Presidential elections were held in Poland on 5 November 1995, with a second round on 19 November.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1491 The leader of Social Democracy, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, and incumbent president Lech Wałęsa advanced to the second round. Kwaśniewski won the election with 52% of the vote in the run-off against 48% for Wałęsa.
Background Wałęsa's inauguration Lech Wałęsa was elected and sworn in as President in December 1990, succeeding Wojciech Jaruzelski and leading to the ultimate end of communist rule in Poland. Soon after his inauguration, Wałęsa's presently primary rival Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki resigned and was followed by Jan Krzysztof Bielecki, a liberal and economist relatively loyal to Wałęsa. Regardless of the cabinet changes, Bielecki's time as prime minister would largely follow the course set by his predecessor.
1991 parliamentary election The 1991 Polish parliamentary election saw the Democratic Union (UD) become the largest party, later supplanted by the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) after Aleksander Hall's Conservatives split off from UD. After the downfall of Jan Olszewski's cabinet, and Hanna Suchocka's cabinet which succeeded it, new elections were called.
1993 parliamentary election The 1993 Polish parliamentary election saw SLD become the largest party, winning a plurality with 171 seats — 37.2% of the 460-seat Sejm — while receiving only 20.4% of the vote. SLD governed in a coalition with the Polish People's Party.
Approval rating of Wałęsa
Wałęsa maintained an overwhelmingly negative approval rating throughout the second half of his term, with his approval becoming positive only during a period of increased polarization before the second turn of the 1995 presidential election.
Candidate selection Registered candidates Name Born Last position/job Party Endorsed by Aleksander Kwaśniewski (40)Białogard, Koszalin Voivodeship Member of the Sejm (1989–1995)Chairman of Social Democracy (1990–1995) Social Democracy Democratic Left Alliance Lech Wałęsa (52)Popowo, General Government President of Poland (1990–1995) rowspan="10" Independent Nonpartisan Bloc for Support of Reforms Confederation of Independent Poland Party of Christian Democrats Polish People's Party – Peasants' Agreement Movement for the Republic – Patriotic Camp Solidarity Party of Polish Democracy Christian National Union Jacek Kuroń (61)Lwów, Lwów Voivodeship Minister of Labour and Social Policy (1989–1991, 1992–1993)Member of the Sejm (1989–1993) Freedom Union Jan Olszewski (65)Warsaw, Warsaw Voivodeship Prime Minister (1991–1992)Member of the Sejm (1991–1993) rowspan="4" Movement for the Republic Polish Party "Patrimony" Centre Agreement Christian-National Movement Polish Action Third Republic Movement Waldemar Pawlak (36)Model, Płock Voivodeship Prime Minister (1993–1995)Member of the Sejm (1989–2015) Polish People's Party Tadeusz Zieliński (69)Kraków, Kraków VoivodeshipOmbudsman in Poland (1992–1996) rowspan="4" Independent Labour Union National Party of Retirees and Pensioners Polish Socialist Party Polish Socialist Party – WRN Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz (43)Warsaw, Warsaw Voivodeship President of the National Bank (1992–2001) rowspan="6" Independent Christian-Democratic Labour Party Conservative Coalition Conservative Party Christian-Peasant Party Christian National Union Polish Union Janusz Korwin-Mikke (53)Warsaw, Warsaw Voivodeship Member of the Sejm (1991–1993) Real Politics Union Andrzej Lepper (41)Stowięcino, Słupsk Voivodeship Agriculturist Self-Defence Covenant Jan Pietrzak (58)Warsaw, Warsaw Voivodeship Satirist Independent Tadeusz Koźluk (65)Konstantynów, Lublin Voivodeship Lawyer Independent Kazimierz Piotrowicz (41) Entrepreneur Independent Leszek Bubel (38)Węgrów, Siedlce Voivodeship Member of the Sejm Forum for Fighting Lawlessness
Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland Potential candidatesAleksander KwaśniewskiJózef Oleksy Prime Minister of Poland
During SdRP's Congress on 13 May, Kwaśniewski secured his party's endorsement for president with 296 out of 300 votes. Some delegates believed Józef Oleksy should become the candidate instead. A poll conducted in December 1994 suggested 71% of potential SLD voters supported Kwaśniewski as the party's candidate, 7% supported Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz and 16% supported Oleksy.
Nonpartisan Bloc for Support of Reforms Lech Wałęsa was endorsed by the Bloc. A sizable part of anti-Wałęsa, reformist activists in the Bloc, like Andrzej Olechowski or Zbigniew Religa split off before the election, the latter forming the , which supported after Religa dissented with his party's intention to run himself as its candidate. Markiewicz dropped out and endorsed Wałęsa before the first round of the election. Besides his own party, Wałęsa received the endorsement of other parties: a section of the ZChN endorsed him on 18 September, later joined by the rest of the party (though it didn't revoke its endorsement of their original candidate, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz) on 29 October.
Freedom Union Potential candidatesJacek KurońJanusz OnyszkiewiczHanna Suchocka Minister of Labour and Social Policy Minister of National Defence Prime Minister of Poland
During the 2nd Congress of the Freedom Union, three candidates decided to enter the party's candidate selection process: Jacek Kuroń, Janusz Onyszkiewicz and Hanna Suchocka. Suchocka, despite being the highest-ranking of the former three candidates, came last in the first round. The second round of voting saw Kuroń defeat Onyszkiewicz by a slight margin of 11 votes, and the former Minister of Labour became the party's official candidate for president. A poll conducted in December 1994 suggested 53% of potential UW voters supported Kuroń as the party's candidate, 15% supported Leszek Balcerowicz and 25% supported Suchocka.
Movement for the Republic and Centre Agreement Potential candidates (Centre Agreement)Lech KaczyńskiJan OlszewskiAdam Strzembosz President of the Supreme Audit Office Prime Minister of Poland Chairman of the Supreme Court of Poland
With variously successful attempts of uniting the extraparliamentary right, several possible candidates were presented to lead it in the presidential election, most prominently of those affiliated with the Centre Agreement or its splinters, Lech Kaczyński, Jan Olszewski or Adam Strzembosz. On 27 March, Strzembosz declared his intentions to run for president, gaining the support of conventionally right-wing parties around him - the Centre Agreement, Christian-Peasant Party and Conservative Coalition, as well as the more centrist Conservative Party of Aleksander Hall. Strzembosz, alongside other activists of the right including Jan Olszewski, attempted to legitimise his candidacy at the Convent of St. Catherine. After its collapse in July, Jan Olszewski started an individual presidential campaign under his party, the Movement for the Republic, who the PC considered supporting instead of Strzembosz due to dissatisfaction with him sidelining the party's staffers and platform, especially its tough on crime positions. However, on 4 September the party chose to proclaim Lech Kaczyński as their nominee instead. After failure to gain much support, Strzembosz abandoned his candidacy on 16 September, endorsing Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, one of the pretendents at the Convent of St. Catherine. Both Kaczyński and Olszewski also attempted to court the endorsement of the Solidarity trade union from Wałęsa, but failed, as the union endorsed the incumbent president on 18 October. Similarly to many other of the right's candidates, Kaczyński dropped out of the race on 30 October due to his poor performance and endorsed Olszewski. A poll conducted in December 1994 suggested 13% of potential voters for the extraparliamentary right supported Olszewski as the party's candidate, 11% supported Kaczyński and 6% supported Strzembosz. Another 9% supported right-libertarian Janusz Korwin-Mikke (UPR) and 8% supported Alicja Grześkowiak (PC).
Polish People's Party Potential candidatesWaldemar PawlakJózef Zych Prime Minister Marshal of the Sejm
Pawlak was selected as the party's candidate. He was challenged most prominently by Józef Zych at the party's convention, however, Zych resigned from seeking the candidacy. A poll conducted in December 1994 suggested 68% of potential PSL voters supported Pawlak as the party's candidate, 1% supported Janusz Piechociński and 9% supported Zych.
Convent of St. Catherine Potential candidatesLeszek MoczulskiJan OlszewskiAdam StrzemboszHenryk BąkWojciech ZiembińskiRoman CiesielskiJan Parys President of the National Bank of Poland Member of the Sejm Prime Minister of Poland Chairman of the Supreme Court of Poland Deputy Marshal of the Sejm Anti-communist oppositionist Member of the Senat Minister of National Defence
In November 1994, the Convent of St. Catherine was organised by , coordinating several extraparliamentary center to right-wing parties, like the Christian-Democratic Labour Party (ChDSP), Confederation of Independent Poland, Party of Christian Democrats (PChD), Peasants' Agreement, , Movement for the Republic, Third Republic Movement, Party of Polish Democracy, , Christian National Union, Polish Union (ZP), Solidarity or Rural Solidarity. The Convent's purpose was to serve as a discussion forum for the marginal extraparliamentary parties trying to coalesce into a political force able to cross the 5% threshold and enter the Sejm after the last election's wipeout result for the fragmented parties. In the Summer of 1995, the Convent agreed to hold meetings to select a joint presidential candidate for that year's election. Out of the many candidates that expressed interest in becoming the candidate, the quickest to withdraw was Jan Parys, soon after , , and Adam Strzembosz stopped being contenders. The remaining candidates, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, Leszek Moczulski and Jan Olszewski, ultimately entered a dispute over the results a ballot held to elect the Convent's candidate, as on the 19th of July, Gronkiewicz-Waltz's, followed by Olszewski's supporters both claimed victory for their candidates. Due to the inability of the Convent to decide on a candidate, it was ultimately disbanded and all three of the remaining candidates ran their own presidential campaigns, though Moczulski ultimately withdrew and endorsed Wałęsa. Gronkiewicz-Waltz later tried to court the endorsements of right-wing candidates like Olszewski and Lech Kaczyński. A group of ZChN activists, including and , titled "Inicjatywa 44", broke away from the Gronkiewicz-Waltz campaign to support Wałęsa instead, being accepted into his campaign staff on 18 September. On 29 October, the rest of ZChN, beyond the Inicjatywa 44 group, endorsed Lech Wałęsa without withdrawing their support for Gronkiewicz-Waltz. Ultimately, she remained with only the concrete endorsements of the SLCh, ZP, PK, KK and ChDSP.
Withdrawn candidates
Centre AgreementRepublicans PartyIndependent Chairman of KRRiT Member of the Sejm Entrepreneur Endorsed Jan Olszewski Endorsed Lech Wałęsa Endorsed Lech Wałęsa Endorsed Lech Wałęsa
Rejected candidates The following candidates registered to run, but failed to cross the threshold of 100,000 signatures required to run in the election: Bolesław Tejkowski (Chairman of the )
Campaign