Senior Marshal

Senior marshal (Polish: marszałek senior or marszałek-senior) is an officer in the Sejm or Senate of Poland, presiding over the first sitting of the parliament house, appointed by the President of Poland. It is their role to conduct taking an oath by MPs and carry out election of the permanent leader of the house, who then takes the lead.^[1]^[2]

In the Sejm, senior marshal is appointed out of the oldest MPs, and it is also their duty to open the first sitting. Whereas in the Senate, the eldest senator-elect is nominated for the office and it is the President who starts the proceedeing.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Senior Marshals of the Sejm

Polish People's Republic

I Sejm – Lucjan Rudnicki (PZPR)
II Sejm – Bolesław Drobner (PZPR)
III Sejm – Bolesław Drobner (PZPR)
IV Sejm – Bolesław Drobner (PZPR)
V Sejm – Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (non-partisan)
VI Sejm – Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (non-partisan)
VII Sejm – Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (non-partisan)
VIII Sejm – Jerzy Ziętek (PZPR)
IX Sejm – Bogdan Suchodolski (non-partisan)
X Sejm – Zbigniew Rudnicki (SD), July 4, 1989

Third Republic

I Sejm^[4] – Aleksander Małachowski (SP), November 25, 1991
II Sejm – Aleksander Małachowski (UP), October 14, 1993
III Sejm – Józef Kaleta (SLD), October 20, 1997
IV Sejm – Aleksander Małachowski (UP), October 19, 2001
V Sejm – Józef Zych (PSL),^[5] October 19–24, 2005
VI Sejm – Zbigniew Religa (PiS), November 5, 2007
VII Sejm – Józef Zych (PSL), November 8, 2011
VIII Sejm – Kornel Morawiecki (WiS), November 12, 2015
IX Sejm – Antoni Macierewicz (PiS), November 12, 2019^[6]^[7]
X Sejm – Marek Sawicki (PSL), November 13 2023^[8]^[9]

Senior Marshals of the Senate

Polish People's Republic

I^[10] Senate – Stanisław Stomma (Solidarity), July 4, 1989

Third Republic

II Senate – Jan Tomasz Zamoyski (ZChN), November 26, 1991
III Senate – Jan Mulak (PPS), October 15, 1993
IV Senate – Władysław Bartoszewski (UW), October 21, 1997
V Senate – Andrzej Wielowieyski (UW), October 20, 2001
VI Senate – Kazimierz Kutz (Independent), October 20, 2005
VII Senate – Ryszard Bender (PiS), November 5, 2007
VIII Senate – Kazimierz Kutz (Independent), November 8, 2011
IX Senate – Michał Seweryński (PiS), November 12, 2015
X Senate – Barbara Borys-Damięcka (KO), November 12, 2019^[7]
XI Senate – Michał Seweryński (PiS), November 13, 2023^[9]

References

^ ^a ^b Ryncarz, Krzysztof (13 November 2023). "Jakie funkcje pełnią marszałkowie seniorzy Sejmu i Senatu? – EURACTIV.pl". euractiv.pl. Euractiv. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
^ ^a ^b Misiuk, Weronika (7 November 2023). "Kim jest marszałek senior? Oto jego zadania". wiadomości.radio.zet. Radio ZET. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
^ "Marszałek senior Senatu. Kto może nim zostać?". demagog.org.pl. 15 November 2023. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
^ The Sejm elected in 1991 is considered the first Sejm of the Third Republic
^ Served as the Marshal of the Sejm 3 March 1995 – 19 October 1997
^ Macierewicz wasn't an oldest MP of the 9th Sejm. The oldest one was opposition MP Iwona Śledzińska-Katarasińska (Civic Platform), his senior of 7 years and 7 months. President Andrzej Duda was a member of Law and Justice before his election and chose to name an MP from his political party.
^ ^a ^b "Prezydent wskazał marszałków seniorów Sejmu i Senatu". prezydent.pl. 5 November 2019.
^ "Prezydent wskazał, komu powierzy misję tworzenia rządu". Onet Wiadomości (in Polish). 6 November 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Pierwsze posiedzenia Sejmu i Senatu 13 listopada". prezydent.pl. 7 November 2023.
^ The Senate elected in the first semi-democratic elections of 1989 is considered the first Senate