Two presidential elections were held in Poland in 1926. They followed the May Coup, which forced President Stanisà Âaw Wojciechowski and Prime Minister Wincenty Witos to resign and gave effective power to coup leader, Marshal Józef Pià Âsudski.
According to then Constitution President was elected by joint houses of Sejm and Senate (National Assembly).
There were two candidates: Pià Âsudski and supported by the National Democracy, Christian Democracy and Piast Adolf Bnià Âski, Voivode of Poznaà Â. Several other politicians were mentioned to run, most notably ousted President Wojciechowski, Sejm Marshal and now Acting President Maciej Rataj (Polish People's Party "Piast") and Senate Marshal Wojciech Tràmpczyà Âski (National Democracy), but they declined to run.
Pià Âsudski was endorsed by left-wing groups and Bià Âski was endorsed by National Democracy.
Pià Âsudski defeated Bià Âski in a single round:
However, following his election, Pià Âsudski refused to accept the presidency.
Following Pià Âsudski's refusal to accept the mantle of the presidency, four candidates were considered to replace him: Artur à Âliwià Âski, Zdzisà Âaw Lubomirski, Ignacy Moà Âcicki and Marian Zdziechowski. à Âliwià Âski was a former Prime Minister, who failed to form a government with confidence of the Sejm, by 1926 he had become the director of the City Theater in Warsaw. Lubomirski and Zdziechowski, the most serious rivals to Moà Âcicki, belonged to the movement. Lubomirski was a former Mayor of Warsaw and leader of the Regency Council in the Regency Kingdom of Poland, while Zdziechowski was a famous professor and political thinker. The possibility of their candidacies was eclipsed by Moà Âcicki due to the initiative of incumbent Prime Minister Kazimierz Bartel. Moà Âcicki was rather inexperienced in politics, as he was primarily a professional chemist. His political experience was limited to being a rank and file member in the illegal Polish socialist movement during the 19th century in the Russian partition, so he was assumed to be mostly a loyalist to Pià Âsudski.
The Polish Socialist Party, who had previously supported Pià Âsudski, filed their candidate - Sejm Caucus Chair Zygmunt Marek, a man who had officially nominated Pià Âsudski a day earlier. Bnià Âski ran again.
Moà Âcicki accepted his election.