Editing Gabriel Narutowicz (section)

==Elections==
[[File:Narutowicz Pilsudski.jpg|220px|left|thumb|President Gabriel Narutowicz with Marshal [[Józef Piłsudski]] in [[Warsaw]], 1922]]
After having lost the elections, Narutowicz continued as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of Julian Nowak. To his own great surprise that December he was nominated as a candidate for the ensuing presidential election. Although Piłsudski tried to discourage him from becoming a presidential candidate (he himself had originally wanted to decline the nomination, which the [[Polish People's Party "Wyzwolenie"]] had proposed), he eventually relented and accepted.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/historia/1533461,1,dlaczego-zginal-narutowicz.read |title=Dlaczego zginął Narutowicz |access-date=29 February 2020}}</ref>

According to the [[March Constitution of Poland]], the president had to be chosen by the [[National Assembly of Poland|National Assembly]], that is, the two houses of parliament (Pol: ''Zgromadzenie Narodowe'' i.e. the Sejm and the Senate). There was no clear winner after the first round of voting. In the second round, the official socialist candidate, [[Ignacy Daszyński]], was eliminated; but again, there was no clear victor. The next to drop out were the two candidates most favored by representatives of the national minorities: namely, [[Jan Baudouin de Courtenay]] and [[Stanisław Wojciechowski]] (the latter supported by some of the Left). In the last and decisive round, only two candidates remained: Count [[Maurycy Klemens Zamoyski]] (backed by the right-wing [[National Democracy (Poland)|National Democracy]] movement) and Narutowicz (supported by some center and left-wing parties as well as by spokesmen for various national minorities).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://historykon.pl/kalendarium-historyczne/9-grudnia-1922-roku-gabriel-narutowicz-zostal-wybrany-na-prezydenta-polski |title=9 grudnia 1922 roku Gabriel Narutowicz został wybrany na prezydenta Polski |access-date=29 February 2020}}</ref>

[[File:Narutowicz exit.jpg|thumb|right|Narutowicz leaving the Polish [[Sejm]] after being proclaimed president, 11 December 1922]]

Narutowicz prevailed thanks to the votes of the left, of the representatives for national minorities vote (these representatives were determined to defeat the National Democracy movement), and of the centrist [[Polish People's Party "Piast" (1913–1931)|Polish People’s Party "Piast"]] (PSL "Piast"). This last group, initially inclined toward Zamoyski, unexpectedly switched its backing to Narutowicz instead. Eventually, Narutowicz won 289 votes, whereas Zamoyski won only 227 votes, and so Narutowicz was elected the first president of the Second Polish Republic.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.prezydent.pl/prezydent/historia-prezydentury/ii-rzeczpospolita/ |title=II Rzeczpospolita |access-date=29 February 2020 |archive-date=25 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025110452/https://prezydent.pl/prezydent/historia-prezydentury/ii-rzeczpospolita/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Narutowicz's victory came as an extremely unpleasant surprise to various leading right-wingers. Following the election, certain Catholic and nationalist groups began an aggressive campaign against Narutowicz personally. Among other accusations, they called him an [[Atheism|atheist]] and a [[Freemasonry|Freemason]], and some of the press referred to him as “the Jewish president”. The anti-[[Józef Piłsudski|Pilsudski]] faction, supported by General [[Józef Haller]], also criticized the new president's overall support of Piłsudski's policies.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://jpilsudski.org/artykuly-ii-rzeczpospolita-dwudziestolecie-miedzywojnie/polityka-wewnetrzna-i-gospodarcza/item/1730-endecja-a-zabojstwo-prezydenta-gabriela-narutowicza |title=ENDECJA A ZABÓJSTWO PREZYDENTA GABRIELA NARUTOWICZA |access-date=31 October 2019 |archive-date=17 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220117055654/http://jpilsudski.org/artykuly-ii-rzeczpospolita-dwudziestolecie-miedzywojnie/polityka-wewnetrzna-i-gospodarcza/item/1730-endecja-a-zabojstwo-prezydenta-gabriela-narutowicza |url-status=dead }}</ref>