Lesson One for Rebuilding Democracy: Listen to the People

Poland’s new government took office amid the widespread goodwill of those supporting it. But it risks losing office after a single term if it doesn’t act on its promises.

Szymon Hołownia, the new speaker of Poland’s Sejm, didn’t waste much time in expressing his view of how the lower house of parliament should work after elections that changed the country’s political landscape. „The Sejm should serve first and foremost those Poles who do not visit it every day,” he proclaimed. „I hope that in two years, you will see the Sejm as a model of decent debate and discussion and not as a negation of it.”