Executive branch:
chief of state: President Lech KACZYNSKI (since 23 December 2005)
head of government: Prime Minister Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI (since 10 July
2006); Deputy Prime Ministers Ludwik DORN (since 23 November 2005),
Roman GIERTYCH (since 5 May 2006), Zyta GILOWSKA (since 22 September
2006), Andrzej LEPPER (since 16 October 2006)
cabinet: Council of Ministers responsible to the prime minister and
the Sejm; the prime minister proposes, the president appoints, and
the Sejm approves the Council of Ministers
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term
(eligible for a second term); election last held 9 and 23 October
2005 (next to be held fall 2010); prime minister and deputy prime
ministers appointed by the president and confirmed by the Sejm
election results: Lech KACZYNSKI elected president; percent of
popular vote - Lech KACZYNSKI 54%, Donald Tusk 46%
Legislative branch:
bicameral legislature consisting of an upper house, the Senate or
Senat (100 seats; members are elected by a majority vote on a
provincial basis to serve four-year terms), and a lower house, the
Sejm (460 seats; members are elected under a complex system of
proportional representation to serve four-year terms); the
designation of National Assembly or Zgromadzenie Narodowe is only
used on those rare occasions when the two houses meet jointly
elections: Senate - last held 25 September 2005 (next to be held by
September 2009); Sejm elections last held 25 September 2005 (next to
be held by September 2009)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by
party - PiS 49, PO 34, LPR 7, SO 3, PSL 2, independents 5; Sejm -
percent of vote by party - PiS 27%, PO 24.1%, SO 11.4%, SLD 11.3%,
LPR 8%, PSL 7%, other 11.2%; seats by party - PiS 155, PO 133, SO
56, SLD 55, LPR 34, PSL 25, German minorities 2
note: two seats are assigned to ethnic minority parties in the Sejm
only
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president on the
recommendation of the National Council of the Judiciary for an
indefinite period); Constitutional Tribunal (judges are chosen by
the Sejm for nine-year terms)
Political parties and leaders:
Catholic-National Movement or RKN [Antoni MACIEREWICZ]; Civic
Platform or PO [Donald TUSK]; Conservative Peasants Party or SKL
[Artur BALASZ]; Democratic Left Alliance or SLD [Wojciech
OLEJNICZAK]; Democratic Party or PD [Janusz ONYSZKIEWICZ]; Dom
Ojczysty (Fatherland Home); German Minority of Lower Silesia or MNSO
[Henryk KROLL]; Law and Justice or PiS [Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI]; League
of Polish Families or LPR [Roman GIERTYCH]; Peasant-Democratic Party
or PLD [Roman JAGIELINSKI]; Polish Accord or PP [Jan LOPUSZANSKI];
Polish Peasant Party or PSL [Waldemar PAWLAK]; Ruch Patriotyczny or
RP [Jan OLSZEWSKI]; Samoobrona or SO [Andrzej LEPPER]; Social
Democratic Party of Poland or SDPL [Marek BOROWSKI]; Social Movement
or RS [Krzysztof PIESIEWICZ]; Union of Labor or UP [Andrzej
SPYCHALSKI]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
All Poland Trade Union Alliance or OPZZ (trade union) [Jan GUZ];
Roman Catholic Church [Cardinal Jozef GLEMP]; Solidarity Trade Union
[Janusz SNIADEK]
International organization participation:
ACCT (observer), Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BIS,
BSEC (observer), CBSS, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EU, FAO,
IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF,
IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC,
NAM (guest), NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW,
OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE,
UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate),
WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Janusz REITER chancery: 2640 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 234-3800 through 3802 FAX: [1] (202) 328-6271 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Victor ASHE embassy: Aleje Ujazdowskie 29/31 00-540 Warsaw mailing address: American Embassy Warsaw, US Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5010 (pouch) telephone: [48] (22) 504-2000 FAX: [48] (22) 504-2688 consulate(s) general: Krakow
Flag description:
two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red; similar to the
flags of Indonesia and Monaco which are red (top) and white
Economy Poland