SENAT RP JAKO EFEKT KOMPROMISU „OKRĄGŁEGO STOŁU”
THE SENATE OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND AS THE RESULT OF THE POLISH ROUND TABLE COMPROMISE

Summary/Abstract: The objective of the present article is to systematize the knowledge about the political conditions that in 1989 were decisive for the restoration of the Senate with quite limited powers. The reasoning consists of an introduction, two main parts listed in chronological order, and a conclusion. The article presents the concepts of reactivation of the second chamber of parliament, which usually appeared in the years of Polish sociopolitical crises, and then goes on to present the political and constitutional effect of negotiations on the Senate at the "Polish round table". The main result of the research carried out is the fact that the 1989 Senate decision, part of the consensus enabling the "Polish round table" agreement to be reached, resulted in fully democratic elections to the Second House, in which the political opposition won 99 out of 100 senatorial seats. The success of "Solidarity" did not have any real impact on the practice of governance, because (apart from the election of the president) the Senate had no major influence on the then existing system of power. However, the unprecedented victory of the opposition in this election undoubtedly gave an impulse to take steps to establish the cabinet of Tadeusz Mazowiecki - the first non-communist prime minister, who initiated the political process of establishing democracy and a free market economy.

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