2007 Polish parliamentary election in the context of Left and Democrats


2007 Polish parliamentary election in the context of Left and Democrats

⭐ Core Definition: 2007 Polish parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 21 October 2007. All 460 members of the Sejm and 100 senators of the Senate were elected. The largest opposition group, Civic Platform (PO), soundly defeated the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party and its allies. Throughout the campaign, polls showed conflicting results as to which of the two parties had the greater support, yet by the closing week the polls had swung in favour of Civic Platform. Three other political groups won the election into the Sejm, the centre-left Left and Democrats coalition, the agrarian Polish People's Party, and the tiny German Minority group. Law and Justice's former minor coalition partners, the League of Polish Families and the Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland suffered an enormous voter backlash, failing to cross the 5% electoral threshold in order to enter the Sejm. Consequently, both parties lost all of their seats.

Early elections were called after the Sejm voted for its dissolution, due to serious allegations of massive corruption on the part of Andrzej Lepper, leader of the Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland, whose party served as a junior coalition partner to the government of Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński. All 460 seats in the Sejm and all 100 seats in the Senate were up for election.

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2007 Polish parliamentary election in the context of Law and Justice

Law and Justice (Polish: Prawo i Sprawiedliwość [ˈpravɔ i ˌspravjɛˈdlivɔɕt͡ɕ] , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. The party is a member of European Conservatives and Reformists Group. Its chairman has been Jarosław Kaczyński since 18 January 2003.

It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct successor of the Centre Agreement after it split from the Solidarity Electoral Action (AWS). Despite a poor showing in the 2001 parliamentary election, where it came 4th, it would later win the 2005 presidential and parliamentary elections. Following this victory, PiS formed the Marcinkiewicz and Kaczyński governments. For a brief period, the governments included coalition ministers from the League of Polish Families and Self-Defence before collapsing in 2007. In the 2007 snap election, the rival Civic Platform (PO) emerged victorious and formed a coalition with the Polish People's Party. The coalition served two terms, retaining a majority in the 2011 parliamentary election. Law and Justice also lost the presidency following the death of president Lech Kaczński and many government officials in the Smolensk air disasteracting president Bronisław Komorowski of PO would be officially elected to the presidency in 2010, winning against Jarosław Kaczyński in the second round. Law and Justice concluded its period in the opposition in 2015, where it won an upset victory in the 2015 presidential election and an outright majority of seats in the 2015 parliamentary election, retaining its majority in 2019 and the presidency in 2020. It governed the country for 8 years, forming the Szydło and Morawiecki cabinets, until losing its parliamentary majority in 2023 and returning to an opposition despite winning the largest amount of seats. The party's candidate, Karol Nawrocki, scored another upset victory in the 2025 presidential election.

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2007 Polish parliamentary election in the context of Polish People's Party

The Polish People's Party (Polish: Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe, PSL) is a conservative 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 its name was changed to the present one in 1903. During the Second Polish Republic, the Polish People's Party was represented by a number of parties that held its name. They were all supportive of agrarian policies, although they spanned from the left-wing to the centre-right on the political spectrum. It was reformed to the People's Party shortly after the Sanacja regime took power. It took part in the formation of the Polish government-in-exile during the World War II, and after the war it was again reformed into the Polish People's Party, and soon after into the United People's Party. During the existence of the Polish People's Republic, it was seen as a satellite party of the ruling Polish United Workers' Party that promoted rural interests. After the fall of communism, it participated in the governments led by the Democratic Left Alliance. In the mid-2000s, it began shifting more to the centre-right and it adopted more conservative policies. It entered in the government again following the 2007 parliamentary election, and since 2015 it has served in the opposition. Since 2015, the party abandoned agrarianism and shifted towards an economically liberal and non-ideological character.

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2007 Polish parliamentary election in the context of League of Polish Families

The League of Polish Families (Polish: Liga Polskich Rodzin, pronounced [ˈli.ɡa ˈpɔl.skix ˈrɔ.d͡ʑin], LPR) is a social conservative political party in Poland, with many far-right elements in the past. The party's original ideology was that of the National Democracy movement which was headed by Roman Dmowski, however, in 2006 its leader Roman Giertych distanced himself from that heritage.

It was represented in the Polish parliament, forming part of the cabinet of Jarosław Kaczyński until the latter dissolved in September 2007. In the 2007 parliamentary election, it failed to gain the 5% threshold required to enter the Sejm and lost all its seats, even failing to cross the 3% threshold for eligibility to receive government funding. Since then, the party has become a minor political force, but continues to exist.

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2007 Polish parliamentary election in the context of Civic Platform

The Civic Platform (Polish: Platforma Obywatelska, PO) was a centre-right liberal conservative political party in Poland. The party's most prominent leader was Donald Tusk, party chairman between 2003–2014 and 2021–2025.

It was formed in 2001 by splinter factions from the Solidarity Electoral Action, the Freedom Union and the Conservative People's Party, and it later placed second in the 2001 Polish parliamentary election. It remained at the opposition until the 2007 Polish parliamentary opposition, when it overtook Law and Justice, won 209 seats, and Tusk was elected as Prime Minister of Poland. Following the Smolensk air disaster in 2010, Bronisław Komorowski served as acting president of Poland and later won the 2010 Polish presidential election. Tusk continued to serve as prime minister and leader of Civic Platform until he resigned in 2014 to assume the post of the president of the European Council. The party was defeated in the 2015 Polish parliamentary and presidential elections. It placed second in the 2019 Polish parliamentary election, and its 2020 Polish presidential election candidate, Rafał Trzaskowski, won 49% of the popular vote in the second round and lost the election to Andrzej Duda.

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