1997 Polish parliamentary election

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.

1997 Polish parliamentary election

← 1993 21 September 1997 2001 →
Sejm
All 460 seats in the Sejm 231 seats needed for a majority
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 majority
Turnout	47.83% ( 4.27pp)
Party Vote % Seats +/– AWS 25.25 51 New SLD 23.48 28 −9 UW 11.35 8 +4 ROP 9.84 5 New PSL 7.01 3 −33 Independent 14.66 5 −5 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Government before Government after election Cimoszewicz cabinet [pl] SLD (SdRP)—PSL Buzek cabinet AWS—UW

Opinion polls

Main article: Opinion polling for the 1997 Polish parliamentary election

Results

Sejm

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

By constituency

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).

Senate

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

By voivodeship

Voivodeship	Total seats	Seats won
		AWS	SLD	UW	ROP	PSL	Others
Biała Podlaska	2	2
Białystok	2	2
Bielsko	2	1		1
Bydgoszcz	2	1	1
Chełm	2	1				1
Ciechanów	2	1	1
Częstochowa	2	1	1
Elbląg	2	1	1
Gdańsk	2	1		1
Gorzów	2	1	1
Jelenia Góra	2	1	1
Kalisz	2	1	1
Katowice	3	1	1	1
Kielce	2	1	1
Konin	2	1	1
Koszalin	2	1	1
Kraków	2	1		1
Krosno	2	2
Legnica	2	1	1
Leszno	2	1	1
Lublin	2	1			1
Łomża	2	2
Łódź	2	1	1
Nowy Sącz	2	2
Olsztyn	2	1	1
Opole	2	1		1
Ostrołęka	2	1					1
Piła	2		1				1
Piotrków	2	1	1
Płock	2		1			1
Poznań	2			1		1
Przemyśl	2	2
Radom	2	1	1
Rzeszów	2	2
Siedlce	2	1			1
Sieradz	2	1	1
Skierniewice	2	2
Słupsk	2	1		1
Suwałki	2	1	1
Szczecin	2	1					1
Tarnobrzeg	2	2
Tarnów	2	1			1
Toruń	2	1	1
Wałbrzych	2		2
Warsaw	3	1		1	1
Włocławek	2		2
Wrocław	2						2
Zamość	2	1			1
Zielona Góra	2		2
Total	100	51	28	8	5	3	5
Source: National Electoral Commission

References

• 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