Socialists in Sejm Ustawodawczy vis-à-vis Systemic Reforms in Poland in 1947

On 19 January 1947, an election to Sejm Ustawodawczy (Constitutent Assembly) of the Polish Republic took place, during which Polska Partia Socjalistyczna (PPS – Polish Socialist Party) formed the most numerous parliamentarian club, counting 116 deputies. Despite its being subordinated to Polska Partia Robotnicza (PPR – Polish Worker Party), the Socialist party tried to pursue ideals and values typical of the Polish socialist movement, emphasizing political, economic and social pluralism as well as civic rights and liberties. This was for instance evidenced by the socialist’ involvement in the drafting of Mała Konstytucja (Small Constitution), whereby they constantly stressed the importance of postulates such as the rule of law, decentralization of power and expansion of the cooperative movement as well as their work during the preparation of a draft of „Deklaracja praw i wolności obywatelskich” (Declaration of Civic Rights and Liberties). The proposed legal-institutional arrangements were to be based on harmonious collaboration of particular organs of authority: Senate and Sejm, President, State Council, Council of Ministers and Supreme Chamber of Audit (Najwyższa Izba Kontroli). The socialists considered worthy of popular support the strenghtening of the role of the Parliament, introducing the principle of election of members to the State Council, having a strong Cabinet, extending opportunities for the development of selfgovernment as well as increasing the autonomy of the judiciary. Those proposals were strictly related – within the PPS conception of parliamentarian democracy – to the necessity of triggering social-economic transformation in the country, achieving an increase in the level of its wealth and in the level of intellectual development of society. In other words, in the framework of popular democracy, the socialists aimed at social justice. However, during that Sejm term, their vision was gradually erased from the communist programmme and its political practice. The year of 1948 became a threshold opening a period of changes in the shaping of the model of political and economic regime in the country and the methods by means of which socialism was to be built. Events such as the ultimate suppression of so called rightist-nationalist leaning and the unification of PPR and PPS led to a rejection of the socialist conceptions, evaluated as incongruent with PZPR models