Legal Eye: When to call early elections?

On a daily basis one or more of the coalition partners is threatening to bring down the government by withdrawing its support if a particular pet project is not included in the budget, or if a particular ministerial post is not assigned to a member of a particular coalition partner. This raises the question: Who exactly can dissolve the government and call new elections? And what, if any, procedural requirements must be satisfied in order to call early elections? The answers to both questions can be found in the Constitution.

Who decides?

Both the Sejm itself and the President are each empowered to dissolve the government and call for early elections. The Sejm may, upon adoption of a resolution by at least two-thirds of all Deputies (minimum 307 votes), shorten its own term of office for any reason. The President may also dissolve the government and call early elections. However, such a right is limited to specific instances provided for in the Constitution, such as the failure of the government to adopt a budget within a prescribed term. The general public, alas, does not have any legal means to force dissolution of the government. Nor does the judiciary.

Once a decision is made to dissolve the Sejm and call early elections, the Senate's term of office will also come to an end. The 100 members of the Senate have no say on their political future.

The alternatives

Short of dissolving the entire government the Sejm may, upon submission of a resolution supported by at least 46 Deputies, pass a vote of no confidence in the entire Council of Ministers, including the Prime Minister. In order to be adopted such a resolution must be supported by a simple majority of all Deputies (231 votes). The President would then appoint a new Prime Minister selected by the Sejm. The Prime Minister may also seek the dismissal of the Council of Ministers (but preserve his or her own position) by the Sejm using the same procedure. In order to hold a vote of no confidence, only seven days' advance notice is required. Individual Ministers may also be removed from office using the same method. Finally, an individual Deputy or Senator may be removed from office by the State Tribunal upon a motion of the Sejm in the event of "self dealing" in violation of the Constitution.

Calling early elections

If the decision is taken to dissolve the government, either by the Sejm itself or the President, the Constitution requires the President to call for new elections within 45 days following adoption of the resolution to dissolve the government by the Sejm (or alternatively as of the day the President has dissolved the government). Within 15 days following early elections the President will then summon the newly elected Sejm to form a new government. Once seated in office, the new Sejm and Senate will serve for a new four year term. That is, assuming the new government can avoid the same fate as the previous.

Paul Fogo is a senior attorney with Miller, Canfield, W Babicki & Partners fogo@pl.millercanfield.com