In early November 1918, a socialist provisional government under Ignacy Daszyński declared independence, while a separate committee in Kraków claimed to rule West Galicia.
Fourteen governments and eleven prime ministers rose and fell between 1918 and 1926, with nine governments alone serving between the five-year March Constitution era.
Piłsudski turned instead to Jędrzej Moraczewski, who successfully crafted a workable government for the Second Republic's first months of existence. The Small Constitution of 1919 outlined Poland's form of government, with a democratically elected Sejm, a prime minister and cabinet, and an executive branch.
By the early 1920s, rightist nationalists within parliament, particularly Roman Dmowski and other members of the Popular National Union party and the Endecja movement, advocated reforms to the republic's structure to stem the authority of the chief of state (and ultimately Piłsudski) while increasing parliamentary powers.
The result was the Sejm's passage of the March Constitution of 1921.
Piłsudski's August Novelization of the 1921 Constitution retained the prime minister's post and the parliamentary system, though modified the president's powers to rule by decree, dismiss the Sejm, and decide budgetary matters.
Fourteen governments and eleven prime ministers rose and fell between 1918 and 1926, with nine governments alone serving between the five-year March Constitution era.
By the mid-1930s, Piłsudski and fellow Sanationists further stripped parliament and the premier's powers by enacting a new constitution, effectively establishing a strong "hyper-presidency" by 1935.
Until the outbreak of the Second World War and the resulting exiling of the Polish government, the Sanation movement remained at the helm of a government dominated by the presidency with a weak, subordinate prime minister. ===People's Republic=== Under the communist Polish People's Republic, the ruling Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR) dominated all sections of the government, as recognized under the 1952 Constitution.
The passage of the Small Constitution in 1992, which dispensed with the communist 1952 document, clarified several presidential prerogatives over the prime minister, including the president's right to be consulted on the ministers of Defense, Foreign Affairs and Interior.
In face of growing protests from the Solidarity movement for much of the 1980s, the PZPR entered into the Round Table Talks in early 1989 with leading members of the anti-communist opposition.
In face of growing protests from the Solidarity movement for much of the 1980s, the PZPR entered into the Round Table Talks in early 1989 with leading members of the anti-communist opposition.
Mazowiecki's famous 1989 Thick Line speech (gruba kreska) further exacerbated the splintering.
After Lech Wałęsa's direct 1990 election to the presidency, a tug of war between the offices of the premier and presidency regarding the powers of the two offices began, with Wałęsa arguing for increased presidential powers by drafting a new constitution, with the right to appoint and dismiss the prime minister and members of the cabinet.
Conflicts between the two offices, however, have generated party splits and political paralysis in the past. Both before and after his 1990 election to the presidency, Lech Wałęsa had a deeply strained relationship with Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki, stemming from Wałęsa's belief that Mazowiecki was not aggressive enough in the dismissal of former Polish United Workers' Party members from senior government and economic positions.
The split between the two men fractured the original uniting Solidarity Citizens' Committee by 1990, with intellectuals supporting Mazowiecki's new Citizens' Movement for Democratic Action, while workers supported the Centre Agreement, a political movement based around Wałęsa. Similarly, Prime Minister Jan Olszewski also retained a notoriously strained relationship with President Wałęsa during Olszewski's brief government between 1991 and 1992.
The split between the two men fractured the original uniting Solidarity Citizens' Committee by 1990, with intellectuals supporting Mazowiecki's new Citizens' Movement for Democratic Action, while workers supported the Centre Agreement, a political movement based around Wałęsa. Similarly, Prime Minister Jan Olszewski also retained a notoriously strained relationship with President Wałęsa during Olszewski's brief government between 1991 and 1992.
The passage of the Small Constitution in 1992, which dispensed with the communist 1952 document, clarified several presidential prerogatives over the prime minister, including the president's right to be consulted on the ministers of Defense, Foreign Affairs and Interior.
The split between the two men fractured the original uniting Solidarity Citizens' Committee by 1990, with intellectuals supporting Mazowiecki's new Citizens' Movement for Democratic Action, while workers supported the Centre Agreement, a political movement based around Wałęsa. Similarly, Prime Minister Jan Olszewski also retained a notoriously strained relationship with President Wałęsa during Olszewski's brief government between 1991 and 1992.
Wałęsa repeatedly called for the Olszewski government's dismissal, which the Sejm obliged, forcing the collapse of Olszewski's coalition in June 1992.
The shortest-serving premier was the first government of Waldemar Pawlak, lasting for 35 days between June and July 1992.
Between 1996 and 1997, a series of reform laws passed through parliament, strengthening and centralizing the prime minister's prerogatives.
The reforms between 1996 and 1997, codified under the constitution, made the prime minister the centre of legal authority within the government. ==Selection and responsibilities== ===Appointment=== According to Article 154 of the Constitution of Poland, the president must nominate the prime minister to the post.
The current responsibilities and traditions of the office stem from the creation of the contemporary Polish state, and the office is defined in the Constitution of 1997.
Between 1996 and 1997, a series of reform laws passed through parliament, strengthening and centralizing the prime minister's prerogatives.
These reforms would form the basis of the current 1997 Constitution.
Additionally, the previous communist-era Office of the Council of Ministers (Urząd Rady Ministrów) was reformed into the Chancellery in 1997 to act as the premier's executive central office and support staff, assisting the facilitation and coordination of policy among members of the cabinet.
The reforms between 1996 and 1997, codified under the constitution, made the prime minister the centre of legal authority within the government. ==Selection and responsibilities== ===Appointment=== According to Article 154 of the Constitution of Poland, the president must nominate the prime minister to the post.
In the early to mid-1990s, the relationship largely depended on different interpretations of the vague, legal prerogatives of each office at the time, though since the passage of the Constitution of 1997, political preferences and individual personalities have characterized the relationship.
Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka, who succeeded in forming a government after Waldemar Pawlak's failure to gather a workable coalition, enjoyed a far more amicable relationship with the president. The implementation of a new constitution in 1997 profoundly effected the relationship between the premiership and presidency.
Political rivals for years, fueled by the 2005 presidential poll which saw both men as the main challengers, Tusk's center-right Civic Platform toppled President Kaczyński's twin brother Jarosław's government in the 2007 parliamentary election.
Political rivals for years, fueled by the 2005 presidential poll which saw both men as the main challengers, Tusk's center-right Civic Platform toppled President Kaczyński's twin brother Jarosław's government in the 2007 parliamentary election.
From 2007 until Kaczyński's death in the Smolensk air disaster in 2010, policy differences between the two offices were a constant source of division, with the president employing his limited veto powers numerous times over the government's legislation; Tusk's government lacked a 60 percent threshold to overturn such vetoes.
The longest-serving prime minister was Donald Tusk, who held the premiership continuously from 16 November 2007 to 22 September 2014.
Frustrated by Kaczyński's veto, Prime Minister Tusk argued for a constitutional amendment in November 2009 to strip the presidency of its veto powers, declaring: "The president should not have veto power.
From 2007 until Kaczyński's death in the Smolensk air disaster in 2010, policy differences between the two offices were a constant source of division, with the president employing his limited veto powers numerous times over the government's legislation; Tusk's government lacked a 60 percent threshold to overturn such vetoes.
In response, Tusk made no secret his party's desire to replace Kaczyński in the 2010 presidential election.
The longest-serving prime minister was Donald Tusk, who held the premiership continuously from 16 November 2007 to 22 September 2014.
Morawiecki replaced Prime Minister Beata Szydło, who resigned on 7 December 2017. ==Origin of the office== ===Second Republic=== Near the end of the First World War, an assortment of groups contested to proclaim an independent Polish state.
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