On Monday at noon, the Sejm of the 10th term will convene for its opening session. New members will take the oath, and the Speaker of the Sejm along with alternate speakers will be elected. President Andrzej Duda will participate and give a speech, while Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is expected to resign. Later that afternoon, the Senate of the 11th term will also hold its opening session, with senators sworn in and the Speaker and deputies to the presidency elected. The session will be opened by the President of the Republic of Poland.
The new Sejm and the resignation of the government
The first session of the Sejm will be opened by the senior marshal, chosen by the president from among the most senior deputies. By the president’s decision, Marek Sawicki has been designated as the senior marshal, reflecting his lengthy parliamentary experience and reputation for constructive dialogue, as explained by the president.
As CIS notes, the first day of the Sejm’s tenth term will be ceremonial. In addition to the President, members of the highest state authorities, members of the diplomatic corps, former presidents, speakers of the Sejm and prime ministers, military representatives, and representatives of churches and religious associations are expected to attend.
According to official statements, the President and the senior marshal will lay flowers before plaques honoring figures such as St. John Paul II, members of the Sejm from the Second Polish Republic who died during the Second World War, and leaders including President Lech Kaczyński, Sejm Speaker Maciej Płażyński, and MPs who perished in the Smolensk disaster, before the meeting begins.
Following the opening, the national anthem will be performed by the Polish Army Representative Orchestra, after which the President will deliver a speech. The senior marshal will then speak, followed by the MPs taking their oaths. The oath is read aloud by the Senior Marshal; each Member of Parliament will rise, say the words “I promise,” and may add the phrase “So help me God.”
The first decision of the new parliament will be the election of the chairman of the Sejm. At least fifteen MPs may nominate a candidate, and each MP may support only one candidacy. Immediately after the elections, the Sejm Marshal will preside over the proceedings.
The agenda for the first day also includes determining the number of deputy chairmen of the chamber and their election. A draft resolution on this matter can be tabled by at least fifteen MPs. Typically, all parliamentary clubs are represented in the Sejm Presidium, and the Marshal orders the election of alternate speakers.
The Sejm also elects twenty Sejm secretaries from among the younger members of parliament. Candidates are proposed by the Presidium of the Sejm.
The Constitution and Rules of Procedure stipulate that the Prime Minister, currently Mateusz Morawiecki, will submit the resignation of his government during the first meeting of the newly elected chamber. The next Prime Minister will be designated by the President and appointed along with other ministers within fourteen days from the first Sejm session. Within fourteen days of his appointment, the Prime Minister presents the government’s program to the Sejm, along with a motion for a vote of confidence. The Sejm adopts a confidence vote by an absolute majority of votes in the presence of at least half of the legal number of deputies.
The President has announced that after careful analysis and consultation, the mission of forming a government has been entrusted to Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
In the October 15 Sejm elections, PiS won 35.38 percent of the votes, KO 30.70 percent, Trzecia Droga 14.40 percent, New Left 8.61 percent, and Confederation 7.16 percent.
PiS secured 194 seats in the Sejm, KO 157, Third Way 65, New Left 26, and Konfederacja 18. More than a hundred MPs will sit on the parliamentary benches for the first time.
11th term Senate
Also on Monday, the 16th president convened the Senate’s opening session for the 11th term. Andrzej Duda and the newly elected Sejm speaker will attend as guests, with the president scheduled to speak.
Before the Senate session begins, the president will lay wreaths before the plaque honoring Senators from the Second Polish Republic who were killed, missing, or died during the Second World War and the postwar period of repression.
The first Senate session starts at 4 p.m.; the president will open it and then hand the floor to the senior marshal, who has appointed the senior senator, Michał Seweryński, to oversee the proceedings.
The Senior Marshal will take the oath and appoint three secretaries for the first session from among the youngest senators. With their help, he will administer the oath to the senators and elect the President of the Senate.
After the oath, the senators, summoned by the secretary of the first session, stand and say the word “I swear.” They may also add the words “So help me God.”
The Senate elects the Marshal from among candidates nominated by at least ten Senators and passes a resolution by an absolute majority. If more than one candidate is nominated and no one wins an absolute majority on the first ballot, the candidate with the fewest votes is removed before subsequent rounds. The elected Marshal then accepts the position and takes over the chair from the Senior Marshal. He, with the help of the secretaries, proceeds to elect deputy chairmen and secretaries of the Senate.
Under the applicable rules, no more than four Deputy Chairmen can be elected, chosen from at least ten Senators, with an absolute majority required. If more than four candidates have been nominated, the same voting rules apply as for the Marshal.
During the opening, the coalition agreement reached in the Sejm involves key figures such as Donald Tusk of Civic Platform, Szymon Hołownia of Poland 2050, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz of the Polish People’s Party, and co-leaders of the New Left, Włodzimierz Czarzasty and Robert Biedroń.
As noted in the coalition framework, the presidency of the Senate will be held by KO Senator Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska until November 13, 2025, after which a candidate appointed by the Civic Coalition will take over. Marek Pęk is proposed by Law and Justice as deputy marshal, while Magdalena Biejat is nominated by the left for the same role. The Senate Information Center states that 41 senators from the Coalition Electoral Committee PO.N IPL Zieloni will serve in the eleventh term, with 34 from Law and Justice, 11 from Third Way Poland 2050, and nine from the New Left. The Polish People’s Party will have 5 senators, each elected under their own commissions.