1922 Polish presidential elections

Two indirect presidential elections were held in Poland in December 1922. In the first election on 9 December Gabriel Narutowicz was elected president, but he was assassinated five days later. A second election on 22 December was won by Stanisław Wojciechowski.

1922 Polish presidential elections
9 December election
 
Nominee Gabriel Narutowicz Maurycy Zamoyski
Party PSL "Wyzwolenie" ZLN
Popular vote 289 227
Percentage 56.01% 43.99%
President before election

Józef Piłsudski (Chief of State)
Independent

 President

Gabriel Narutowicz
Independent

22 December election
 
Nominee Stanisław Wojciechowski Kazimierz Morawski
Party PSL "Piast" ZLN
Popular vote 298 221
Percentage 57.42% 42.58%
President before election

Maciej Rataj (acting)
PSL

 President

Stanisław Wojciechowski
PSL

First election
Piłsudski with president Narutowicz.

After the independence of Poland, the head of state was Naczelnik Państwa Józef Piłsudski. In a new constitution adopted by the Polish Sejm, the new head of state was to be the President of Republic of Poland - to be choose by the National Assembly (combined Sejm and Senate). After the parliamentary election, planning began for the first Polish presidential election in history.

The main probable candidate Józef Piłsudski, despite calls for him to contend, did not run for election. He proposed a former Prime Minister, Wincenty Witos, for presidency. Witos also refused. Finally Piłsudski supported the candidature of Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabriel Narutowicz.

At the time of the election the main candidates were count Maurycy Zamoyski, the candidate of National Democracy and Stanisław Wojciechowski, candidate of Polish People's Party "Piast". Narutowicz's good result was a surprise. Once the long voting was over, Zamoyski and Narutowicz advanced to the fifth ballot. Narutowicz finally won the election with the support of "Piast" (Wojciechowski was eliminated on the fourth round).

Narutowicz was sworn in as president on 11 December 1922, but was assassinated five days later.[1]

Candidates

Results
Candidate Party First ballot Second ballot Third ballot Fourth ballot Fifth ballot
Votes  % Votes  % Votes  % Votes  % Votes  %
Gabriel Narutowicz PSL "Wyzwolenie" 62 11.46 151 27.81 158 29.21 171 31.67 289 56.01
Maurycy Zamoyski ZLN 222 41.04 228 41.99 228 42.14 224 41.48 227 43.99
Stanisław Wojciechowski PLS "Piast" 105 19.41 153 28.18 150 27.73 145 26.85 Withdrew
Jan Baudouin de Courtenay National minorities 103 19.04 10 1.84 5 0.92 Withdrew
Ignacy Daszyński PPS 49 9.06 1 0.18 Withdrew
Source: Urbankowski[2]

Second election

The first election, when President of the Republic of Poland Gabriel Narutowicz was elected after several rounds by joint chambers of Sejm and Senate (at time of Second Polish Republic joint parliament elected president. The first direct vote took place in 1990). Narutowicz, however, was assassinated just five days since taking office. According to the Constitution the Sejm Marshal Maciej Rataj became Acting President of the Republic of Poland and organised new elections, which took place on 20 December. Stanislaw Wojciechowski won the second election, and took office on 22 December.[3]

Candidates

Results
CandidatePartyVotes%
Stanisław WojciechowskiPolish People's Party "Wyzwolenie"29857.42
Kazimierz MorawskiPopular National Union22142.58
Total519100.00

See also

References
  1. "President of the Republic of Poland / President / Polish Presidents / Gabriel Narutowicz". Archived from the original on 26 March 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  2. Urbankowski, Bohdan (2014). Józef Piłsudski. Warsaw: Zysk i Spółka. p. 410. ISBN 978-83-7785-480-8.
  3. "Wydarzenia 1922 roku". historia-polski.com. Retrieved 19 November 2018.

Bibliography
  • Sławomir Koper, Józef Piłsudski. Człowiek i polityk, Warsaw 2011
  • Dodatek nadzwyczajny, "Kurjer Poznański", 9 December 1922, Poznań.


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