Contract Sejm

{{short description|Polish parliament elected in 1989}}

{{More footnotes|date=December 2015}}

{{Infobox legislative term

| name = Contract Sejm

| alt =Sejm and Senate Complex of Poland

| body = Parliament of Poland

| country = Poland

| meeting_place = Sejm building complex, Warsaw, Poland

| election = 4 and 18 June 1989

| government =

{{Switcher|Mazowiecki{{-}}(12 September 1989 – 12 January 1991)

:{{Color box|{{party color|Solidarity Citizens' Committee}}|border=silver}} OKP

:{{Color box|{{party color|Polish United Workers' Party}}|border=silver}} PZPR (until 1990)

:{{Color box|{{party color|United People's Party (Poland)}}|border=silver}} ZSL

:{{Color box|{{party color|Alliance of Democrats (Poland)}}|border=silver}} SD|Mazowiecki|{{ill|Cabinet of Jan Krzysztof Bielecki{{!}}Bielecki|pl|Rząd Jana Krzysztofa Bieleckiego}}{{-}}(12 January – 23 December 1991)

:{{Color box|{{party color|Solidarity Citizens' Committee}}|border=silver}} OKP

::{{Color box|{{party color|Liberal Democratic Congress}}|border=silver}} KLD

::{{Color box|{{party color|Centre Agreement}}|border=silver}} PC

::{{Color box|{{party color|Christian National Union}}|border=silver}} ZChN

:{{Color box|{{party color|Democratic Union (Poland)}}|border=silver}} UD

:{{Color box|{{party color|Alliance of Democrats (Poland)}}|border=silver}} SD|Bielecki}}

| term_start = {{Start date|1989|6|18|df=y}}

| term_end = {{End date|1991|11|24|df=y}}

| before = 9th term Sejm of the Polish People's Republic

| after = First Term Sejm

| website = {{URL|sejm.gov.pl/archiwum/kluby/kadencjax/kluby.htm|sejm.gov.pl}}
{{URL|senat.gov.pl}}

| chamber1 = Sejm

| chamber1_image = Poland_Sejm_1989.svg

| membership1 = 460 deputies

| control1 = {{ubli|PRON{{-}}(until 17 August 1989)|Solidarity (KO "S")-backed coalition{{-}}(from 17 August 1989)}}

| chamber1_leader1_type = Marshal of the Sejm

| chamber1_leader1 = Mikołaj Kozakiewicz, ZSL→PSL

| chamber1_leader2_type = Deputy Marshals of the Sejm

| chamber1_leader2 = {{ill|Teresa Dobielińska-Eliszewska|pl}}, SD
{{ill|Tadeusz Fiszbach|pl}}, PZPR→PUS
Olga Krzyżanowska, KO "S"→UD

| chamber2 = Senate

| chamber2_image = Poland_Senate_1989.svg

| membership2 = 100 Senators

| control2 = Solidarity Citizens' Committee supermajority

| chamber2_leader1_type = Marshal of the Senate

| chamber2_leader1 = Andrzej Stelmachowski, KO "S"

| chamber2_leader2_type = Deputy Marshals of the Senate

| chamber2_leader2 = Zofia Kuratowska, KO "S"{{-}}{{ill|Józef Ślisz|pl}}, KO "S"{{-}}{{ill|Andrzej Wielowieyski|pl}}, KO "S"

}}

{{Politics of Poland}}

Contract Sejm ({{langx|pl|Sejm kontraktowy}}) is a term commonly applied to the Sejm ("parliament") elected in the Polish parliamentary elections of 1989. The contract refers to an agreement reached by the Polish United Workers' Party and the Solidarność ("solidarity") movement during the Polish Round Table Agreement. The final agreement was signed on April 5, 1989. As a result, real political power was vested in a newly created bicameral legislature and in a president who would be the chief executive. Solidarność became a legitimate and legal political party.{{POV statement|date=December 2015}}

Perhaps the most important decision reached during the talks was to allow for partially free elections to be held in Poland. All seats to the newly created Senate of Poland were to be elected democratically, as were 161 seats (35 percent of the total) in Sejm. The remaining 65% of the seats were reserved for the Communist Party and its satellite parties. In addition, all 35 seats elected via the national electoral list were reserved for the Party's candidates provided they gained a certain quota of support. This was to ensure that the most notable leaders of the Party were elected.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

The outcome of the election was largely unpredictable. After all, Poland had not had a free and fair election since 1928, so there was little precedent to go by. It was clear that the Communists were unpopular, but there were no hard numbers as to how low support for them would actually fall. The Communist government still had control over most major media outlets and employed sports and television celebrities for candidates, as well as successful local personalities and businesspeople.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} Some members of the opposition were worried that such tactics would gain enough votes from the less educated segment of the population to give the Communists the legitimacy that they craved.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

The election of June 4, 1989 (and the second round of June 18) brought a landslide victory to Solidarność: 99% of all the seats in the Senate and all of the possible seats in the Sejm. Out of 100 seats in the Senate, 99 were won by Solidarity and 1 by an independent candidate. Out of 35 seats of the country-wide list, only one was gained by the Party candidate (Adam Zieliński) and one by a United People's Party satellite party candidate, while the remainder were taken by the Solidarity in the second run. Altogether, out of 161 seats eligible, Solidarity took 160.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

The turnout was surprisingly low: only 62.7% in the first round and 25% in the second.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} The outcome was a major surprise to both the Party and Solidarity. Only a few days before June 4 the party Central Committee was discussing the possible reaction of the Western world should Solidarity not win a single seat. At the same time the Solidarity leaders were trying to prepare some set of rules for the non-party MPs in a Communist-dominated parliament, as it was expected that the Solidarity would win not more than 20 seats.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

Although the elections were not entirely democratic,{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} they paved the way for the creation of Tadeusz Mazowiecki's cabinet and a peaceful transition to democracy, which was confirmed after the Polish parliamentary elections of 1991.

The Contract Sejm's opening session took place on 5 July 1989.{{cite web |date=1989-07-05 |title=Solidarity Takes Its Elected Place In The Parliament - New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/05/world/solidarity-takes-its-elected-place-in-the-parliament.html?scp=24&sq=poland&st=nyt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306213612/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/05/world/solidarity-takes-its-elected-place-in-the-parliament.html?scp=24&sq=poland&st=nyt |archive-date=2016-03-06 |accessdate=2011-11-12 |work=The New York Times}}