Senate of Poland

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Senate of the Republic of Poland Senat Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej
11th term
Type
Type	Upper house of the Polish parliament
History
Founded	1493 (1493) (historical) 1921 (contemporary)
Leadership
Marshal of the Senate	Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, PO since 13 November 2023
Deputy Marshal of the Senate	Rafał Grupiński, PO Magdalena Biejat, LR Maciej Żywno, PL2050 Michał Kamiński, UED vacant, PiS since 13 November 2023
Structure
Seats	99 senators (50 majority)
Political groups	Government (60)   KO (42)[a]   TD (12)[e]   The Left (6)[h] Confidence and supply (5)   Independent and Self-Governing (3)   The Left (2)[i] Opposition (34)   ZP (34)[k]
Website
www.senat.gov.pl
Rules
"The Rules and Regulations of the Senate". senat.gov.pl. Retrieved 15 November 2023.

The Senate (Polish: Senat) is the upper house of the Polish parliament, the lower house being the Sejm. The history of the Polish Senate stretches back over 500 years; it was one of the first constituent bodies of a bicameral parliament in Europe and existed without hiatus until the final partition of the Polish state in 1795. The contemporary Senate is composed of 100 senators elected by a universal ballot and is headed by the Marshal of the Senate (Marszałek Senatu). The incumbent Marshal of the Senate is Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska.

Following a brief period of existence under the Second Polish Republic, the Senate was again abolished by the authorities of the Polish People's Republic. It was not re-established until the collapse of the communist government and reinstatement of democracy in Poland in 1989. The Senate is based in Warsaw and is located in a building which forms part of the Sejm Complex on Wiejska Street, in close proximity to the Three Crosses Square and Ujazdów Castle.

Like most parliaments in the European Union, Poland's parliament is asymmetric, where the lower chamber is dominant over the upper chamber. Unlike the Sejm, the Senate cannot unilaterally veto legislation nor can it bring down the government in a vote of no confidence, and the chamber and its members generally receive far less attention compared to the Sejm.
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