Polish government planning shake-up of mayoral terms
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
08.12.2015 08:50
Poland's new government is planning to limit the number of consecutive terms that mayors and other local leaders can serve for.
Photo: Glowimages
The Law and Justice party is to set up a special parliamentary subcommittee on the matter, daily Dziennik Gazeta Prawna has reported.
“There are places in Poland where a sort of closed circle of personnel has emerged,” commented Law and Justice MP Grzegorz Wożniak, currently vice chairman of the parliamentary committee on local governments.
At present, mayors serve four-year terms, but there is no limit on the number of times one can stand. For example, current mayor of the southern city of Kraków, independent Jacek Majchrowski, has served since 2002, and is currently in his fourth term.
Law and Justice wants to allow for no more that two consecutive terms, although the length of these will be increased to five years.
The government's prospective changes would be introduced in 2018, when the next local elections are due to be held.
The Dziennik Gazeta Prawna reports that President Andrzej Duda, himself formerly of the Law and Justice part, supports the policy of reforming the current system. (nh)