Due to the collapse of the Solidarity political wing, the Solidarity Citizens' Committee, the 1991 election saw deep political fragmentation, with a multitude of new parties and alliances emerging in its wake.

Two months of intense coalition negotiations followed, with Jan Olszewski of the Centre Agreement forming a minority government along with the Christian National Union, remnants of the broader Centre Civic Alliance, and the Peasants' Agreement, with conditional support from Polish People's Party, Solidarity list and other minor parties.

Elections were supervised by the National Electoral Commission (Polish: Państwowa Komisja Wyborcza).

A total of 111 parties contested the elections, of which 29 won parliamentary seats.

The success of the satirical Polish Beer-Lovers' Party with 16 seats gained news coverage worldwide.