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Sejm or Seym (pronounced: [sεjm]) is the name of the lower house of the Polish parliament.
Before the 20th century the term Sejm/Seym, or Diet, referred to the three-chamber Polish parliament, which consisted of the lower house (Izba Poselska), the upper house (Senat) and the King. It was usually referred to as the three-estate parliament.
Since 1918, the name Sejm has referred only to the lower house of the Parliament; the upper house is still the Senate - Senat.
The history of the Sejm dates back to 1182 and the first Sejm at Łęczyca. With time and the development of the unique Polish noble's democracy the Sejm's powers increased. From 1493 on, the indirect elections were repeated every two years.
The term "sejm" comes from an old Polish expression denoting a meeting of the populace. The General Sejm, first convoked by the king John I Olbracht in 1493 near Piotrków, evolved from earlier regional and provincial meetings (sejmiki), which arose from the 1454 statute of Nieszawa, granted to the szlachta by King Casimir IV the Jagiellonian.
"The First Sejm, 1182". Łęczyca, oil on canvas, 1888, National Museum in Warsaw. The first Sejm was composed of two chambers:
The number of dignitaries and deputies increased over time.
The Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland and the later Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth presented its proposed legislation to the deputies of the Sejm, who would then seek a unanimous decision.
The Senate did not pass decisions. The King heard its counsel and concluded the matter one way or another, although his power was restricted if all the speakers opposed the royal proposal. The king could not pass the laws without the approval of the Sejm, this being forbidden by szlachta priviliges like nihil novi.
If there were conflicting views in the Senate, the king had to favour the existing law.
The Marshal (or Speaker) of the Sejm concluded the debates, but he was required to ask the members whether his understanding of the chamber's views was unanimously accepted by it. If anyone declared his opposition (contradictio), the debate would be reopened and would continue until the opponents of the measure abandoned their opposition at the next attempt to reach a conclusion.
Unanimity was reinforced with the szlachta right of liberum veto. It had a certain negative character: it was enough if no formal exception was taken by anyone – even if some opposition did exist, it would not necessarily be upheld, in the face of sometimes menacing persuasion from the majority group. If, however, the deputies could not attain even such passive unanimity, or if the chamber's negotiations with the king proved futile then after six weeks (the upper time limit of its sittings) had elapsed, the deliberations as a whole were declared null and void.
In the 16th century no single person or small group dared to hold up proceedings, but from second half of 17th century the liberum veto was used to paralyze the Sejm and brought the Commonwealth to the brink of collapse. The liberum veto was finally abolished by the Constitution of 3rd May in 1795.
Sejm of modern Poland
Since the fall of Communism, the Sejm comprises 460 members elected in proportional elections every four years.
See also
External links:
Seimas is the name of the parliament in Lithuania. See also: Politics of Lithuania
Saeima is the name of the parliament in Latvia.
Sejm or Seym is a river in Russia and Ukraine.
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