The Polish general election of 1991
1992; Elsevier BV; Volume: 11; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/0261-3794(92)90038-8
ISSN1873-6890
Autores Tópico(s)Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics
ResumoWhen the first results of Poland's 1993 election became available, the international media carried numerous stories in which puzzled commentators wondered how the birthplace of Solidarity and the first country in Eastern Europe to make a negotiated transition from communism to democracy could have returned the former communists back to power. Indeed, there was good reason for the puzzlement: the successor to the communist party and its former agrarian satellite won nearly two-thirds of the seats in the Sejm, the lower House of Parliament. In terms of the absolute number of votes, both the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) and the Polish Peasants' Party (PSL) doubled their 1991 electorates. The parties of the right, in contrast, were practically eliminated from parliament.There can be no doubt that a 'swing to the left' had taken place in the 1993 election, although its strength tended to be overrated in the early press reports. The post-communist left won approximately 36 per cent of the popular vote; groups with roots in the Solidarity movement won more than 40 per cent. What turned the election into an apparent landslide was the post-communists' correct reading of the new electoral law. They realized that the law's 5 per cent threshold (8 per cent for coalitions) would doom small parties. Despite internal tensions and conflicts, the SLD and the PSL went to the polls as large, disciplined organizations. The small parties of the centre and the right chose instead the risky strategy of going to the polls on their own. Most of them failed to clear the thresholds.
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