Wikipedia

1990 Polish presidential election

(Redirected from Polish presidential election, 1990)

Presidential elections were held in Poland on 25 November 1990, with a second round on 9 December.[1] They were the first direct presidential elections in the history of Poland, and the first free presidential elections since the May Coup of 1926. Before World War II, presidents were elected by the Sejm. From 1952 to 1989—the bulk of the Communist era—the presidency did not exist as a separate institution, and most of its functions were fulfilled by the State Council of Poland, whose chairman was considered the equivalent of a president.

1990 Polish presidential election
← 1989 25 November 1990 (first round)
9 December 1990 (second round)		 1995 →
Turnout60.63% (first round)
53.40% (second round)
 
Wybory 1989 13 (cropped v2).png
Stanisław Tymiński (Święte Psy, 1990) (cropped).jpg
Nominee Lech Wałęsa Stanisław Tymiński
Party KO "S" (PC) Independent
Popular vote 10,622,696 3,683,098
Percentage 74.25% 25.75%
President before election

Wojciech Jaruzelski
PZPR

Elected President

Lech Wałęsa
KO "S"

There were six candidates who successfully managed to register - Solidarity chairman Lech Wałęsa, Canadian entrepreneur Stanisław Tymiński, Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Members of the Sejm Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz and Roman Bartoszcze, and anti-communist oppositionist Leszek Moczulski. Despite for a long time coming first in opinion polls, Tadeusz Mazowiecki's campaign failed to convince voters to his side, and he did not enter the runoff, coming third in the first round. Stanisław Tymiński came second in a large upset unforeseen by every political force in the country, and, being seen by other candidates as a liar and opportunist, managed to unite both the postcommunist and Solidarity establishments against him. In the second round, Wałęsa won almost 75% of voters, being the largest landslide electoral victory in Polish political history.[2][3]

Background

edit

Fall of Communism

edit
 
 
Wojciech Jaruzelski (left) and Czesław Kiszczak (right)

Following the Polish Round Table Agreement, universal parliamentary elections were held in Poland. They were the first free elections since 1928, and began the era of democratic and free market[a] reforms in Poland, as the power of the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR) began quickly disintegrating - early next year, the party would dissolve, succeeded by the Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland (SdRP), where most of the communist party's wealth was controversially transferred, and the short-lived Polish Social Democratic Union.[4]

The last attempts at salvaging power by the PZPR was the appointment of Czesław Kiszczak as prime minister, who was first assigned the mission of forming a new government with 237 votes (and 173 against), but later, after a defection from ZSL and SD, his proposed government failed to receive the Sejm's confidence.[5] Instead, Solidarity compromised with the communists in a historic compromise, wherein PZPR Chairman Wojciech Jaruzelski would be elected to the newly created position of president, while a Solidarity-aligned candidate - Tadeusz Mazowiecki - would become prime minister.[2]

Split within "Solidarity"

edit
 
Frasyniuk with Mazowiecki, 1991

The concept of the execution of such compromise was controversial within Solidarity. Liberal and left-leaning[6] members like Bronisław Geremek, Jacek Kuroń, Władysław Frasyniuk or Adam Michnik wanted to create a grand coalition with reformist wing of PZPR. However, the right-leaning faction, led by Lech Wałęsa, and the Kaczyńscy brothers - Lech and Jarosław Kaczyński wanted to instead create coalition with PZPR's satellite parties - the ZSL and SD. The former group formed the Citizens' Movement for Democratic Action faction, and the latter, the Centre Agreement group.

On 7 August, Wałęsa denounced Kiszczak's mission, and declared that the Citizens' Parliamentary Club [pl] (OKP), Solidarity's parliamentary club, will be working with ZSL and SD to form a new government. On the 8th and 9th, Geremek and his allies denounced Wałęsa's decision during meetings of Solidarity's leadership and the OKP respectively. However, Wałęsa did not change his decision, and on 24 August, ZSL and SD rejected Kiszczak, instead throwing their support behind Tadeusz Mazowiecki, who formed a Solidarity-ZSL-SD coalition.

In his pursuit of becoming Poland's strongman president during the transition to democracy, Wałesa set several requirements - most importantly that the Prime Minister be younger and less politically experienced than him. Despite meeting both, Mazowiecki quickly turned out to be the polar opposite of what PC desired. Setting aside anti-communism and embracing reformism, he quickly distanced himself from the Centre Agreement and sought to collaborate with ROAD and the Forum of the Democratic Right (FPD).[2]

Planning the election

edit

On 27 July 1990, the leaders of PC began collecting signatures for a petition aimed at President Jaruzelski, appealing for him to resign and for new indirect presidential elections to be held, with the intention of electing Lech Wałęsa. The petition was opposed by ROAD and FPD, who instead aimed at holding direct presidential elections later in the year. Jaruzelski, knowing the end of his term was near, asked Sejm Marshal Mikołaj Kozakiewicz to call a direct presidential election whenever the concrete date of the election was established.[2]

The Sejm voted to shorten the term of Jaruzelski's Presidency on 21 September. On 27 September, the Parliament passed a constitutional amendment, which defined the criteria for a presidential candidate (and president) and defined the elections by the five-point electoral law (wybory pięcioprzymiotnikowe (Polish)) - the elections must be secret, direct, equal, universal and proportional, and on 2 October, the precise dates of the electoral process were defined, as the election was called by Sejm Marshal Kozakiewicz.[7]

It was required to get 100,000 signatures to run in the election. Only six managed to get past the threshold of signatures - Lech Wałęsa, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz, Roman Bartoszcze, Leszek Moczulski and an unknown Canadian entrepreneur,[3] Stanisław Tymiński.

Candidate selection

edit

Solidarity

edit

Solidarity Citizens' Committee

Lech Wałęsa Tadeusz Mazowiecki
Chairman of Solidarity
(1980-1991) 		Prime Minister of Poland
(1989-1991)
Potential candidates
Lech Wałęsa Tadeusz Mazowiecki Andrzej Stelmachowski
Chairman of Solidarity
(1980-1991) 		Prime Minister of Poland
(1989-1991) 		Marshal of the Senate
(1989-1991)

The conflict between Wałęsa and Mazowiecki grew irrenconcilable by late 1990. After several failed attempts at reconciliation and political clashes over positions in the Solidarity movement and trade union, the final attempts at finding a compromise for the presidential election were organized by clergy of the Catholic Church. One was held on 7 July, another on 31 August, where Mazowiecki tried and failed to convince Wałęsa to abandon his presidential ambitions, even promising to field a compromise candidate (presumably Senate Marshal Andrzej Stelmachowski). A last chance at conciliation took place on 18 September, during a meeting with Primate Józef Glemp. Ultimately, the two adversaries from Solidarity ran opposing campaigns - Wałęsa was endorsed by the Centre Agreement, and Mazowiecki by the Citizens' Movement for Democratic Action and Forum of the Democratic Right. The Solidarity movement mostly sided with Wałesa during the election.[2]

Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland

edit

Social Democracy

Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz
Member of the Sejm
(1989-2005)
Potential candidates
Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz Ewa Łętowska Aleksander Kwaśniewski
Member of the Sejm
(1989-2005) 		Ombudsman in Poland
(1988-1992) 		Chairman of Social Democracy
(1990-1995)

The incumbent president of Poland, Wojciech Jaruzelski, polled to receive 18.5% and 16.6% of the vote if he had run again in May 1989 and May 1990 respectively. Others from the old communist party, like Władysław Baka or Tadeusz Fiszbach [pl] were also polled to win 2.7% and 1.9% (Baka), and 1.7% in 1990 (Fiszbach) respectively.[8] However, SdRP sought to modernize its image away from the nomenklatura, and the speculated candidates were reaching the end points of their careers regardless. The General Secretary of SdRP, Leszek Miller, at first endorsed the nonpartisan Ombudsman Ewa Łętowska to be the party's candidate. However, she rejected the offer. As such, Miller endorsed SdRP chairman and future president Aleksander Kwaśniewski, who also rejected, knowing he would lose in a landslide and likely undermine his position in the party by doing so. Kwaśniewski controversially chose to endorse Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz instead, who was the leader of SdRP's parliamentary club. The Supreme Council of the party held a vote which confirmed Cimoszewicz's nomination, and he became the official candidate of the party in the presidential election.[2]

Polish People's Party

edit

Polish People's Party

Roman Bartoszcze
Member of the Sejm
(1989-1993)
Potential candidates
Roman Bartoszcze Józef Zych
Member of the Sejm
(1989-1993) 		Member of the Sejm
(1989-2015)

On 10 October, the Supreme Executive Committee of PSL declared the candidacy of party chairman Roman Bartoszcze. However, Bartoszcze, as an anti-communist oppositionist, was disliked by the postcommunist ex-ZSL wing of the party. As such, the parliamentary club of PSL, which was seated mostly by members from the ZSL wing, declared ZSL activist Józef Zych's candidacy on 11 October. The next day, the crisis was resolved, as the Supreme Council of PSL confirmed Bartoszcze's candidacy, which believed that voters would be much more likely to support a candidate which did not derive from the communist establishment.[2]

Confederation of Independent Poland

edit

Confederation of Independent Poland

Leszek Moczulski
Anti-communist oppositionist
Potential candidates
Leszek Moczulski Lech Wałęsa
Anti-communist oppositionist Chairman of Solidarity
(1980-1991)

In August 1990, the KPN was split, with ~300 of its ~1500 members seceding, forming the Confederation of Independent Poland – Democratic Faction (Polish: Konfederacja Polski Niepodległej – Frakcja Demokratyczna, KPN-FD), accusing KPN's leader Leszek Moczulski of authoritarian rule over the party. When elections were called, whereas KPN-FD endorsed Wałęsa outright, KPN offered to endorse Wałęsa, on several conditions: for Wałesa to support an instant resignation of President Jaruzelski, immediate withdrawal of the Soviet Army from Poland and condemn the Balcerowicz Plan. Ultimately, with Wałęsa not fitting the conditions, Leszek Moczulski decided to himself run in the election.[9] With 111 thousand out of 100 thousand required signatures, he managed to pass the threshold to run.[2]

Independents

edit

Independent

Stanisław Tymiński
Entrepreneur

Stanisław Tymiński was a Canadian-Peruvian entrepreneur born in Poland, who returned to Poland to contest the presidential elections. He was the only candidate without any political party's backing who managed to cross the threshold of 100,000 signatures needed to contest the elections, in the meanwhile mass-distributing his political manifesto, "Sacred dogs [pl]".[2]

Rejected candidates

edit

The following candidates registered to run, but failed to cross the threshold of 100,000 signatures required to run in the election:[10]

Campaign

edit
 
Wałęsa's election poster

First round

edit

While most voters generally believed the candidates they backed would do best to solve most of the country's issues, there were two major outliers - ~40% of voters believed Bartoszcze would best fix the country's agricultural problems, compared to his 7.15% general vote share, and ~20% of voters believed Moczulski would best deal with the communist nomenklatura and withdrawal from the Eastern bloc, compared to his 2.50% vote share.[11]

Mazowiecki's starting situation was rather unfavorable. Despite holding control over TVP, the Polish national television, his team were inept and at utilizing such a vital campaign organ (which would provide tremendous help to every consecutive presidential candidate which controlled it).[2] It was also indecisive, and the decision of experienced campaign staff was often overriden or contested by proper politicians with a higher authority serving in the team.[12] Though well-respected, the public perceived Mazowiecki as uncharismatic,[13][14] and his lack of oratory skills, combined with his preoccupation serving as prime minister,[12] led to him massively limiting his public appearances. In light of these obstacles, Mazowiecki tried to deemphasize the importance of his own persona, instead elevating his electoral platform, a strategy that found little appeal outside of intelligentsia circles (which already overwhelmingly supported him). A defining symbol of Mazowiecki's personal isolation was an advertisement his team aired at the beginning of the campaign, presenting him walking around a park, surrounded by bodyguards. In contrast, Wałesa's image was quite overt - Solidarity's chairman held dozens of rallies, meetings and other public events, his persona was charming, characterized as a "plebeian tribune", a "sheriff" bringing communists to justice, promising to directly overlook everything that needed resolution - such a persona enjoyed much public popularity.[2] Tymiński's campaign, that completely faltered at the start, blossomed after TVP began the period of airing campaign ads. His advertisements, which in a simple fasion criticized the government and proposed a "real alternative". The advertisements were so effective that even in an entire voivodeship where Tymiński's campaign had no presence, he had received the largest number of votes of any candidate in the first round. However, that did not mean Tymiński did not campaign in other ways - he held several rallies where he tried to expand his appeal to certain groups.[2]

The Prime Minister's presidential campaign oriented around defending and lauding his accomplishments - notably beginning the economic transformation, signing a treaty with Germany that put an end to fears of Germany pursuing reclamation of its pre-war borders - and convincing undecideds to see the reforms positively. However, his campaign had very little in terms of actual election promises. Meanwhile, Wałesa promised to soften the mass privatization schemes of Finance Minister Leszek Balcerowicz which was largely responsible for perpetually increasing poverty and unemployment and give every Pole a "hundred million (old) złotys" to let citizens better participate in the economic restructuring. Despite his campaign team writing a formal electoral program titled "New beginning", Wałęsa did not stick to it, and later admitted he did not even read it.[2] Wałesa did not, however, promise to solve every problem, unlike Tymiński, whose extreme promises became a major point of success among the increasing crowds of citizens dissatisfied with the new rule of Solidarity.[2]

At later points of the campaign, Mazowiecki's campaign turned rather negative, disorienting his own voterbase and hurting his image, and began airing advertisements showing Wałesa amputating Poland from western Europe with an axe, or with said axe destroying an alarm clock which had previously been repaired by presumably Mazowiecki.[2] Wałęsa's response to such advertisements was to air his own, notably a cartoon in which, wielding the same axe, he destroyed the "thick stroke"[b] and chased away red spiders, signifying communists. Mazowiecki's ally, Gazeta Wyborcza editor-in-chief Adam Michnik, presented Wałesa as a dangerous strongman who would introduce a "catastrophic, Peronist-esque regime".[6] In some circles, Mazowiecki was accused of secretly having Jewish ancestry, a notion which he rejected and condemned.[15] Meanwhile, Wałęsa insinuated Mazowiecki led an inactive, elite government that prided itself in the prestige of governance alone, contrasting it with proposed his model of real societal intervention.[2]

Mazowiecki, with his fatally operated campaign, quickly declined in opinion polls. Despite them showing Mazowiecki continuously declining, Mazowiecki's team was in denial that they had fallen behind Wałęsa (who by November polled 10 points ahead of the Prime Minister). His fall was so severe that he had fallen even behind Tymiński - who was considered such a nonfactor that Mazowiecki's team only took him into account after Tymiński accused him of treason during a rally a mere week before election day.[2]

On 25 November, the first round of voting took place. In an upset victory, Mazowiecki failed to enter the second round, falling five percentage points behind Tymiński. The results were as follows: Wałęsa - 39.96%, Tymiński - 23.10%, Mazowiecki - 18.08%, Cimoszewicz - 9.21%, Bartoszcze - 7.15%, Moczulski - 2.50%. The day after the election, Mazowiecki, humiliated, announced that he would soon be resigning from the office of prime minister, which he did on 12 January next year.

Second round

edit

After the announcement of the results, Wałęsa received a large array of endorsements from the majority of his former opponents - on 28 November, OKP formally endorsed Wałęsa's candidacy. On November 30, the Catholic Church in Poland, which did not directly endorse any candidate beforehand, finally chose to endorse Wałęsa. On 1 and 2 December, ROAD and then Mazowiecki begrudgingly endorsed him as well. PSL and KPN also endorsed him - only Cimoszewicz, who represented the postcommunist camp, did not support either candidate.[2]

Tymiński attempted to extend his appeal towards Mazowiecki's and Cimoszewicz's liberal and leftist voters. His attempts at broadening his voterbase, like opposing anti-abortion laws, or praising President Jaruzelski and the period of martial law, contradicted his previous statements about his deep belief in Catholic social teaching, and targeted the intelligentsia environment which were not receptive to his overall populist image in general. Tymiński's momentum, which rose extremely quickly, also seemed to reach its peak at the beginning of the second round.[2]

On 1 December, a pseudo-debate, which took form of a joint press conference where the candidates were free to talk with each other, took place. Tymiński appeared with a black briefcase, claiming it contained incriminating evidence against Wałesa, who replied by ordering Tymiński to show the evidence, assuming Tymiński was bluffing. Tymiński, who did not open the briefcase, proved the clear loser of the debate. A legitimate debate planned for the next day was cancelled when Tymiński refused to take part, his image being damaged enough in the previous debate.[2]

TVP released material in a smear campaign against Tymiński on 4 December, pinning several allegations against him, among which, that he abused his wife and children. Several years after the campaign, Tymiński won a lawsuit against TVP for defamation, but at that point the election had already been long over.[2]

On 9 December, the second round of the presidential election took place, in which Wałesa won in a landslide victory of 74.25%, compared to Tymiński's 25.75%, which was the largest landslide in the history of Polish elections.

Campaign spending

edit
Candidate 1990 2024
Spent Cost Spent Cost
Wałęsa 5,551,556,205 845 88,303,405 13
Tymiński 3,332,461,000 877 53,006,336 14
Mazowiecki 5,667,041,184 1906 90,140,316 30
Cimoszewicz 1,827,428,175 1207 29,067,188 19
Bartoszcze 436,412,950 394 6,941,612 6
Moczulski 369,129,852 897 5,871,402 14
Source: [12]

Second round candidate endorsements

edit
Candidate First round Endorsement
Tadeusz Mazowiecki 18.08% Lech Wałęsa
Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz 9.21% No endorsement
Roman Bartoszcze 7.15% Lech Wałęsa
Leszek Moczulski 2.50% Lech Wałęsa

Opinion polls

edit
Pollster Date of polling Wałęsa
"S" (PC) 		Tymiński
IN 		Mazowiecki
"S" (ROAD/FPD) 		Cimoszewicz
SdRP 		Bartoszcze
PSL 		Moczulski
KPN 		Others and
Undecideds
Election results 25 November 1990 39.96 23.10 18.08 9.21 7.15 2.50 -
CBOS 22-23 November 1990 33 27 18 10 9 3 -
CBOS 17-18 November 1990 27 20 17 5 6 1 24
CBOS 10-11 November 1990 30.5 12.6 20.6 5.8 7.6 1.9 21.0
OBOP 23-24 October 1990 33 (Others) 28 2 3 1 33
CBOS 17-23 October 1990 33.2 (Others) 41.8 20.3
CBOS 11-16 October 1990 27.3 (Others) 39.8 27.7
Election called by Sejm Marshal Mikołaj Kozakiewicz (2 October 1990)[16]
CBOS September 1990 17.8 (Others) 15.8 66.4[c]
CBOS June 1990 15.6 (Others) 18.0 66.4[d]
CBOS May 1990 16.1 (Others) 23.9 60[e]
Tadeusz Mazowiecki becomes Prime Minister of Poland (24 August 1989)
CBOS May 1989 18.7 (Others) 2.3 79[f]
Sources: [11][17][8][12][18][19]

Results

edit
CandidatePartyFirst roundSecond round
Votes%Votes%
Lech WałęsaSolidarity (PC faction)[20]6,569,88939.9610,622,69674.25
Stanisław TymińskiIndependent3,797,60523.103,683,09825.75
Tadeusz MazowieckiSolidarity (ROAD and FPD factions)[20]2,973,26418.08
Włodzimierz CimoszewiczSocial Democracy of the Republic of Poland1,514,0259.21
Roman BartoszczePolish People's Party1,176,1757.15
Leszek MoczulskiConfederation of Independent Poland411,5162.50
Total16,442,474100.0014,305,794100.00
Valid votes16,442,47498.4514,305,79497.65
Invalid/blank votes259,5261.55344,2432.35
Total votes16,702,000100.0014,650,037100.00
Registered voters/turnout27,545,62560.6327,436,07853.40
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Results by voivodeship

edit

First round

edit
Lech Wałęsa Stanisław Tymiński Tadeusz Mazowiecki Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz Roman Bartoszcze Leszek Moczulski Turnout
Voivodeship # % # % # % # % # % # % # %
Bialskopodlaskie 52 282 41,47% 26 063 20,69% 8509 6,75% 12 694 10,08% 23 410 18,58% 3034 2,41% 128 597 59,64%
Białostockie 127 538 42,50% 36 046 12,01% 38 948 12,98% 81 581 27,18% 11 703 3,90% 4302 1,43% 304 822 60,95%
Bielskie 185 832 45,08% 88 756 21,53% 81 447 19,76% 28 116 6,82% 16 156 3,92% 11 904 2,89% 418 863 66,44%
Bydgoskie 156 971 31,13% 139 964 27,75% 93 102 18,46% 65 339 12,96% 35 587 7,06% 13 333 2,64% 511 426 64,91%
Chełmskie 39 427 39,66% 21 137 21,26% 7316 7,36% 12 753 12,83% 15 822 15,92% 2960 2,98% 101 423 58,00%
Ciechanowskie 62 022 36,19% 55 698 32,50% 11 657 6,80% 17 549 10,24% 21 655 12,63% 2809 1,64% 174 872 57,67%
Częstochowskie 129 514 37,23% 111 135 31,95% 48 631 13,98% 25 045 7,20% 22 514 6,47% 11 035 3,17% 353 503 62,57%
Elbląskie 61 021 31,66% 60 315 31,29% 32 995 17,12% 19 632 10,19% 14 317 7,43% 4471 2,32% 195 531 59,52%
Gdańskie 336 893 52,28% 92 965 14,43% 142 382 22,09% 38 454 5,97% 19 031 2,95% 14 721 2,28% 652 487 63,23%
Gorzowskie 60 605 29,79% 54 423 26,75% 46 027 22,63% 24 394 11,99% 13 294 6,54% 4671 2,30% 206 749 59,86%
Jeleniogórskie 75 148 34,17% 60 760 27,63% 47 264 21,49% 21 851 9,94% 8907 4,05% 5695 2,59% 223 073 60,44%
Kaliskie 101 245 31,43% 87 936 27,30% 54 180 16,82% 36 296 11,27% 35 514 11,03% 6929 2,15% 328 596 65,56%
Katowickie 505 891 30,99% 507 737 31,10% 398 627 24,42% 126 869 7,77% 31 294 1,92% 62 144 3,81% 1 653 252 57,35%
Kieleckie 159 472 34,40% 121 537 26,22% 50 855 10,97% 51 542 11,12% 68 231 14,72% 11 889 2,56% 471 818 57,72%
Konińskie 72 753 37,60% 53 835 27,82% 17 980 9,29% 19 606 10,13% 25 389 13,12% 3928 2,03% 197 597 60,33%
Koszalińskie 65 093 31,04% 60 344 28,78% 42 259 20,15% 22 809 10,88% 14 244 6,79% 4935 2,35% 212 909 59,08%
Krakowskie 279 192 51,16% 55 028 10,08% 138 548 25,39% 29 129 5,34% 27 204 4,99% 16 588 3,04% 553 360 60,34%
Krośnieńskie 107 217 50,84% 45 066 21,37% 20 843 9,88% 13 395 6,35% 18 792 8,91% 5581 2,65% 215 345 63,59%
Legnickie 69 695 33,03% 68 280 32,36% 39 269 18,61% 17 407 8,25% 11 241 5,33% 5093 2,41% 213 672 61,11%
Leszczyńskie 43 702 24,76% 50 560 28,65% 35 652 20,20% 20 999 11,90% 21 951 12,44% 3607 2,04% 180 145 67,79%
Lubelskie 197 696 46,65% 74 559 17,60% 49 087 11,58% 39 274 9,27% 50 392 11,89% 12 742 3,01% 430 191 58,47%
Łomżyńskie 71 263 50,64% 35 792 25,43% 9367 6,66% 9 410 6,69% 12 294 8,74% 2597 1,85% 143 511 59,29%
Łódzkie 233 992 43,57% 112 805 21,00% 105 606 19,66% 59 878 11,15% 11 045 2,05% 13 745 2,60% 543 442 58,76%
Nowosądeckie 181 783 62,29% 32 919 11,28% 36 989 12,68% 12 448 4,27% 20 791 7,12% 6880 2,36% 299 202 63,39%
Olsztyńskie 92 944 30,63% 102 684 33,84% 45 279 14,92% 34 570 11,39% 20 966 6,91% 6930 2,28% 307 981 59,94%
Opolskie 140 073 37,53% 79 064 21,19% 89 437 23,97% 30 618 8,20% 23 432 6,28% 10 560 2,83% 381 093 53,28%
Ostrołęckie 70 353 44,70% 48 092 30,56% 9 743 6,19% 11 790 7,49% 14 955 9,50% 2456 1,56% 160 727 58,48%
Pilskie 53 725 25,24% 56 799 26,69% 47 236 22,19% 27 662 13,00% 22 004 10,34% 5416 2,54% 217 158 66,16%
Piotrkowskie 115 914 43,47% 66 287 24,86% 24 931 9,35% 24 038 9,01% 29 057 10,90% 6431 2,41% 271 662 59,04%
Płockie 76 614 35,55% 72 649 33,71% 20 244 9,39% 20 170 9,36% 21 839 10,13% 4005 1,86% 219 346 59,25%
Poznańskie 197 630 32,21% 129 252 21,06% 181 136 29,52% 60 490 9,86% 31 902 5,20% 13 181 2,15% 662 620 68,59%
Przemyskie 81 624 48,17% 28 372 16,74% 17 667 10,43% 10 992 6,49% 26 999 15,93% 3791 2,24% 173 296 61,24%
Radomskie 152 944 50,54% 54 236 17,92% 23 905 7,90% 27 348 9,04% 37 999 12,56% 6180 2,04% 308 171 58,35%
Rzeszowskie 173 174 54,89% 57 114 18,10% 31 823 10,09% 18 144 5,75% 27 056 8,58% 8162 2,59% 321 604 65,43%
Siedleckie 121 738 46,05% 67 360 25,48% 14 581 5,52% 17 616 6,66% 39 005 14,76% 4048 1,53% 269 980 59,09%
Sieradzkie 59 523 33,87% 51 317 29,20% 16 144 9,18% 17 923 10,20% 27 278 15,52% 3580 2,04% 178 951 60,82%
Skierniewickie 69 464 41,03% 47 148 27,85% 15 226 8,99% 13 659 8,07% 20 390 12,05% 3392 2,00% 172 273 56,54%
Słupskie 49 230 30,36% 47 055 29,02% 31 426 19,38% 18 063 11,14% 12 465 7,69% 3919 2,42% 164 513 58,37%
Suwalskie 65 759 37,50% 50 918 29,04% 19 165 10,93% 19 738 11,26% 15 418 8,79% 4345 2,48% 178 247 55,52%
Szczecińskie 116 800 28,16% 105 900 25,53% 117 949 28,43% 40 950 9,87% 17 528 4,23% 15 689 3,78% 420 358 59,66%
Tarnobrzeskie 108 572 44,81% 60 424 24,94% 16 819 6,94% 18 329 7,56% 32 523 13,42% 5652 2,33% 247 946 59,54%
Tarnowskie 149 958 53,09% 35 320 12,50% 40 379 14,29% 13 095 4,64% 36 323 12,86% 7395 2,62% 289 500 63,47%
Toruńskie 82 818 29,34% 76 516 27,11% 54 443 19,29% 29 038 10,29% 22 971 8,14% 6488 2,30% 286 002 60,56%
Wałbrzyskie 107 837 33,95% 95 839 30,17% 61 449 19,34% 31 413 9,89% 13 212 4,16% 7920 2,49% 321 802 59,76%
Warszawskie 651 947 50,67% 162 761 12,65% 321 571 24,99% 108 593 8,44% 21 148 1,64% 20 632 1,60% 1 296 644 64,28%
Włocławskie 59 274 33,87% 43 810 25,03% 18 621 10,64% 24 967 14,27% 24 310 13,89% 4037 2,31% 178 032 57,33%
Wrocławskie 209 984 42,14% 101 738 20,42% 118 987 23,88% 36 444 7,31% 20 835 4,18% 10 314 2,07% 503 886 60,28%
Zamojskie 94 896 45,52% 32 198 15,44% 10 568 5,07% 16 669 8,00% 49 483 23,74% 4659 2,23% 212 700 60,23%
Zielonogórskie 80 527 29,08% 71 092 25,68% 66 995 24,20% 35 236 12,73% 16 299 5,89% 6741 2,43% 281 575 61,03%
Poland 6 569 889 39,96% 3 797 605 23,10% 2 973 364 18,08% 1 514 025 9,21% 1 176 175 7,15% 411 516 2,50% 16 702 000 60,63%

Second round

edit
Voivodeship Lech Wałęsa Stanisław Tymiński Turnout
# % # % # %
Bialskopodlaskie 80 104 69,30% 35 482 30,70% 118 082 54,78%
Białostockie 188 571 70,15% 80 227 29,85% 274 946 54,92%
Bielskie 305 052 82,83% 63 246 17,17% 377 061 59,79%
Bydgoskie 275 401 64,79% 149 691 35,21% 437 758 55,50%
Chełmskie 56 915 64,36% 31 514 35,64% 90 761 51,84%
Ciechanowskie 90 872 58,90% 63 413 41,10% 158 171 59,64%
Częstochowskie 204 654 69,62% 89 308 30,38% 300 790 53,13%
Elbląskie 102 564 64,24% 57 094 35,76% 163 919 49,82%
Gdańskie 516 061 87,38% 74 502 12,62% 603 571 58,64%
Gorzowskie 103 823 62,67% 61 854 37,33% 170 389 49,26%
Jeleniogórskie 129 956 71,31% 52 294 28,69% 186 722 50,50%
Kaliskie 181 833 65,68% 95 014 34,32% 286 182 57,01%
Katowickie 956 837 72,29% 366 854 27,71% 1 354 201 46,84%
Kieleckie 262 315 64,33% 145 431 35,67% 417,763 51,11%
Konińskie 104 773 61,43% 65 796 38,57% 175 502 53,40%
Koszalińskie 108 560 62,51% 65 107 37,49% 178 432 49,43%
Krakowskie 476 313 90,20% 51 776 9,80% 536 484 58,47%
Krośnieńskie 160 548 80,61% 38 621 19,39% 203 382 60,04%
Legnickie 121 855 69,37% 53 804 30,63% 179 582 51,07%
Leszczyńskie 89 871 61,17% 57 046 38,83% 153 033 57,56%
Lubelskie 295 261 76,74% 89 482 23,26% 392 638 53,25%
Łomżyńskie 99 297 75,23% 32 700 24,77% 135 115 55,77%
Łódzkie 355 954 79,27% 93 066 20,73% 459 352 49,54%
Nowosądeckie 275 564 90,87% 27 690 9,13% 309 255 65,24%
Olsztyńskie 149 930 59,02% 104 013 40,98% 260 642 50,71%
Opolskie 256 800 79,11% 67 827 20,89% 332 975 46,47%
Ostrołęckie 101 552 69,84% 43 858 30,16% 149 211 54,22%
Pilskie 107 838 61,50% 67 680 37,50% 182 875 55,67%
Piotrkowskie 169 357 72,27% 64 969 27,73% 240 005 52,12%
Płockie 112 838 59,10% 78 014 40,90% 195 468 52,74%
Poznańskie 382 219 74,63% 129 938 25,37% 528 198 54,59%
Przemyskie 130 479 79,68% 33 267 20,32% 167 204 59,15%
Radomskie 220 865 77,94% 62 504 22,06% 289 628 54,76%
Rzeszowskie 258 060 85,72% 42 988 14,28% 307 736 62,54%
Siedleckie 177 957 72,88% 66 208 27,12% 250 088 54,68%
Sieradzkie 91 549 60,30% 60 266 39,70% 156 131 53,07%
Skierniewickie 102 184 69,28% 45 316 30,72% 150 903 49,52%
Słupskie 84 707 63,07% 49 595 36,93% 138 066 48,83%
Suwalskie 99 102 63,15% 57 820 36,85% 160 537 49,91%
Szczecińskie 219 562 66,68% 109 729 33,32% 337 521 59,64%
Tarnobrzeskie 157 460 70,24% 66 721 29,76% 229 101 55,15%
Tarnowskie 248 366 89,13% 30 277 10,87% 284 546 62,24%
Toruńskie 160 867 67,84% 76 269 32,16% 243 055 51,28%
Wałbrzyskie 187 643 70,53% 78 410 29,47% 271 734 50,39%
Warszawskie 913 625 86,87% 138 106 13,13% 1 072 542 57,02%
Włocławskie 92 783 59,33% 63 609 40,67% 160 203 51,42%
Wrocławskie 364 119 82,72% 76 142 17,28% 448 912 53,63%
Zamojskie 143 161 72,95% 53 090 27,05% 200 474 56,76%
Zielonogórskie 146 919 66,06% 75 470 33,94% 229 191 49,65%
Poland 10 622 696 74,25% 3 683 098 25,75% 14 650 037 53,40%

Aftermath

edit
 
Bielecki in 1991

Prime Minister Mazowiecki, utterly humiliated, resigned from his office soon after the election. His successor, Jan Krzysztof Bielecki, was another liberal, who was again selected by the criteria Wałęsa set out for any possible prime ministers - to be younger and less experienced politically. Bielecki, though not significantly changing the course of the country, was more subservient to the now-president and his vision.[2]

ROAD and FPD were devastated by Mazowiecki's loss. In May 1991, they united into the Democratic Union (UD) (with a small social-democratic splinter forming the Democratic-Social Movement). UD contested the 1991 parliamentary election, becoming the biggest party in the Sejm with 62 seats until a splinter led by former FPD members.[9]

President-elect Wałęsa resigned from his role as Chairman of the Solidarity trade union shortly after becoming president, endorsing Lech Kaczyński to become the new chairman of the trade union. He faced the liberal-aligned Bogdan Borusewicz and relatively nonpartisan Marian Krzaklewski. On the 3rd Congress of Solidarity on 22-25 February, despite Wałesa's endorsement, Kaczyński lost the vote for union leadership to Krzaklewski, who would become an important politician for the duration of the next decade.[2]

Starting in January 1991,[9] Roman Bartoszcze's position within PSL began dissipating. His period as chairman concluded when after controversially signing a cooperation agreement with Rural Solidarity and PSL "Solidarity", party leadership decided to oust him and replace him with Waldemar Pawlak, who would become a future prime minister. Bartoszcze's ousting led to him creating a new party, the Polish People's Christian Forum "Fatherland" [pl], which had significantly less success than PSL and never won any seats in any election.[2]

Leszek Moczulski, who used the presidential election to spread his agenda and promulgate his party, succeeded in his goals, as KPN won 7.5% of the vote in the following 1991 parliamentary election, three times as much as he had personally amassed in the presidential election. However, the low result itself was a point of disappointment for Moczulski and his party.[2]

Tymiński became largely irrelevant following the election, sometimes appearing in elections as a perennial candidate. He founded a political party, which was vehemently opposed by a large sector of society - 38% supported its delegalization.[21] In 1991, its candidates were disqualified in 90% of districts,[22] and would only secure 52,735 votes, winning 3 seats. The party would not win any seats in any following elections. After running for president again in 2005, he only won 23,545 votes.[2] He contested another election in 2023, running for Senate, winning only 18,052[23] votes.[24] Though his political career was barely relevant following the first direct presidential election in Poland, his name became famous worldwide, and many would try to draw lines between Tymiński and other "populists", such as American presidential candidate Donald Trump or Law and Justice chairman Jarosław Kaczyński.[25]

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Balcerowicz Plan
  2. ^ The thick line was a policy of Mazowiecki's Prime Ministry. It was named after a speech he had given: "We split away the history of our recent past with a thick line. We will be responsible only for what we have done to help extract Poland from her current predicament, from now on." The policy was quickly mocked as a way to not hold communists accountable for the supposed crimes they have committed, and the name parodied as the "thick stroke".
  3. ^ Skubiszewski 8.9
    Geremek 8.5
    Jaruzelski 6.8
  4. ^ Jaruzelski 11.9
    Geremek 9.2
  5. ^ Geremek 18.7
    Jaruzelski 16.6
    Brzeziński 4.6
    Baka 1.9
    Fiszbach [pl] 1.7
  6. ^ Jaruzelski 18.5
    Geremek 7.7
    Baka 2.7

References

edit
  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1491 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Dudek, Antoni (2023). Historia polityczna Polski 1989–2023 [Polish political history 1989-2023] (in Polish). Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar. ISBN 978-83-67450-66-9.
  3. ^ a b Pienkos, Donald (1997-11-04). THE 1995 POLISH PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: A STEP TOWARD NORMALCY.
  4. ^ Kowalski, Mariusz (2018). Atlas wyborczy Polski. ISBN 978-83-61590-56-9.
  5. ^ "Personality Spotlight. Czeszlaw Kiszczak: New prime minister". United Press International. 2 August 1989. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  6. ^ a b Zychal, Rafał (9 December 2020). "Rok 1990: Gdzie dwóch się bije… Jak Stanisław Tymiński walczył o prezydenturę". Onet. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  7. ^ "20. rocznica pierwszych wolnych wyborów prezydenckich po wojnie". 25 November 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Opinie o przyspieszeniu wyborów do parlamentu i konieczności zmian na stanowisku prezydenta" (PDF).
  9. ^ a b c Dehnel-Szyc, Małgorzata (1991). GRY Polityczne Orientacje na Dziś [Political Moves Orientations for Today] (in Polish). ISBN 83-85218-19-X.
  10. ^ Duch, Wojtek (10 July 2020). "Pierwsze wybory prezydenckie w Polsce. Brutalna kampania i Wałęsa kontra czarna teczka". Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  11. ^ a b "Wybory prezydenckie" (PDF).
  12. ^ a b c d Bitwa o Belweder. Wydawnictwo Myśl. 1991.
  13. ^ Paczkowski, Andrzej (28 October 2013). "Prof. Paczkowski o Mazowieckim: jest wiecznym elementem najnowszej historii Polski". Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  14. ^ Brzózka, Piotr (29 October 2013). "Bogdan Lis: Tadeusz Mazowiecki był jednym z najwybitniejszych polityków naszych czasów [WYWIAD]". Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  15. ^ "Extensions of Remarks" (PDF). Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  16. ^ "Dz.U. 1990 nr 68 poz. 399".
  17. ^ "Elektorat na tydzień przed wyborami" (PDF).
  18. ^ "Wybory prezydenckie. Zestawienie wyników sondażu przeprowadzonego w dniach 22-23 XI 1990" (PDF).
  19. ^ "Kandydaci na prezydenta" (PDF).
  20. ^ a b Szewczak, Natalia (2020-07-13). "75 kandydatów na prezydenta w ciągu 30 lat. Czy pamiętasz choć połowę tych nazwisk?". Retrieved 2024-04-20.
  21. ^ "Opinie o delegalizacji list wyborczych Partii "X"" (PDF).
  22. ^ Kietliński, Marek (2016). Pierwsze demokratyczne wybory parlamentarne 27 X 1991 (in Polish). Białystok: Wydawnictwo Prymat. pp. 33–34. ISBN 978-83-7657-232-1.
  23. ^ "Wyniki głosowania na TYMIŃSKI Stanisław".
  24. ^ "Kiedyś rzucił wyzwanie Lechowi Wałęsie. Dziś chce zostać senatorem". Onet. 11 September 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  25. ^ Feffer, John (6 December 2017). "Welcome to Eastern Europe, the Birthplace of Trumpism". Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  • Obwieszczenie PKW z dn. 26 XI 1990 r., Dziennik Ustaw. Nr 83, poz. 483 (Polish)
  • Obwieszczenie PKW z dn. 10 XII 1990 r., Dz.U. Nr 85, poz. 499 (Polish)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1990_Polish_presidential_election&oldid=1258068906"