German Minority Electoral Committee

German Minority Electoral Committee Komitet Wyborczy Mniejszość Niemiecka
Founded	1990
Headquarters	ul. M.Konopnickiej 6 45-004 Opole ul. Wczasowa 3 47-400 Racibórz
Ideology	German minority interests[1] Christian democracy Social conservatism Regionalism Pro-Europeanism
Political position	Centre
Sejm (Opole)	1 / 12
Voivodeship Sejmik of Opole Voivodeship	5 / 30
Website
www.mniejszoscniemiecka.eu
Politics of Poland Political parties Elections

German Minority in the Polish region of Upper Silesia (Opole Voivodeship and Silesian Voivodeship).

Votes for the German Minority in the 2007 elections, Opole Voivodeship.

The German Minority Electoral Committee (Polish: Komitet Wyborczy Mniejszość Niemiecka, German: Wahlkomitee der Deutschen Minderheit) represents the German minority in Poland in the Sejm, or the lower house of Polish parliament. It is not a political party, but an organization by which Poland's political system gives political representation to national minorities. Candidates of the German minority are proposed by the Social-Cultural Association of Germans in Silesian Opole (Towarzystwo Społeczno-Kulturalne Niemców na Śląsku Opolskim) and the Social-Cultural Association of Germans in Silesian Voivodeship (Towarzystwo Społeczno-Kulturalne Niemców Województwa Śląskiego).^[2]

Programme[]

German Minority supports Polish integration with the European Union and the development of the region of Silesia, and argues for laws supportive of minority groups (in particular, the German minority in Poland).

National elections[]

As an organisation representing a national minority, it is not required to pass the election threshold of 5% as standard political parties in Poland are.

Election	Votes	% of Poland	% of Opole	Seats (Opole)	Change
1991	132,059	1.2		7 / 10	7
1993	60,770	0.4	19.0[a]	3 / 10	4
1997	51,027	0.4	17.0[b]	2 / 10	1
2001	47,230	0.4	13.6	2 / 13
2005	34,469	0.3	12.9	2 / 13
2007	32,462	0.2	8.8	1 / 13	1
2011	28,014	0.2	8.8	1 / 12
2015	27,530	0.2	8.1	1 / 12
2019	32,094	0.2	7.9	1 / 12

In 1993 there were two lists, one in the Opole Voivodeship, one in the Katowice Voivodeship. The Opole list also won one seat in the Senate.

At the 2007 Parliamentary elections the candidate list to the Sejm (Polish parliament) got 8.81% of the votes in Opole Voivodeship, and only one seat in the Sejm, Ryszard Galla (8,193 votes). He had already won a seat in 2005 and had announced the rise from 2 to 3 seats as an electoral goal early in September, thanks to the personal votes of local mayors who were supposed to reinforce the list.^[3][4] The second former Sejm deputy, Henryk Kroll (7,897 votes), lost his seat and announced his resignation from the chairmanship of the Social-Cultural Association of Germans in Silesian Opole, whose delegates are due to elect a new president early 2008. The 3 candidate list for the Senate of Poland didn't succeed in winning a single seat. According to the bilingual weekly Schlesisches Wochenblatt, votes won by the German Minority list could have benefited the Civic Platform (PO), for whom 6,000 to 8,000 ethnic Germans would have voted.^[5]

In 2011 the list got 8.76% of valid votes in the Opole constituency, and more than 20% in 3 powiat (Krapkowice County, Opole County and Strzelce County) out of 12. Ryszard Galla was reelected as the sole MP from the German Minority with 11,794 personal votes.^[6][7]

Regional elections[]

Local elections to the Opole Regional Assembly:

Notes[]

References[]

Bibliography[]

• Rabagliati, Alastair (2001). A Minority Vote. Participation of the German and Belarusian Minorities within the Polish Political System 1989–1999. Kraków: Zakład Wydawniczy NOMOS. ISBN 83-88508-18-0.

External links[]

• Official website (in Polish)