The
National Assembly () is the name of a joint sitting of the
Sejm and the
Senate. It is headed by the
Marshal of the Sejm (or by the
Marshal of the Senate when the former is absent). Under the
Constitution of Poland the National Assembly has the authority to: • declare the President's permanent incapacity to exercise his duties due to the state of his health (by a majority vote of at least two-thirds of the statutory number of members), • bring an indictment against the President to the
State Tribunal (by a majority of at least two-thirds of the statutory number of members, on the motion of at least 140 members), • adopt its own rules of procedure. The National Assembly is also called in order to: • receive the President's
oath of office, • hear a presidential address (however, the President may choose to deliver his address to either the Sejm or the Senate). In the periods 1922–1935 and 1989–1990, it was this joint sitting which elected the
President of the Republic of Poland by an absolute majority of votes. In and from 1935, it was replaced by an
Assembly of Electors, which consisted of the Marshal of the Senate (as president of the Assembly of Electors), the Marshal of the Sejm, the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice, the General Armed Forces Inspector, 50 electors elected by the Sejm, and 25 electors elected by the Senate. Because of
World War II, Assembly of Electors has never been convened. After the war, the Senate was abolished in 1946 so in 1947
Bolesław Bierut was elected president only by the Sejm. There were no presidents from 1952 until 1989 when the
Senate was restored and the National Assembly elected
Wojciech Jaruzelski as
President. Since 1990, the President has been elected by the people. However, the
President is still sworn in before the National Assembly, which is also the only organ which can declare the President's permanent incapacity to perform his duties, or bring an indictment against him before
State Tribunal. From 1992 to 1997, the National Assembly drafted and passed a new
Constitution, which was approved by a national referendum on 25 May 1997. == Current standings ==