Poland marks anniversary of historic 1989 vote

Officials in Poland have marked the 31st anniversary of the country’s first partially free elections after World War II, a landmark vote that heralded the collapse of communism after decades of totalitarian rule.

A 1989 Polish election poster designed by Tomasz Sarnecki and based on the 1952 American film "High Noon."

Photo: PAP/Tomasz Gzell-

On June 4, 1989, partly free elections were held to the lower house of Poland’s parliament, the Sejm, and completely free elections to the upper house, the Senate.

The Solidarity opposition movement scored a resounding victory, winning all the seats available to it in the Sejm, and all but one seat in the freely contested Senate.

31 lat temu, 4 czerwca 1989 roku odbyły się częściowo wolne wybory do Sejmu oraz w pełni wolne do Senatu. Zwyciężyła #Solidarność
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Plakat wyborczy #Solidarność
„W samo południe” autorstwa Tomasza Sarneckiego. pic.twitter.com/46QHsOviZy

— PL1918 (@PL1918) June 4, 2020

The vote was a milestone that is seen as triggering a domino effect across the region, culminating in the fall of the Berlin Wall, a symbol of decades of division between Western Europe and the communist East.

Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Twitter on Thursday that “Poles voted in solidarity for a free country” 31 years ago.

The US ambassador to Warsaw, Georgette Mosbacher, tweeted that the Polish vote of June 4, 1989 was "a watershed event for the peaceful democratic transition that liberated Europe from communist oppression."

Today’s anniversary of the first partly free elections in Poland reminds us about the Poles’ historic role in the demise of communism.This was a watershed event for the peaceful democratic transition that liberated Europe from communist oppression. pic.twitter.com/E9Lo8tPiYZ

— Georgette Mosbacher (@USAmbPoland) June 4, 2020

(gs/pk)

Source: Polish Radio