Parliamentary clubs in the statutory norms of political parties (Comments on the statutes of the political parties present in the 8th Sejm of the Republic of Poland)

The principle of political pluralism expressed in Article 11 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 2 April 1997 guarantees the freedom of forming and acting of political parties. The said principle also stipulates the purpose of political parties, which is to influence the formulation of the policy of the State, including the exercise of public authority, by democratic means. Political parties achieve it by parliamentary mechanisms. In practice, it means that members of a given party in the Parliament form parliamentary fractions, which constitute the link between a political party and its representation in the Parliament. Therefore, the regulations on the principles of the formation of parliamentary clubs are included in the statutes of the political parties. In addition, the statutes of the parties define the relations of the club with the parent political party, and they contain guidelines on the actions taken by the club in the Parliament. The analysis of the statutes of the political parties which established clubs in the 8th Sejm of the Republic of Poland shows that each of them contains the regulations concerning the parliamentary representation; however, the level of detail of the accepted solutions varies.