Local elections to be held on 16 Nov
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
21.08.2014 13:59
The government has announced 16 November as the date for local elections, in what will be a key test of the coalition's popularity nationally ahead of next year's general election.
photo: Rumun999 / Wikimedia Commons / CC
A government spokesman has said that Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who leads the centre-right Civic Platform, signed the local government regulation in order for the elections to take place, with a second round, in local leadership contests, held on 30 November.
Voters will be choosing from 47,000 local councillors in municipalities, counties and regional assemblies and nearly 2,500 candidates for mayor and president of cities.
While the prime minister is able to decide the exact date of the ballots, election law dictates that they should take place before the current local government term ends on 21 November.
The nearest Sunday to that date is on 16 November.
Prime Minister Tusk's ruling coalition was badly rocked by the so-called 'tape scandal' over the summer, and the local government elections will be a test of his popularity.
A poll in mid-August by the Homo Homini group found that the conservative opposition party Law and Justice (PiS) was on 33 percent support to Civic Platform's 24 percent. (pg)