Editing Prime Minister of Poland (section)

==Origin of the office==
===Second Republic===
{{Main|History of Poland (1918–1939)}}
Near the end of the [[World War I|First World War]], an assortment of groups contested to proclaim an independent Polish state. In early November 1918, a socialist provisional government under [[Ignacy Daszyński]] declared independence, while a separate committee in [[Kraków]] claimed to rule [[West Galicia]].<ref name="Kochanski, p. 7">[[#Kochanski|Kochanski]], p. 7</ref> In [[Warsaw]], the [[German Empire|German]]-[[Austria-Hungary|Austrian]] appointed [[Regency Council (Poland)|Regency Council]] agreed to transfer political responsibilities to Marshal [[Józef Piłsudski]], recently released from [[Magdeburg]] fortress, as [[Chief of State (Poland)|Chief of State]] of the new Polish nation.<ref>[[#Bernhard|Bernhard]], pp. 82–83</ref> Piłsudski summoned Daszyński to the capital to form a government, where Piłsudski agreed to appoint Daszyński as the republic's first prime minister.<ref name="Kochanski, p. 7" /> Daszyński's premiership, however, remained brief, after the politician failed to form a workable coalition. Piłsudski turned instead to [[Jędrzej Moraczewski]], who successfully crafted a workable government for the [[Second Polish Republic|Second Republic]]'s first months of existence.

[[File:Gabinet Skulskiego.jpg|thumb|left|The cabinet of Prime Minister [[Leopold Skulski]] in a session in 1920. Due to the deep political divides of the early Second Republic, governments were short-lived, frequently falling within months.]]

The [[Small Constitution of 1919]] outlined Poland's form of government, with a democratically elected [[Sejm]], a prime minister and cabinet, and an executive branch. Despite outlining a [[parliamentary system]], the Small Constitution vested many executive powers into Piłsudski's position as Chief of State.<ref>[[#Ludwikowski|Ludwikowski]], p. 14</ref> The executive branch could select and organise cabinets (with the Sejm's consent), be responsible to the ministries for their duties, and require the countersignature of ministers for all official acts.<ref>[[#Lerski|Lerski]], pp. 80–81</ref> By the early 1920s, rightist nationalists within parliament, particularly [[Roman Dmowski]] and other members of the [[Popular National Union]] party and the ''[[National Democracy (Poland)|Endecja]]'' movement, advocated reforms to the republic's structure to stem the authority of the chief of state (and ultimately Piłsudski) while increasing parliamentary powers.<ref>[[#Cole|Cole]], p.28</ref> The result was the Sejm's passage of the [[March Constitution (Poland)|March Constitution of 1921]]. Modeled after the [[French Third Republic]], the March Constitution entrusted decision-making exclusively within the lower-house Sejm.<ref>[[#Garlicki|Garlicki]], p. 1</ref> The newly created [[President of Poland|presidency]], on the other hand, became a symbolic office devoid of any major authority, stripped of veto and wartime powers.<ref>[[#Biskupski|Biskupski]], pp. 76–77</ref>

Deriving authority from the powerful Sejm, the prime minister and the council of ministers, in theory, faced few constitutional barriers from the presidency to pass and proceed with legislation. In reality, however, the premiership remained extraordinarily insecure due to the harsh political climate of the early Second Republic, marked by constant fluctuating coalitions within parliament.<ref>[[#Lasok|Lasok]], pp. 19–20</ref> Fourteen governments and eleven prime ministers rose and fell between 1918 and 1926, with nine governments alone serving during the five-year March Constitution era.<ref>[[#Lesnodorski|Lesnodorski]], p. 119. During this era, two prime ministers entered the premiership more than once. [[Władysław Grabski]] served as premier first between June and July 1920 and second between December 1923 to November 1925, the longest term for any leader of the period. [[Wincenty Witos]] served as prime minister three times, between July 1920 to September 1921, May to December 1923, and May 1926. Witos' third and final government lasted only four days before being militarily deposed by Piłsudski in the [[May Coup (Poland)|May Coup]].</ref> Deeply frustrated with the republic's chaotic "sejmocracy" parliamentary structure, Piłsudski led rebellious [[Polish Land Forces|Polish Army]] units to overthrow the government in the [[May Coup (Poland)|May Coup]] of 1926, effectively ending the Second Republic's brief experiment with parliamentary democracy, as well as the prime minister's free and popular elected mandate for the next sixty years.

Distrustful of parliamentary democracy, Piłsudski and his [[Sanation]] movement assumed a semi-authoritarian [[power behind the throne]] presence over the premiership and presidency.<ref>[[#Cole|Cole]], p. 42</ref> Piłsudski's [[August Novelization|August Novelisation]] of the 1921 Constitution retained the prime minister's post and the parliamentary system, though modified the president's powers to rule by decree, dismiss the Sejm, and decide budgetary matters.<ref>[[#Lukowski and Zawadzki|Lukowski and Zawadzki]], p. 242</ref> By the mid-1930s, Piłsudski and fellow Sanationists further stripped parliament and the premier's powers by enacting a [[April Constitution of Poland|new constitution]], effectively establishing a strong "hyper-presidency" by 1935.<ref>[[#Prokrop|Prokrop]], p. 22</ref> The new constitution allowed for the president to dismiss parliament, the right to freely appoint and dismiss the prime minister, members of the cabinet and the judiciary at will, and promulgated the presidency as the supreme power of the state.<ref>[[#Fijałkowski|Fijałkowski]], pp. 41–43</ref> Until the outbreak of the [[World War II|Second World War]] and the resulting [[Polish government-in-exile|exiling of the Polish government]], the Sanation movement remained at the helm of a government dominated by the presidency with a weak, subordinate prime minister.

===People's Republic===
Under the communist [[Polish People's Republic]], the ruling [[Polish United Workers' Party]] (PZPR) dominated all sections of the government, as recognised under the [[Constitution of the Polish People's Republic|1952 Constitution]].<ref>[[#Fijałkowski|Fijałkowski]], p. 92</ref> Although the premiership continued to exist, the office's power and prestige relied more on the individual's stature within the governing communist party than the position's actual constitutional authority.<ref>[[#Zubek|Zubek]] pp. 83–128</ref> The office acted as an administrative agent for policies carried out by the PZPR's [[Politburo of the Polish United Workers' Party|Politburo]], rather than relying on the support of the [[Rubber stamp (politics)|rubber stamp]] Sejm.<ref>[[#Bernhard|Bernhard]] p. 190</ref> In face of growing protests from the [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|Solidarity movement]] for much of the 1980s, the PZPR entered into the [[Polish Round Table Agreement|Round Table Talks]] in early 1989 with leading members of the anti-communist opposition.<ref>[[#Osiatynski|Osiatynski]] p. 30</ref> The conclusion of the talks, along with the resulting [[April Novelization|April Novelisation]] of the constitution, provided various powers to the Sejm, along with reinstating both the previously dissolved upper-house [[Senate of Poland|Senate]] and the presidency as legal governmental entities.

===Third Republic===
[[File:Tadeusz Mazowiecki - Europeana - Viewing Exhibition.jpg|thumb|[[Tadeusz Mazowiecki]], former prime minister of Poland browsing an exhibition at the [[Europeana]] 1989 roadshow in Warsaw.]]
Following the partially free [[1989 Polish parliamentary election|1989 parliamentary election]], the [[Solidarity Citizens' Committee|Solidarity]] government of [[Tadeusz Mazowiecki]] faced the monumental task of formally institutionalising the office in order to define its relatively vague legal powers. As the communist state was quickly dismantled, this impasse remained due to the series of unstable governments falling in quick succession in the first years of the Third Republic.<ref name="Zubek pp. 96-97">[[#Zubek|Zubek]] pp. 96–97</ref> Matters were not helped by the vagueness of the presidency, whose recreation during the Round Table Talks left a poorly defined yet potentially powerful office.<ref>[[#Linz and Stepan|Linz and Stepan]] p. 280</ref> After [[Lech Wałęsa]]'s direct [[1990 Polish presidential election|1990 election]] to the presidency, a tug of war between the offices of the premier and presidency regarding the powers of the two offices began, with Wałęsa arguing for increased presidential powers by drafting a new constitution, with the right to appoint and dismiss the prime minister and members of the cabinet.<ref name="Linz281">[[#Linz and Stepan|Linz and Stepan]], p. 281</ref> Although Wałęsa later recanted his attempts to create a [[presidential system]], the president continued to advocate for a [[Semi-presidential republic|semi-presidential]] model similar to that of the [[French Fifth Republic]].<ref name="Linz281" /> The passage of the [[Small Constitution of 1992|Small Constitution]] in 1992, which dispensed with the communist 1952 version, clarified several presidential prerogatives over the prime minister, including the president's right to be consulted on the ministers of [[Ministry of National Defence (Poland)|Defence]], [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Poland)|Foreign Affairs]], and [[Ministry of Interior (Poland)|Interior]].<ref name=Schwartz59-60>[[#Schwartz|Schwartz]] pp. 59–60</ref> Although Wałęsa enjoyed a conflict free relationship with Prime Minister [[Hanna Suchocka]], power rifts remained after the Small Constitution's passage, particularly with the Sejm, which Wałęsa repeatedly attempted to dissolve, influence its appointments, and shift its constitutional reform agenda towards the presidency's favour.<ref name="Schwartz59-60" />

However, by the [[1993 Polish parliamentary election|1993 parliamentary election]], which brought in a relatively stable left-of-centre coalition government between the [[Democratic Left Alliance (Poland)|Democratic Left Alliance]] (SLD) and the [[Polish People's Party]] (PSL), as well as Wałęsa's defeat in the [[1995 Polish presidential election|1995 presidential election]] by [[Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland|SdRP]] challenger [[Aleksander Kwaśniewski]], an impetus for greater constitutional reform began to proceed.<ref name="Zubek pp. 96-97" /> Between 1996 and 1997, a series of reform laws passed through parliament, strengthening and centralising the prime minister's prerogatives.<ref name="Zubek p. 97">[[#Zubek|Zubek]] p. 97</ref> These reforms would form the basis of the current [[Constitution of Poland|1997 Constitution]]. Significant changes included the ability for the prime minister to call a vote of confidence, the premier's exclusive right to allocate and [[cabinet reshuffle|reshuffle]] ministers, and also for the prime minister to solely determine the areas of competence for ministries.<ref>[[#Zubek|Zubek]] pp. 97, 100</ref> Many of the prime minister's new powers were gained at the expense of the presidency, which lost the rights to consult ministerial appointments, reject the prime minister's cabinet selection or reshuffles, chair the cabinet, and to veto the budget, although veto powers in other areas remained.<ref>[[#Zubek|Zubek]] p. 87. According to Zubek, Wałęsa's attempts in the early 1990s to swing constitutional reform towards a presidential system, taking advantage of legal loopholes over cabinet appointments and dissolving parliament, led lawmakers to greatly strengthen the role of the legislature by the 1997 Constitution.</ref> Additionally, the previous communist-era Office of the Council of Ministers (''Urząd Rady Ministrów'') was reformed into the [[Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland|Chancellery]] in 1997 to act as the premier's executive central office and support staff, assisting the facilitation and coordination of policy among members of the cabinet.<ref>[[#Zubek|Zubek]] pp. 107–110</ref> The reforms between 1996 and 1997, codified under the constitution, made the prime minister the centre of legal authority within the government.<ref name="Zubek p. 97" />