Politics, constitution and administrative structure of Poland

The Government of Poland has a republican system with the power in the country belonging to the people. Poland has a democratic two-chamber parliamentary political system. The administrative division of Poland is voivodships. There are a total of sixteen of them. Each voivodship is in turn divided into powiats consisting of several communes. The main government is the President of the country. He is chosen by the people through a secret open voting process. Each President is allowed a term of five years. According to the law, citizens can re-elect the same candidate only once. It is the President of the country who represents Poland in the international arena, concludes international agreements, and also manages diplomatic appointees. The President is also the Commander-In-Chief of the country’s internal Armed Forces. At the same time, every law or act created by the President must compulsorily be signed by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers.

The main branch of the legislative arm of government in Poland is the National Assembly; it is a kind of Parliament which consists of two chambers. The upper chamber is called the Senate, and the lower one is called the Sejm. The Sejm has the most members comprising of a total of about 460 deputies. Office holders get into power according to the results of elections by a majority and proportional system. There are only a hundred Senators in the upper chamber. Each one of them is elected by the Polish people exclusively by the majority system. Thus all the desires of the citizens of the country are displayed in determining who comes into power. Each deputy of the assembly can be in office for only four years, after which re-elections are conducted. Any citizen of the country who is up to the age of 21 can submit his candidacy at the elections and become a deputy. On the other hand, it is possible to run for the post of a Senator only if you are up to 30 years of age. In order for a law to be passed in the lower house, it is necessary that at least half of all deputies are present at the passing of the bill, and the majority of them should also vote “for” the specific project or law. After that, the bill is sent to the Senate.

Within one month, Senators must either approve the bill or reject it. Also, Deputies of the Senate have the right to amend it and send for a second consideration. If the deadline was ignored, the bill approved by the Sejm automatically passes to the President for signing. From this moment on, the President must sign the law and send it to the press within three weeks. The Head of State has the opportunity to send a bill to Deputies of the lower house for reconsideration or to apply to the Constitutional Tribunal. If the bill is approved twice by the Sejm or the Tribunal recognizes the bill as legitimate and drafted according to the Constitution, then the President has no option but to sign the bill. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

All executive power is in the hands of the Government, which is called the Council of Ministers. The structure of the organization is standard: the head is the Chairman who has a number of profile ministers and some chairmen from important committees as his subordinates. The main duty of the Council of Ministers is to implement Poland’s domestic and foreign policies. In order for the Chairman to be elected, the Ministers themselves must put forward his candidacy and it is in the power of the President to approve or reject it. After this, the newly elected Chairman must provide the lower house with a full package of development of the Republic’s policy within two weeks at the maximum. If the ideas of the Chairman of the Council seem unworthy to the Sejm, then it has the right to reject this candidature and independently appoint a Head of the Council of Ministers.

The main political parties in Poland are the Civil Platform, Law and Justice, the Polish People’s Party, the Palikot’s Movement, and the Democratic Left Alliance. The Judiciary in the country is represented by a standard structure. The main judicial body is the Supreme Court. There are also local or specialized courts, with the military also included. All representatives of the highest courts are personally appointed by the President. They supervise the implementation of the Constitution of the relevant Constitutional Court. It should be noted that all the judges appointed by the President occupy their position for life. The judges however, are elected regularly.

Poland has a highly trained military base consisting of a land army, a navy, aviation and airborne units. Service in the Army is mandatory for every man in the country. The call up age is between 19 to 50 years. The standard service life is exactly one year. The foreign policy of the state is focused on maintaining and developing friendly relations with Western countries, particularly with the United States of America. Since Poland became a member of the European Union, its political and economic relations with the eastern countries, especially Russia, have ceased almost completely. Also, it is worth noting that for several years now, Poland has been an active member of the NATO alliance.