National Government in PolandPoland was the first country in Central and Eastern Europe to break out of communist rule. This move, soon followed throughout the region, started in early 1989 with discussions, which became known as the "Round Table Negotiations", between the Communist dominated authorities and the opposition. As a result, major agreements were reached, including the legalisation of the Solidarity trade union and an agreement to hold free elections on June 4, 1989.This was the prelude to the development of a new system of government with a legal parliamentary opposition. Other developments included the creation of a position of the President as head of state, and a second chamber of Parliament, the Senate. All the contested seats in the June 1989 elections were won by the representatives of Solidarity, who formed the first non-communist government in the region since World War II.Poland is a sovereign and democratic country whose institutions operate under the rule of law. There is a multiplicity of political parties across the entire political spectrum; five parties or political coalitions are represented in the current Parliament.Poland is a constitutional republic with a mixture of presidential and parliamentary models. The National Assembly - made up of the two chambers of Parliament, the Sejm (Seym) and the Senate - approved the final draft of the country's first post-Communist constitution April 2, 1997. After the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the referendum, and President Aleksander Kwasniewski signed it into law, the new constitution went into effect Oct.17, 1997.The long-awaited constitution, the result of several years of intensive debate and negotiations spanning five administrations across the entire political spectrum, is the country's l0th since Poland's first history-making Constitution of May 3,1791.The President is elected by universal suffrage to a five-year term, for a maximum of two terms. The President is the commander-in-chief of the military forces. The President has the right do dissolve the Parliament if it is unable to approve the budget law or to form a government. Solidarity leader Lech Walesa was elected President in November 1990 and his mandate expired in 1995. He was succeeded by Aleksander Kwasniewski, who was elected for a second term in October 2000. The Parliament is composed of the Sejm( Seym) with 460 seats and the Senate with 100 seats, each elected to a four-year term.