WARSAW, July 13 (Xinhua) -- The National Assembly -- a joint meeting of the Polish parliament's upper and lower held a sitting Friday at Warsaw's Royal Castle to commemorate the 550th anniversary of the Polish Parliament.
In his speech, Polish President Andrzej Duda underlined the fact that parliamentarism was not a gift, but rather an achievement of the Polish nation, stressing its attachment to the parliamentary system today.
Speaker of the Sejm, or the lower house of the Polish Parliament, Marek Kuchcinski, stated that Poland can be proud of its parliamentary tradition and recalled that parliamentarism evolved in Poland at a rather early phase, with the first sitting of a Sejm chamber held in 1468.
Main opposition party, the Civic Platform (PO), boycotted the National Assembly to demonstrate protest against "destruction of democracy" by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party.
The ceremonies in the Royal Castle refer to historical events. On July 13, 1468, a parliamentary sitting considered to be the first in Polish history was held, preceding the first sitting of a Polish two-chamber parliament in October same year.
