Poland's Unexpected Political Earthquake: The September 2001 Parliamentary Election

Abstract

The September 2001 parliamentary election represented a political earthquake that may lead to a major restructuring of the party system. The communist successor formation, the Democratic Left Alliance, was returned to office after a four-year gap, and the post-Solidarity groupings that had formed the previous governments were soundly beaten. Very few commentators had foreseen such a result, or certain other surprises. The biggest of all was the success of two radical-populist groupings that emerged at a very late stage in the campaign. The over-arching theme of this election was a backlash against the political establishment in general and incumbents in particular, and it has left the Polish party system unstable and unbalanced. The Democratic Left Alliance appears to have confirmed its hegemony on the left, but it is unclear what alternatives are likely to crystallize on the fractious and unstable centre-right over the next few years.