The article discusses the issue of the place of the President of the Republic and that of the Senate within the system of Poland's government. The constitutional status of the President was determined by three sets of norms. These are, firstly, general principles (contained in Chapter I) specifying the role of the President in the political system of the State and among its top agencies. Secondly, the competence norms specified in Chapter II and also placed in other chapters of the Constitution. This relates, in particular to Articles 11-13, the latter including a comprehensive list of the so-called personal powers (prerogatives) of the President. And, thirdly, the provisions governing his appointment and accountability. The fact that the Constitution is silent in respect of some matters enclosed by fundamental principles of democratic constitutional regulations was also important for determining the position of the President in the system of government. This included, above all, such categories as the principle of supremacy of the nation and elimination of the principle of classical [tripartite] separation of powers, as a natural consequence of the wording of Article 2 paragraph 4 which states that "Unitary and indivisible power in the State shall be vested in him". To accentuate precedence of the bodies directly managing the state affairs, the executive power was placed in the Constitution at the second place, after the President. To specify competences of the government, the Constitution applied a general formula which reads as follows: "the Government shall manage State affairs that are not reserved to other authorities" (Article 25 paragraph 1). In accordance with the tradition of the parliamentary system of government, the power to appoint a government was vested in the President of the Republic. Appointing and recalling the Prime Minister was among the President's prerogatives, while appointment and recall of ministers required to be countersigned by the Prime Minister. Members of government were politically and constitutionally accountable to the President of the Republic, and also to the Sejm or to the Sejm and the Senate. The accountability to the President was procedurally unlimited, unlike that in relation to the Sejm or to the Sejm and Senate, which was procedurally limited and always accompanied with the alternative of the recall of the government or a minister, or the dissolution of parliament and holding new elections. This alternative was not available in the event that both houses had jointly passed (by a three/fifths majority of votes) a resolution "to commit the Prime Minister or a minister for a trial before the Tribunal of State" (Article 30 paragraph. 3). Having briefly presented the office of President of the Republic, the government and their mutual relations, the author discusses, in a few words, some premises of solutions adopted by the founders of the April Constitution.. The last part of the article is dedicated to the confrontation of the Polish model of presidentialism with the model of semipresidentialism elaborated by Duverger. The author stated, in conclusion, that the Polish model is characterized by a considerable distinction and should be treated as a sign of highly individualized concept of the system of government.
