1997 Polish parliamentary election
Sejm
Turnout 47.93% ( 4.15pp )
Majority party
Minority party
Third party
Leader
Marian Krzaklewski
Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz
Leszek Balcerowicz
Party
AWS
SLD
UW
Last election
Did not exist
20.4%, 171 seats
14.6%, 74 seats*
Seats won
201
164
60
Seat change
New
7
14
Popular vote
4,427,373
3,551,224
1,749,518
Percentage
33.8%
27.1%
13.4%
Swing
New
6.7pp
1.2pp*
Fourth party
Fifth party
Sixth party
Leader
Waldemar Pawlak
Jan Olszewski
Henryk Kroll
Party
PSL
ROP
KWMN
Last election
1,5.4% 132 seats
Did not exist
0.7%, 4 seats
Seats won
27
6
2
Seat change
105
New
2
Popular vote
956,184
727,072
51,027
Percentage
7.3%
5.6%
0.4%
Swing
8.1pp
New
0.3pp
Seats won by Sejm District
Senate
All 100 seats in the Senate 51 seats needed for a majorityTurnout 47.83% ( 4.27pp )
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 21 September 1997. All 460 members of the Sejm and 100 senators of the Senate were elected. The liberal conservative party Solidarity Electoral Action won the most seats in both chambers of parliament and formed a coalition government with the Freedom Union , another liberal party. The elections were a major setback for the Democratic Left Alliance and the Polish People's Party , which were forced out of government.
Party Votes % Seats +/– Solidarity Electoral Action 4,427,373 33.83 201 New Democratic Left Alliance 3,551,224 27.13 164 –7 Freedom Union 1,749,518 13.37 60 –14 Polish People's Party 956,184 7.31 27 –105 Movement for Reconstruction of Poland 727,072 5.56 6 New Labour Union 620,611 4.74 0 –41 National Party of Retirees and Pensioners 284,826 2.18 0 New Real Politics Union 266,317 2.03 0 0 National Alliance of Retirees and Pensioners [pl ] 212,826 1.63 0 New National Christian Bloc for Poland [pl ] 178,395 1.36 0 New German Minority Electoral Committee 51,027 0.39 2 –2 Germans of Katowice Province 16,724 0.13 0 – Słowiańska MN RP-Prawosławni 13,632 0.10 0 – Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland 10,073 0.08 0 0 Polska Wspólnota Narodowa [pl ] 8,590 0.07 0 – Germans of the Częstochowa Province 6,206 0.05 0 – MN "Pojednanie i Przyszlość" 3,663 0.03 0 – MN Województwa Olsztyńskiego 1,729 0.01 0 – Niezależna i bezpartyjna 924 0.01 0 – Sojusz Ludzi "Polska Praca Sprawiedliwość" 703 0.01 0 – Stow. MN Województwa Elbląskiego 614 0.00 0 – Total 13,088,231 100.00 460 0 Valid votes 13,088,231 96.12 Invalid/blank votes 528,147 3.88 Total votes 13,616,378 100.00 Registered voters/turnout 28,409,054 47.93 Source: Nohlen & Stöver
Constituency
Turnout
AWS
SLD
UW
PSL
ROP
MN
UP
Others
Lead
%
Seats
%
Seats
%
Seats
%
Seats
%
Seats
%
Seats
%
1 – Warsaw I
60.86
31.88
6
25.90
5
21.73
4
0.94
0
9.16
2
-
-
4.98
5.41
5.98
2 – Warsaw II
49.14
40.15
4
19.00
2
15.30
1
5.76
0
8.30
1
-
-
4.48
7.01
21.15
3 – Biała Podlaska
46.72
35.39
1
19.84
1
5.86
0
18.17
1
6.88
0
-
-
4.08
9.78
15.55
4 – Białystok
52.12
44.29
5
24.89
2
7.16
0
3.48
0
5.64
0
-
-
4.42
10.12
19.40
5 – Bielsko-Biała
56.15
43.01
5
21.06
2
15.59
2
4.83
0
4.80
0
-
-
3.82
6.89
21.95
6 – Bydgoszcz
48.16
27.62
4
36.99
5
11.50
1
6.42
1
4.46
0
-
-
4.36
8.65
9.37
7 – Chełm
39.26
23.89
1
28.66
2
7.91
0
12.83
0
8.96
0
-
-
4.58
13.17
4.77
8 – Ciechanów
38.40
28.73
1
29.69
2
6.86
0
14.49
1
6.55
0
-
-
5.67
8.01
0.96
9 – Częstochowa
45.01
30.60
3
31.36
4
9.84
1
6.48
0
4.82
0
-
-
5.37
11.53
0.76
10 – Elbląg
40.97
26.26
2
33.92
2
12.70
1
6.42
0
5.97
0
-
-
6.15
8.58
7.66
11 – Gdańsk
55.01
50.10
9
20.20
4
13.45
2
2.08
0
4.85
0
-
-
3.00
6.32
29.90
12 – Gorzów Wielkopolski
42.88
25.68
2
35.23
2
14.14
1
8.65
0
3.07
0
-
-
6.89
6.34
9.55
13 – Jelenia Góra
44.86
27.58
2
35.70
2
12.39
1
3.47
0
3.87
0
-
-
9.31
7.68
8.12
14 – Kalisz
48.76
26.12
2
32.56
3
11.62
1
12.26
1
4.48
0
-
-
6.44
6.52
6.44
15 – Sosnowiec
48.80
22.51
3
44.67
6
12.23
1
2.96
0
3.62
0
-
-
6.58
7.43
22.16
16 – Katowice
44.53
31.99
7
26.92
5
22.52
4
3.11
0
3.26
0
-
-
4.39
7.81
5.07
17 – Gliwice
45.63
34.77
6
23.10
4
17.30
3
2.65
0
5.04
1
-
-
4.41
11.73
10.67
18 – Kielce
41.79
24.61
4
31.81
5
10.41
1
14.72
2
5.31
0
-
-
5.95
7.19
7.20
19 – Konin
48.76
27.66
2
30.56
2
9.63
0
12.51
1
5.03
0
-
-
6.14
8.47
2.90
20 – Koszalin
41.70
22.22
1
36.11
3
14.22
1
4.35
0
4.33
0
-
-
4.92
13.85
13.89
21 – Kraków
53.48
40.76
7
17.64
3
20.60
3
4.23
0
4.84
0
-
-
3.13
8.80
20.16
22 – Krosno
52.79
47.20
4
15.58
1
7.60
0
7.03
0
10.02
0
-
-
3.69
8.88
31.62
23 – Legnica
44.35
32.49
2
34.88
3
10.75
0
4.80
0
3.93
0
-
-
5.47
7.68
2.39
24 – Leszno
47.98
25.77
2
33.89
2
12.67
0
11.47
0
2.84
0
-
-
5.19
8.17
8.12
25 – Lublin
47.06
35.41
4
23.19
3
9.14
1
11.64
1
8.82
1
-
-
5.31
6.49
12.22
26 – Łomża
46.41
47.13
3
13.96
1
5.47
0
11.43
0
11.02
0
-
-
4.26
6.73
33.17
27 – Łódź
50.11
28.84
4
37.07
5
14.83
2
1.80
0
6.44
0
-
-
4.28
6.74
8.23
28 – Nowy Sącz
56.57
56.03
5
10.51
1
9.91
1
7.17
0
3.48
0
-
-
2.23
10.67
45.52
29 – Olsztyn
42.49
25.86
3
33.40
4
15.16
1
5.68
0
5.61
0
-
-
5.74
8.55
7.54
30 – Opole
42.19
25.50
3
22.26
3
13.83
2
4.92
0
4.80
0
16.96
2
4.97
6.76
3.24
31 – Ostrołęka
42.23
35.45
2
18.04
1
8.23
0
15.97
1
9.23
0
-
-
4.05
9.03
17.41
32 – Piła
49.81
22.80
1
40.08
3
12.59
1
7.43
0
4.59
0
-
-
3.72
8.79
17.28
33 – Piotrków Trybunalski
42.59
28.99
3
26.84
2
9.21
1
14.11
1
7.73
0
-
-
4.57
8.55
2.15
34 – Płock
41.29
23.15
2
30.79
2
8.38
0
21.26
1
4.82
0
-
-
3.73
7.87
7.64
35 – Poznań
53.26
26.95
5
31.35
6
18.31
3
4.71
0
3.23
0
-
-
6.80
8.65
4.4
36 – Przemyśl
52.15
43.78
3
15.44
1
7.85
0
13.64
0
5.13
0
-
-
2.70
11.46
28.34
37 – Radom
43.56
32.50
3
22.05
2
10.09
1
14.35
1
8.41
1
-
-
4.18
8.42
10.45
38 – Rzeszów
59.81
57.81
6
13.58
1
6.10
0
9.14
1
5.48
0
-
-
2.56
5.33
44.23
39 – Siedlce
40.40
34.73
3
20.80
2
6.02
0
20.59
2
6.69
0
-
-
3.65
7.52
13.93
40 – Sieradz
42.35
24.96
1
29.36
2
8.81
0
16.74
1
5.79
0
-
-
6.84
7.50
4.4
41 – Skierniewice
41.78
25.49
2
24.51
1
9.65
0
19.58
1
6.60
0
-
-
3.80
10.37
0.98
42 – Słupsk
42.46
25.97
2
35.05
2
12.83
0
7.22
0
3.94
0
-
-
5.69
9.30
9.08
43 – Suwałki
40.80
33.34
3
27.04
2
10.57
0
8.99
0
5.38
0
-
-
6.05
8.63
6.30
44 – Szczecin
45.16
28.24
4
34.87
4
17.28
2
3.09
0
3.55
0
-
-
5.07
7.90
6.63
45 – Tarnobrzeg
46.44
39.29
3
23.73
2
7.11
0
11.60
1
8.00
0
-
-
2.80
7.47
15.56
46 – Tarnów
53.68
51.48
5
12.20
1
9.19
0
11.91
1
4.88
0
-
-
3.47
6.87
39.28
47 – Toruń
43.91
28.41
3
32.71
3
14.09
1
7.16
0
4.49
0
-
-
5.28
7.86
4.3
48 – Wałbrzych
45.31
27.69
3
38.36
4
11.65
1
3.86
0
3.98
0
-
-
6.68
7.78
10.67
49 – Włocławek
40.41
25.16
1
38.35
3
7.42
0
10.83
0
5.87
0
-
-
6.19
6.18
13.19
50 – Wrocław
60.86
33.02
5
25.96
4
20.65
3
4.04
0
5.08
0
-
-
4.57
6.68
7.06
51 – Zamość
46.05
33.43
2
18.95
1
5.26
0
24.58
2
8.45
0
-
-
3.35
5.98
8.85
52 – Zielona Góra
44.90
28.59
3
37.37
3
11.70
1
6.87
0
3.20
0
-
-
5.73
6.54
8.78
National list
-
-
29
-
23
-
11
-
6
-
-
-
-
-
-
Poland
47.93
33.83
201
27.13
164
13.37
60
7.31
27
5.56
6
0.39
2
4.74
7.67
6.70
Results of the Sejm election, showing vote strength by electoral district.
Results of the Sejm election, showing vote strength by powiats (in 1999 borders).
Party Votes % Seats +/– Solidarity Electoral Action 6,550,176 25.25 51 New Democratic Left Alliance 6,091,721 23.48 28 –9 Freedom Union 2,943,527 11.35 8 +4 Movement for Reconstruction of Poland 2,553,252 9.84 5 New Polish People's Party 1,819,176 7.01 3 –33 National Party of Retirees and Pensioners 1,112,129 4.29 0 New Real Politics Union 550,254 2.12 0 0 Labour Union 520,130 2.00 0 0 Local lists and independents 3,804,084 14.66 5 –5 Total 25,944,449 100.00 100 0 Valid votes 13,317,952 98.02 Invalid/blank votes 269,149 1.98 Total votes 13,587,101 100.00 Registered voters/turnout 28,409,054 47.83 Source: Nohlen & Stöver
Obwieszczenie Państwowej Komisji Wyborczej z dn. 25 IX 1997 r. , Monitor Polski . Nr 64, poz. 620
Obwieszczenie PKW z dn. 25 IX 1997 r. , M.P. Nr 64, poz. 621