An election of the delegation from Poland to the European Parliament was held on 7 June 2009. On 13 February the Sejm (the lower house of the Polish parliament) accepted a proposal for an amendment to the electoral court act to allow voting for the European Parliament election of 2009 to take place over 2 days i.e. the 6 and 7 June 2009. However, on 5 March, the proposal was referred to the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland by the Polish President, Lech Kaczyński. The Polish electorate elected 50 MEPs. In the 27 EU Member States, at total of 736 MEPs were elected from 4–7 June 2009.
As anticipated, the Civic Platform (PO) won a significant victory, winning more than 44% of the vote and gaining half of the total seats. PO's vote was higher than their 41.5% achieved at the 2007 Polish parliamentary election, and to date was the highest vote achieved by a Polish political party to either the Sejm (national legislature) or the European Parliament. Law and Justice (PiS), came second (27.4%), having more than doubled their vote and seats won as compared to the 2004 EU election, but their vote fell, in comparison to the national elections of 2007. PO polled strongest in the western half of Poland, whilst PiS polled best in the eastern half, particularly the south-east.
The largest grouping on the left, the Democratic Left Alliance-Labor Union (SLD-UP) came in at a distant third with 12.3% of the vote and seven seats. At one time, the biggest party in Poland, the Democratic Left Alliance's vote was fairly static over the past five years, and they have been unable to challenge the dominance of PO and PiS, since 2005. The Polish People's Party (PSL) came fourth with 7% of the vote, and won three seats. The remaining parties failed to reach the 5% threshold required to win seats.
The election result demonstrated a stability in voting patterns in the country. Previously, especially prior to 2005, the political environment in Poland was rather unpredictable, with big swings away from established parties, towards alternative parties, and ongoing splits and mergers of key parties. In 2009, however, the voting pattern did not vary too substantially from the 2007 elections, with the large parties consolidating their positions, and smaller parties failing to make a breakthrough.
Contesting committees Name Ideology European Union position Leader Main candidate Alliance 2004 result Current seats Vote (%) Seats Civic Platform (PO) Centrism, catch-all Hard pro-Europeanism Donald Tusk Danuta Hübner EPP24.1% Law and Justice (PiS)• Forward Poland• Piast National conservatism, Christian democracy Soft Euroscepticism Jarosław Kaczyński Michał Kamiński UEN12.7% Alliance for the Future (PdP)• Democratic Party – demokraci.pl• Social Democracy of Poland• The Greens• Union of the Left• Alliance of Democrats Social liberalism, social democracy Hard pro-EuropeanismDariusz Rosati • ALDE• S&D• G-EFA12.9% Libertas Poland (LP)• League of Polish Families• Party of Regions• Forward Poland• Piast Anti-Lisbon Treaty, souverainism Hard Euroscepticism Daniel Pawłowiec • UEN• NI15.9% Democratic Left Alliance (SLD)• Labor Union• National Party of Retirees and Pensioners Social democracy, third way Hard pro-Europeanism Grzegorz Napieralski Wojciech Olejniczak S&D 9.4% Polish People's Party (PSL) Agrarianism, Christian democracy Hard pro-Europeanism Waldemar Pawlak Janusz Piechociński EPP6.3% Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland (SRP) Agrarian socialism, left-wing populism Hard Euroscepticism Andrzej Lepper Jan Sochocki • S&D• UEN • EUD10.8% Polish Labour Party (PPP) Democratic socialism, anti-capitalism Soft Euroscepticism Bogusław Ziętek GUE-NGL0.5% Right Wing of the Republic (PR) Political Catholicism, Christian right Soft Euroscepticism Marek Jurek IND/DEM- Real Politics Union (UPR) Right-Libertarianism, Laissez-faire Hard Euroscepticism Bolesław Witczak NI1.9%
Lead candidates by constituency Constituency PO PiS SLD-UP PSL PdP Libertas Cite Pomeranian Janusz Lewandowski Hanna Foltyn-Kubicka Longin Pastusiak Wojciech Przybylski Dariusz Szwed Tomasz Sommer Kuyavian-Pomeranian Tadeusz Zwiefka Richard Czarnecki Janusz Zemke Eugeniusz Kłopotek Henryk Kierzkowski Ryszard Kozłowski Podlaskie and Warmian-Masurian Krzysztof Lisek Jacek Kurski Tadeusz Iwiński Stanisław Żelichowski Marian Szamatowicz Ryszard Bender Warsaw Danuta Hübner Michał Kamiński Wojciech Olejniczak Janusz Piechociński Dariusz Rosati Artur Zawisza Masovian Jacek Kozłowski Adam Bielan Marek Wikiński Jarosław Kalinowski Marek Czarnecki Dariusz Grabowski Łódź Jacek Saryusz-Wolski Urszula Krupa Jolanta Szymanek-Deresz Adam Fronczak Magdalena Środa Bolesław Borysiuk Greater Poland Filip Kaczmarek Konrad Szymański Marek Siwiec Andrzej Grzyb Sylwia Pusz Anna Sobecka Lublin Lena Kolarska - Bobińska Mirosław Piotrowski Jacek Czerniak Edward Wojtas Marek Borowski Zdzisław Podkański Subcarpathian Marian Krzaklewski Tomasz Poręba Marta Niewczas Mieczysław Janowski Krzysztof Martens Daniel Pawłowiec Lesser Poland and Świętokrzyskie Róża Gräfin Von Thun Und Hohenstein Zbigniew Ziobro Andrzej Szejna Czesław Siekierski Janusz Onyszkiewicz Wojciech Wierzejski Silesian Jerzy Buzek Marek Migalski Jerzy Markowski Janusz Moszyński Genowefa Grabowska Piotr Ślusarczyk Lower Silesian and Opole Jacek Protasiewicz Ryszard Legutko Lidia Geringer De Oedenberg Stanisław Rakoczy Józef Pinior Janusz Dobrosz Lubusz and West Pomeranian Sławomir Nitras Marek Gróbarczyk Bogusław Liberadzki Juliusz Engelhardt Radosław Popiela Krzysztof Zaremba
Opinion polls Source Date PO PiS SLD-UP PSL PdP Undecided CBOS March 2009 40% 17% 10% 5% 1% 21% TNS OBOP 2–5 April 2009 54% 21% 7% 6% – 28% 3–5 April 2009 49% 22% 13% 6% 3% – GFK 24–26 April 2009 47% 26% 12% 6% – – Gemius 5 May 2009 40% 16% 11% 3% 2% – TNS OBOP 6–7 May 2009 47% 22% 12% 8% 2% – Homo Homini 7 May 2009 48.9% 22.4% 12.2% 4.6% 1.3% 8.0% TNS OBOP 15 May 2009 48% 25% 8% 5% 5%– Gemius 19 May 2009 39% 20% 7% 6% 4% – Homo Homini 26 May 2009 45% 25% 11% 7% 3% – GFK 3–4 June 2009 51% 24% 15% 6% – – SMG/KRC 5 June 2009 54% 25% 9% 7% – – Results
See also Politics of Poland Poland (European Parliament constituency)
Notes
References
External links (pl) (en) European Parliament election, 2009 on PKW.gov.pl