Twenty years ago today parliament voted to rename the nation the Republic of Poland and put the crown back on the head of the national symbol, the eagle. So ended the communist Polish People’s Republic.

On 29 December 1989 the Constitution was amended in the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, by 347 votes for and eleven abstentions. Only one vote was recorded against - that of what was left of the communist party in Poland.

“For me, this meant that my generation wa sable to make up for the losses of previous generations,” Lech Walesa told TVP television.

The change in the constitution removed the communist party as having a leading role in the nation and the economy would no longer be primarily state controlled.

"Poland is a democratic state governed by law and the principles of social justice,” said the new amendment.

The Senate - which unlike the Sejm had been fully democratically in the June elections that year - unanimously adopted an amendment,

Work on a new constitution, however, would have to wait for another eight years to come to fruition. (pg)