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 7,102 , 0.05 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 2,552 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", League of Polish Families , 60 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#FF3300;", , style="text-align:left;", Patriotic Poland , 19 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 9,733 , 0.07 , 0 , - , colspan="6" style="background-color:#E9E9E9;", , - style="font-weight:bold;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", Total , 14,369,503 , 100 , 460 , - , colspan="6" style="text-align:left;", Source
Pliki Do Pobrania Okręgi wyborcze National Electoral Commission
* – individual members running on lists different from their own parties

Senate

Reactions

Civic Platform's Donald Tusk said of the victory that: "It is the highest honour for me and for Civic Platform that we will be working for the next four years for all of you, regardless of who you voted for today. In the next four years we will work twice as hard." The Law and Justice Party's Jaroslaw Kaczynski conceded defeat. Polish financial markets reacted positively to the outcome, while the zloty rose.

Analysis

The Civic Platform was considered to be the big winner of the election, being the only Polish political party to have achieved reelection over the past 20 years of democratic elections. Further to that, PO saw only a very small voter swing against it (-2.3%) and a loss of only two seats from its 2007 outcome which was a record result. The other big winner, was the newly established Palikot Movement, which managed to poll double figures (10%) to come in at third place, ahead of PSL and SLD, both of which were longstanding established parties. Opinion polls, of only a month or so prior to the election, had Palikot's Movement at around 2% of the vote, well below the election threshold. The Polish People's Party (8.4%) managed to hang on to its support base (despite some opinion polls suggesting that they would struggle to achieve the threshold), allowing it to continue its coalition with PO, and maintain its level of representation in the new government. On the other hand, Law and Justice was one of the big losers in the election. PiS was seeking to defeat PO, but failed to even lift its own vote (falling from over 32% in 2007 to less than 30% in 2011). The other big loser was the Democratic Left Alliance, which for the first time in its history failed to achieve a result above 10% (2001 -40%, 2005 - 11%, 2007 - 13%). It was the first time in which SLD fell to fifth place in party results, and the first time in which it polled below the Polish People's Party. Poland Comes First, failed to capture the middle ground between the two major parties, as it was hoping to do, and lost all of its parliamentary seats, achieving only a very modest 2.2% of the vote. ''

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'' said of the victory for Civic Platform that, as Poland was the only EU country to avoid a recession in 2009, it could continue with its economic initiatives such as consolidating the budget with an expected shortfall and also to avoid austerity measures that many other EU countries have been forced to endure. It also added that the success of the breakaway Palikot movement, coupled with the People Party's reluctance to support some policies, could provide a counterweight to keeping Civic Platform from getting complacent.

Government formation

Following Civic Platform's victory, Tusk said that his party's coalition alliance with the smaller Polish People's Party would continue. Tusk also declared that his ministry would remain unchanged for the remainder of the year, citing the fact that this was the preferable course of action given Poland's presidency of the EU, which continues to the end of the year.

Notes

References

External links

NSD: European Election Database - Poland
publishes regional level election data; allows for comparisons of election results, 1990–2011 {{Elections in Poland

Parliamentary elections in Poland 2011 elections in Poland