Polish parliament
Encyclopedia
Polish parliament is an expression referring to the historical Polish parliaments. It implies chaos and general disorder, and that no real decision can be reached during sessions. The origin is that any single member of the Polish parliament during the 17th and 18th century had an absolute veto
(lat. liberum veto
), so that complete consensus—which could be attained only with great difficulty—was required for every issue. Originally, the procedure was used for points of order and similar technical issues, however, it was later abused. Today the expression is mostly used to describe a situation where too many parties are present in a legislative assembly for meaningful and orderly debate and decision-making to take place.
The expression is found in several European languages, including all the Scandinavian languages.
Veto
A veto, Latin for "I forbid", is the power of an officer of the state to unilaterally stop an official action, especially enactment of a piece of legislation...
(lat. liberum veto
Liberum veto
The liberum veto was a parliamentary device in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It allowed any member of the Sejm to force an immediate end to the current session and nullify any legislation that had already been passed at the session by shouting Nie pozwalam! .From the mid-16th to the late 18th...
), so that complete consensus—which could be attained only with great difficulty—was required for every issue. Originally, the procedure was used for points of order and similar technical issues, however, it was later abused. Today the expression is mostly used to describe a situation where too many parties are present in a legislative assembly for meaningful and orderly debate and decision-making to take place.
The expression is found in several European languages, including all the Scandinavian languages.