PRIME MINISTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND

(Redirected from Prime Minister of Poland)

The 'Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland' represents the Council of Ministers (the Cabinet) and directs their work, supervises territorial self-government within the guidelines and in ways described in the Constitution and other legislation, and acts as the superior for all government administration workers (heading the public service corps).
The full name of the office is the "Chairman of the Council of Minsters" (in Polish ''Prezes Rady Ministrów''), but this version is very rarely used in English. In Polish the office is usually called ''Premier''. Until 1922, the Prime Minister was called "President of the Ministers" (''Prezydent Ministrów'').
At the same time, the Prime Minister may fulfill the duties of a department head or a committee chairman. The Prime Minister may also be a Representative at the Sejm of the Republic of Poland. He cannot, however, hold the post of the President of the RP or any other high state office such as the Chairman of the NIK (Supreme Chamber of Control), Chairman of the NBP (National Bank of Poland) or a Civil Rights Spokesman (Ombudsman).
Designated Prime Minister is free to select his co-workers - members of the Council of Ministers. The cabinet he selects must be approved by the Sejm by granting him the vote of confidence. Ministerial nominations are signed and handed out by the President of the RP.
The Prime Minister and his ministers take the following pledge before the President of the RP: "Accepting the post of the Prime Minister I solemnly swear that I will faithfully follow the articles of the Constitution and other laws of the Republic of Poland, as well as the good of the Fatherland, and for me the well-being of its citizens will always be the supreme directive." The pledge may be finished with the words "So help me God."
Because of Poland's proportional representation system, Prime Ministers often rule with the support of a coalition of parties. These coalitions can collapse over political disagreements, causing the average term in office of a Polish Prime Minister to be rather short - since the full restoration of democracy in 1991, only one man, Jerzy Buzek, has served a full four-year term as Prime Minister. Other Prime Ministers have been forced to resign due to political scandals.
The Sejm grants the Council of Ministers vote of no confidence by a majority vote of the statutory number of Representatives at the motion put forward by at least 46 Representatives and naming a new candidate to the post of the Prime Minister (so called constructive vote of no confidence). Such motion can be put to vote not earlier than 7 days after it has been proposed. Second motion can be presented not earlier than three months from the date of submission of the prior motion. Second motion can be submitted before the period of three months expires if it is presented by at least 115 Representatives.
The Prime Minister dissolves the Council of Ministers at the first session of the newly elected Sejm, as well as in the case of: failure to pass by the Sejm of the vote of confidence for the Council of Ministers, passing of the vote of no confidence, or resignation for any other reasons.
Accepting the resignation of the Council of Ministers, the President of the Republic asks them to continue to perform their duties until the new Council of Ministers has been selected, thus preserving the continuity of government and control over the actions of the government administration.

Contents

History

List of Polish Prime Ministers

Prime Ministers of the 2nd Republic of Poland (1918 - 1939)

Prime Ministers of the People's Republic of Poland (1944 - 1989)

Prime Ministers of the 3rd Republic of Poland (since 1989)

See also

External links

History

List of Polish Prime Ministers

=== Prime Ministers of semi-independent Kingdom of Poland (Nov. 5 1916 - 1918) ===

No	Name and Surname	Term of office:
1	Jan Kucharzewski	December 7, 1917 - February 11, 1918
2	Antoni Ponikowski	February 27 1918 - April 4 1918
3	Jan Kanty Steczkowski	April 4 1918 - 1918 - October 2 1918
4	Józef Świerzyński	October 23, 1918 - November 3, 1918
5	Władysław Wróblewski	November 3 1918 - November 14 1918
6	Ignacy Daszyński	November 14 1918 - November 17 1918

Prime Ministers of the 2nd Republic of Poland (1918 - 1939)

No	Name and Surname	Term of office:
3	Ignacy Daszyński	November 6/7, 1918 - November 18, 1918
4	Jędrzej Moraczewski	November, 1918 - January, 1919
5	Ignacy Paderewski	January, 1919 - November, 1919
6	Leopold Skulski	December, 1919 - June, 1920
7	Władysław Grabski	June, 1920 - July, 1920
8	Wincenty Witos	July, 1920 - September, 1921
9	Antoni Ponikowski	September, 1921 - June, 1922
10	Artur Śliwiński	June, 1922 - July, 1922
11	Julian Nowak	July, 1922 - December, 1922
12	Władysław Sikorski	December, 1922 - May, 1923
13	Wincenty Witos	May, 1923 - December, 1923
14	Władysław Grabski	December, 1923 - November, 1925
15	Aleksander Skrzyński	November, 1925 - May, 1926
16	Wincenty Witos	May, 1926
17	Kazimierz Bartel	May, 1926 - September, 1926
18	Józef Piłsudski	October, 1926 - June, 1928
19	Kazimierz Bartel	June, 1928 - April, 1929
20	Kazimierz Świtalski	April, 1929 - December, 1929
21	Kazimierz Bartel	December, 1929 - March, 1930
22	Walery Sławek	March, 1930 - August, 1930
23	Józef Piłsudski	August, 1930 - December, 1930
24	Walery Sławek	December, 1930 - May, 1931
25	Aleksander Prystor	May, 1931 - May, 1933
26	Janusz Jędrzejewicz	May, 1933 - May, 1934
27	Leon Kozłowski	May, 1934 - March, 1935
28	Walery Sławek	March, 1935 - October, 1935
29	Marian Zyndram-Kościałkowski	October, 1935 - May, 1936
30	Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski	May, 1936 - September, 1939

=== Prime Ministers of Polish Government in Exile (1939 - 1990) ===

No	Name and Surname	Term of office:
31	Władysław Sikorski	September, 1939 - July, 1943
32	Stanisław Mikołajczyk	July, 1943 - November, 1944
33	Tomasz Arciszewski	November, 1944 - 1947
34	Tadeusz Komorowski	1947 - 1949
35	Tadeusz Tomaszewski	1949
36	Roman Odzierzyński	1949 - 1954
37	Jerzy Hryniewski	1954
38	Stanisław Mackiewicz	1954 - 1955
39	Hugon Hanke	1955
40	Antoni Pająk	1955 - 1956
41	Aleksander Zawisza	1956 - 1970
42	Zygmunt Muchniewski	1970 - 1972
43	Alfred Urbański	1972 - 1976
44	Kazimierz Sabbat	1976 - 1986
45	Edward Szczepanik	1986 - 1990

Prime Ministers of the People's Republic of Poland (1944 - 1989)

No	Name and Surname	Term of office:
46	Edward Osóbka-Morawski	July, 1944 - February, 1947
47	Józef Cyrankiewicz	February, 1947 - November, 1952
48	Bolesław Bierut	November, 1952 - March, 1954
49	Józef Cyrankiewicz	March, 1954 - December, 1970
50	Piotr Jaroszewicz	December, 1970 - February, 1980
51	Edward Babiuch	February, 1980 - August, 1980
52	Józef Pińkowski	September, 1980 - February, 1981
53	Wojciech Jaruzelski	February, 1981 - November, 1985
54	Zbigniew Messner	November, 1985 - September, 1988
55	Mieczysław Rakowski	September, 1988 - August, 1989
56	Czesław Kiszczak1	August, 1989

Prime Ministers of the 3rd Republic of Poland (since 1989)

No	Name and Surname	Term of office:
57	Tadeusz Mazowiecki	August 24, 1989 - December 14, 1990
58	Jan Krzysztof Bielecki	January 12, 1991 - December 5, 1991
59	Jan Olszewski	December 23, 1991 - June 5, 1992
60	Waldemar Pawlak1	June 5, 1992 - July 10, 1992
61	Hanna Suchocka	July 11, 1992 - October 25, 1993
62	Waldemar Pawlak	October 26, 1993 - March 6, 1995
63	Józef Oleksy	March 7, 1995 - February 7, 1996
64	Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz	February 7, 1996 - October 31, 1997
65	Jerzy Buzek	October 31, 1997 - October 19, 2001
66	Leszek Miller	October 19, 2001 - May 2, 2004
67	Marek Belka2	May 2, 2004 - October 31, 2005
68	Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz	October 31, 2005 - July 14, 2006
69	Jarosław Kaczyński	since July 14, 2006

:¹ - failed to form a cabinet
:² - after second try

See also

★ Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland

★ President of the Republic of Poland

★ List of Polish rulers

External links

★ The Chancellery of the Prime Minister