Poland flag Poland: Economic and Political Overview

The political framework of Poland

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders
President: Andrzej Duda (since 6th August, 2015)
Prime Minister: Mateusz Morawiecki (since 11th December, 2017)
Next Election Dates
Presidential: 2025
Senate: October 2023
Sejm: October 2023
Current Political Context
The ruling Eurosceptic Law and Justice Party (PiS) obtained the majority in the Sejm in the last elections but lost it in the Senate. Nevertheless, Morawiecki was confirmed as Prime Minister, and a new coalition agreement reached by PiS has marginally improved the stability of the ruling coalition.
The year 2022 was politically characterized by the Russian-Ukraine conflict. From the beginning of Russia’s invasion, Poland has supported Ukraine militarily, economically and socially, seeking the toughest possible sanctions on Russia and the isolation of the country. Accordingly, the government decided to raise the defence budget to 3% of GDP.
At the same time, tensions with the European Commission continued since billions of euros in funds from the EU Reconstruction Fund were blocked by the Commission, which accused the Polish authorities of restricting the independence of the judiciary. A new election is scheduled for the fall of 2023, with topics such as rising inflation and the war in Ukraine dominating the electoral campaign.
Main Political Parties
Poland is generally governed by a coalition government. The country's main parties/coalitions are:

- Law & Justice (PiS): centre-right, in the Government since November 2015, mildly euro-skeptic and based on a platform of law and order
- Civic Coalition (KO): centre-right, stronger electoral performance in northern and western regions
- Democratic Left Alliance (The Left) (SLD): centre-left, successor of the communist party, recast as a social democratic party
- Polish People' Party (PSL): Christian democratic, centrist, represents farming communities
- Confederation Liberty and Independence: far-right, populist
- Solidarity Poland (SP): right wing
- Agreement: Centre-Right, Conservative Liberalism
- German Minority Electoral Committee: represents the German minority in the lower house of the Polish parliament
- Modern: liberal
- Kukiz'15: right, anti-establishment
- Left Together (LR): left-wing, socialism, democratic
- National Movement (RN): Far-Right, Polish Nationalist
- KORWiN: right-wing
- Polish Initiative (IPL): progressivism, social democracy
- The Greens: green politics, progressivism
- Union Of European Democrats (UED): centre, social liberal

Other minor political parties:

- Congress Of New Right (KNP): Right-wing, libertarian
- Right Wing of The Republic ( PR) :Social-Conservatist
- Real Politics Union (UPR): Right Wing
- Labour United (UP): Centre-Left, social-democratic
- Your Movement (TR): liberal, typically described in media as libertarian or populist, represents minority groups in Polish society

Executive Power
The President is the head of State, elected by universal suffrage for a five year term. The Prime Minister is the head of the government. He is appointed by the President, an appointment which must be confirmed by the lower house of Parliament (as a general rule, he is the leader of the majority party or coalition), for a four-year term of office. The Prime Minister holds the executive power, which includes the enforcement of the law and the management of the country's current affairs. The Council of Ministers is proposed by the Prime Minister and approved by the lower house before being appointed by the President.
Legislative Power
The legislative power in Poland is bi-cameral. Parliament is composed of the Senate (upper house, which has 100 seats and whose members are elected by a majority vote on a provincial basis, for a four-year term of office) and of the Sejm (lower house, which has 460 seats and whose members are elected by a complex system of proportional representation, for a mandate of four years). The President has the right to veto legislation passed by Parliament, but the latter can supplant him by a majority of two thirds of the Sejm.
 

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

Definition:

The world rankings, published annually, measures violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position are assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire incorporating the main criteria (44 in total) to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. This questionnaire was sent to partner organisations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

World Rank:
64/180
 

Indicator of Political Freedom

Definition:

The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Ranking:
Free
Political Freedom:
2/7

Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House

 

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Latest Update: November 2023

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