Who Will Win the Local Elections Elections 2018

Who will win the local elections Elections 2018

How to interpret the PiS certain of two regional Who will win in the election results assemblies, opposition of seven largest cities

PiS running a record number Elections in smaller cities will How local governments of candidates in local elections impact national politics work in Poland Daily intelligence. Stay ahead of what’s relevant.

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Dagmara Bochyńska Sales Manager [email protected] +48 691 916 986 Polityka Insight Local elections 2018 2 Battle over local governments the first stage of election marathon

The local election campaign is behind us, voting takes place on Sunday and on Tuesday or Wednesday we will find out the official election results. They are important not only because of their effect on the local level, but they will also set the shape of the national political scene. We will learn the answers to key questions: will PiS get closer to getting re-elected in 2019? Will the Koali- cja Obywatelska banner work? Will PSL survive? Will SLD return to Premier League? Wojciech Szacki Senior Analyst for The campaign that lasted several months had two main fronts. First was the Political Affairs clash over the biggest cities, especially Warsaw, where Patryk Jaki was a deman- ding rival for Rafał Trzaskowski through the final week. At the end he lost some steam and it was the Koalicja Obywatelska candidate who became the clear favourite, although the fight will likely be settled in the second round.

The second front of the campaign was the rivalry between PiS and PSL for local assemblies. PM Mateusz Morawiecki was the face of the PiS campaign, with Jarosław Kaczyński in the background. Both sought to convince the voters that local governments will be able to count on investments only if they will be able to cooperate with the central government. The opposition responded with proposals to decentralise the state and strengthen the independence of local governments.

What can we expect on October 21? PiS will likely boast the best result in terms the percentage of votes won in the history of elections to local assemblies (the current record in 33 per cent achieved by AWS in 1998). Nevertheless, PO-PSL will retain control of most of the voivodeships because Kaczyński’s party is not able to attract many coalition partners. In most large cities opposition or independent candidates will emerge victorious. Locally, at the level of county and municipal levels, PiS, which put up the largest number of candidates, will gain.

But emotions will not settle on October 21. On November 4, the second round of the election will take place in many important cities. Then the local elections will smoothly transition into the European election campaign and then to the parliamentary election campaign. On the horizon is a likely cabinet reshuffle and changes in the Sejm leadership. Changes also await the opposition, especially on the left. The coming year will be a race full of sharp turns.

Polityka Insight Local elections 2018 3 Local elections calendar

October 20 election silence begins at midnight, which will end on October 21 at 9 pm

October 21 the first round of local elections, voting locations open between 7 am and 9 pm

October 21 at 9 pm TVP, Polsat and TVN to release exit poll figures prepared by Ipsos

October 22 r 23 The National Electoral Board will likely release official election results

November 4 second round of local elections

November 5 or 6 the deadline for filing election protests with regional courts regarding the results of the first round of the elections

November 19 the deadline for filing election protests with regional courts regarding the results of the second round of the elections

Polityka Insight Local elections 2018 4 How to interpret the election results The results of local elections can be assessed on the basis of various criteria. The strength of the parties will be shown primarily by the result of elections to the regional assemblies.

Wojciech Szacki, Senior Analyst for Political AffairsJoanna Sawicka, Ryszard Łuczyn, Political Affairs Analysts

The local elections will take place on October 21 and will decide who Cities: a PiS win in any major city will be a success. Candidates of will govern at the local level - in the town councils, poviats, regio- the ruling party have little chance of winning the mayoral office in nal assemblies, and who will gain power in cities. The result of the any of the ten largest cities in Poland. Most of them will probably election will have a significant impact on the domestic political sce- be won by candidates supported by Koalicja Obywatelska, some of ne because it will be treated as a forecast before the parliamentary whom also have the support of SLD and PSL. Piotr Krzystek from campaign and as an indicator of the current popularity of the parties. the Bezpartyjni Samorządowcy (Independent) list will probably win At stake in the election is the survival of PSL as an independent force, re-election in Szczecin and in Gdańsk Paweł Adamowicz, a former while the future of SLD and Kukiz’15 will also be decided. The official PO member and current mayor of the city has a good chance against results will probably be announced on October 22-23. Jarosław Wałęsa from PO. PiS candidates might get into the second rounds and win good results in Warsaw (Patryk Jaki) and Kraków Support nation-wide: PiS is fighting for a better result than in 2015. (Małgorzata Wassermann). Winning in one of the big cities would be From the point of view of national politics, the most important re- a major surprise and a success of the ruling party. sult will be the vote for the regional assemblies. Comparison with the results of the elections to the Sejm will allow an assessment to Councils: PiS must win the largest number of seats. In the local go- be made as to how the individual parties came out, given that PSL is vernment elections in 2014, PiS had 1,514 people on poviat councils stronger locally than in the parliamentary elections. In 2015, PiS got and 3,530 in municipal councils. At the local level, it defeated PO, 37.6 per cent of the votes, and since then its support has increased. which won 758 seats in poviats and 1,264 seats in municipalities. It will be difficult for the party to achieve a better result than in the On the other hand, it lost against PSL, which got 1,702 candidates parliamentary elections, because some of its votes will be taken over in local councils, and 4,371 in municipal councils. In the upcoming by local committees, and PiS has never been strong in local autho- elections, however, PSL is running 6,000 fewer candidates than four rities. If it improves the 2015 result, it will signal that the party is still years ago, whereas PiS has 1,600 more. PSL is weaker than in 2014, in attracting voters. Koalicja Obywatelska (KO) is fighting for a 25 per addition, will not be helped by the so-called „booklet effect”, which cent result and a difference of no more than 10-12 percentage points rewarded the first party on the ballot, which happened to be PSL. It between its and PiS’s result. If the results differ by more than a dozen should be anticipated, therefore, that the ruling party will obtain the points, KO will find it difficult to convince voters that it remains an largest number of seats in the various councils. Any other result will alternative to the PiS government. For PSL, the border-line will be mean a defeat for PiS. 10-12 per cent – a single-digit result means failure, surpassing 12 per cent will constitute a level which will allow PSL to claim that they THE BOTTOM LINE have defended themselves in local government. The major media interest has been in the mayoral elections Regional assemblies: how many regions will PiS take. According to in the largest cities - personalised, with television debates, our forecast, PiS will govern in at least two regions (Podkarpacie and somewhat reminiscent of a presidential race. However, Małopolska), and there are another seven where the result will be only a dozen or so per cent of Poles live in major cities. It close. Kaczyński said in July 2018 that he was hoping to win four or is the elections to the regional assemblies that will give an five regional assemblies. Any worse result would be a failure for the indication of the real strength of the parties before the next party. PiS has a good chance of a majority in the provinces of Święto- general election. PiS will probably not be able to take over krzyskie and Podlasie. If it additionally manages to take over the Lu- more than four or five regional assemblies. If, however, it belskie, Łódzkie, Mazowieckie, Dolnośląskie or Śląsk voivodeships, overtakes Koalicja Obywatelska by more than a dozen or so it will be able to claim victory. For KO, success would mean retaining percentage points across the country, its chances of holding power in ten regions, our KO sources are counting on twelve. PSL power after the parliamentary election in 2019 will increase. has similar aspirations. For KO losing Dolny Śląsk and Śląsk would be a significant defeat. For PSL, it would be particularly difficult to hand over power in Mazowieckie and Świętokrzyskie.

Polityka Insight Local elections 2018 5 PiS certain of two regional assemblies, opposition of seven The situation in some regions is unclear but in most, PO and its coalition partners will probably hang on to power.

Ryszard Łuczyn, Political Affairs Analyst,Joanna Sawicka, Political Affairs Analyst

The local election campaign is drawing to a close. There has been The coalition has a chance of another five. In the Lubelskie, Mazo- little change in the parties’ ratings compared to mid-September wieckie, Łódzkie and Śląsk regions, coalitions created around KO when we presented our previous forecast for the regional assem- can only count on winning one seat more than PiS and its poten- bly elections. Average support for PiS (excluding undecided vo- tial coalition partners. In Lubelskie, Mazowieckie, a lot depends ters) has increased from 43 to 44 per cent, and for Kukiz’15 from on whether Marshal Adam Struzik from PSL has managed to ma- 7.5 to 8.5 per cent. Koalicja Obywatelska (KO) ratings fell from 30 intain strong influence and whether the party will manage to hold to 28.5 per cent, SLD from 7.5 to 6.5 per cent and PSL from 6 to ten seats. In all these regions, it is important whether Kukiz’15 5.5 per cent. In recent weeks, the ruling party has focused on at- manages to win seats on the regional assemblies, and our calcula- tacking PSL because it wants to win the farmers’ votes. In turn, tions show that this is the most likely in Śląsk. A very interesting the PiS result may be weakened by the disclosure of a recording of region is Dolny Śląsk, which until recently was a PO bastion. An PM Mateusz Morawiecki’s conversation at the ‘Sowa i Przyjaciele’ important role will be played by politicians running on Bezpar- restaurant. According to a CBOS survey conducted after its pu- tyjni Samorządowcy lists (Independents) - three candidates run- blication, support for PiS dropped by 6 percentage points, from ning in the top slots in five districts are favourable to PiS and two 51 to 45 per cent. to KO. If the candidates closer to PiS win, PiS can take over the region. PiS certain of two regional assemblies. Jarosław Kaczyński’s party will certainly retain power in the Podkarpackie voivodeship, the Deadlock in two provinces. According to our forecast, in two as- only one in which it currently holds the majority in the regional semblies - Podlasie and Świętokrzyskie - the number of coun- council. According to our forecast, PiS will increase its lead and cillors is even and a majority will not emerge. In both provinces, win 21 out of 33 seats, compared to the 19 councillors it got on the PiS can count on 15 out of 30 seats. The other councillors (from regional assembly four years ago. The ruling party will also take KO, PSL and SLD) will most likely seek to form a coalition against the Małopolskie voivodeship, but the PiS margin will not be large. the ruling party. Then both sides will try to persuade councillors Our calculations suggest that its candidates will get 21 out of 39 from the opposite camp to change parties, and the possible majo- seats, which is four more than in 2014. rity would be small and unstable. The Świętokrzyskie region will be particularly important for PSL – losing it would mean the loss KO will hold at least seven regions. The coalition will not win an of a position by one of the PSL marshals (Adam Jarubas) and a independent majority in any voivodeship. It will obtain the best significant weakening of structures in a region which is very im- result in Pomorze, where PO was always strong - it will win 16 out portant for the party. of 33 seats, and together with PSL it can count on a safe majority of 20 councillors. In Wielkopolska, Lubuskie, Zachodniopo- THE BOTTOM LINE morskie, Warmińsko-Mazurskie and Kujawsko-Pomorskie the coalition will be joined by PSL and SLD, and in the Opole region Polityka Insight’s forecast based on recent polls indicates by the German Minority. Apart from Pomorze, the Coalition will that Koalicja Obywatelska has a good chance of holding have the most stable situation in Wielkopolska and in the Opole power in the majority of provinces. This would increase the region (24 out of 39 seats and 19 out of 30 respectively). mobilisation of the opposition in the run-up to the Europe- an elections. In the last days of the campaign, the level of emotions on both sides of the political scene has increased, which may deepen the polarisation and influence the polls. PiS and KO will benefit from this at the expense of the smaller groupings. The number of seats that SLD, Kukiz’15 and, in some regions PSL, which are hovering around the electoral threshold is difficult to predict. And in several regions, it is these parties’ result that will determine who can form the majority in the regional assembly.

Polityka Insight Local elections 2018 6 Who will win in the largest cities Trzaskowski is back online, blackmail did not work against Zdanowska, and Adamowicz is ahead of Wałęsa - this is what’s happening in cities just before the elections.

Joanna Sawicka, Political Affairs Analyst, Wojciech Szacki, Senior Analyst for Political Affairs

Warsaw: Trzaskowski recovers online. According to research by Gdańsk: Adamowicz getting stronger. After a period of Jarosław PO staff, Rafał Trzaskowski has been ahead of Patryk Jaki in the Wałęsa (KO) in the lead, the current mayor, Paweł Adamowicz, number of online searches (55 per cent of the searches on all the who is standing for his own committee, has pulled ahead in the candidates in Warsaw during the last 24 hours concerned the PO race. In the Gazeta Wyborcza poll, Adamowicz had 30 per cent, candidate and 30 per cent the PiS candidate). A study by Polityka- and Wałęsa 26 per cent. Interestingly, the same poll gave Wałęsa sieci.pl also points to Trzaskowski’s good results - between 8 and a minimal lead in the second round. Each of the anti-PiS candi- 14 October, he gained over 5,000 fans on Facebook - against Jaki’s dates would win in the second round over Kacper Płażyński of 1,000. Trzaskowski also strengthened his advantage over Jaki in PiS, who still has some chance of entering the second round (23 the polls. According to a study by Kantar Public for Gazeta Wy- per cent in the Gazeta Wyborcza poll. The campaign in Gdańsk, borcza, the candidates will get 42 and 31 per cent respectively in though fierce, is much calmer than in Warsaw. Wałęsa’s mistake the first round, and - 61 and 33 per cent in the second. Yesterday turned out to be his candidate for deputy mayor who ran a websi- Jaki urged his supporters to add their names to the register of vote called zwyrole.org, posting unacceptable photos and off-colour ters in Warsaw. According to Radio Zet, up to 15,000 have been jokes. The would-be deputy mayor was forced to resign. added to date, which is just over 1 per cent of those entitled to vote. Kraków: Majchrowski ahead of Wassermann. At the election co- Łódź: Zdanowska strengthened by PiS blackmail. Jacek Sasin’s nvention in Kraków, PiS candidate Małgorzata Wassermann was statement about Hanna Zdanowska taking office mobilised her supported by Jarosław Kaczyński and Mateusz Morawiecki, who supporters. According to a Kantar Public poll for Gazeta Wybor- even compared her to Queen Jadwiga. At the same time, the PiS cza, the mayor can count on 62 per cent support in the first round, camp started to talk about Wassermann as a possible PM, if Ka- while her PiS rival can expect 14 per cent. The staff’s calculations czyński decided that Morawiecki’s potential was exhausted – this also show that Zdanowska’s committee could get 30 out of 40 se- was reported by Polityka and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. Today ats in the city council. According to our source, the attacks by PiS this scenario seems unlikely. Wassermann’s chances in the elec- politicians have, however, caused consternation among the city’s tions are small - studies by both IBRiS for Onet.pl and Kantar MB residents, and many of them are concerned that a vote for Zda- for Gazeta Wyborcza indicate that the current mayor, Jacek Maj- nowska will be lost. The mayor’s associates received signals that chrowski, will win in the second round. the Łódź voivode will request the cancellation of Zdanowska’s candidacy on Friday. If this were to happen, despite the pre-elec- Other big cities. Polls indicate that the independent Piotr Krzy- tion silence, her staff will organise a support march for the mayor stek will win re-election in Szczecin. KO candidates and incum- on Saturday or Sunday. bent mayors will probably win in Bydgoszcz (Rafał Bruski), Lu- blin (Krzysztof Żuk) and Białystok (Tadeusz Truskolaski). The Wrocław: Sutryk has strong lead. In the Kantar Public poll, Jacek fate of Radom is still unclear - the government became very Sutryk, the candidate of Koalicja Obywatelska and Rafał Dutkie- involved at the end of the campaign with promises to invest in the wicz, has 38 per cent. His competitor, Mirosława Stachowiak-Ró- airport, which may give victory to the PiS candidate and deputy żecka from PiS, has 22 per cent. Dutkiewicz’s associate, Jerzy Mi- MinDef, Wojciech Skurkiewicz. Everything seems to indicate chalak (6 per cent) is in the third place, and his voters will support that the mayoral elections will end with a decided defeat for PiS Sutryk in the second round. Yesterday, the local Gazeta Wyborcza nation-wide. The impression of the ruling party’s defeat could organised a debate between the candidates, but Stachowiak-Ró- only be mitigated by a clear victory in the regional assembly elec- żecka did not take part. KO will win the council election - accor- tions. ding to the poll, it can count on 27 per cent of the votes, with PiS on 20 per cent. According to our source, there are few posters for PiS candidates for the council because the party is focused on the mayoral campaign. Local PiS is divided and weakened by the withdrawal of MP Piotr Babiarz in connection with the investiga- tion into secreting money from the local PCK (Red Cross) branch.

Polityka Insight Local elections 2018 7 PiS running a record number of candidates in local elections The PiS committee is running more candidates for councillors than Koalicja Obywatelska and PSL put together.

Wojciech Szacki, Senior Analyst for Political Affairs,Joanna Sawicka, Political Affairs Analyst

PiS with a record number of candidates. The ruling party has put SLD’s structures still strong. The party has put forward 7,000 can- forward the most candidates in its history - 32,600 (1,600 more didates running under the coalition banner of SLD Lewica Razem than in 2014). PiS has compiled all of its regional assembly lists (SLD Left Together). This is a relatively good result for a party (722 candidates in 85 districts) and is the only committee to have which did not make it into the Sejm in the last election and until lists in almost all counties (in 375 out of 380). It also has the lar- recently seldom crossed the electoral threshold. The number of gest number of municipal councillors (13,600 in municipalities candidates shows that SLD still has fairly strong structures. SLD with fewer than 20,000 residents and more than 6,000 in large activists actually argue that the party is de facto fielding 20,000 municipalities). In several counties, Jarosław Gowin’s Porozu- candidates, the majority of them running as independents. SLD mienie will be running its own lists against PiS but at the regional will be fighting for seats in all the regional assemblies and most of assembly level, it will run with PiS. Gowin has put forward almost the cities with county rights, as well as in ten of Warsaw’s districts. 400 candidates under his party’s name. Zbigniew Ziobro’s Soli- Like KO, it has few candidates in small municipalities (977). darna Polska committee has not registered any lists. Smaller committees focusing on regional assemblies. Of the re- PSL fielding 6,000 fewer candidates than in 2014.The party will maining parties, Kukiz’15 has the most numerous representation, be running 16,500 candidates. Apart from the regional assem- fielding more than 5,000 candidates, including 675 in the regio- blies, where, like all the big parties, it will have full lists, PSL is nal assembly elections and over 3,000 in the county council ones. focusing on municipalities of fewer than 20,000 (it is running Kukiz will not field candidates in about two-thirds of the coun- 8,200 people there) and counties (6,000). It is attaching less im- ties, however. The smaller extra-parliamentary groupings lack portance to big cities and will not be fielding a candidate in War- the structures to run candidates in counties and municipalities saw. The head of PSL’s election team Piotr Zgorzelski told PI that so they will focus on the regional assemblies. Bezpartyjni Samo- apart from the candidates running under the PSL banner, 7,000 rządowcy, Razem Party, the Greens and the National Movement of the party’s members will run on local committee lists. Zgorzel- have lists in most districts. ski pointed out that PSL’s reduced number of candidates in the 2018 elections is also the result of changes to the electoral law - THE BOTTOM LINE there can be two candidates more on the municipal, county and regional assembly lists than there are seats at a given level, while PiS is the only big party to have a more numerous repre- in 2014 there could have been twice as many. sentation than in the 2014 elections. This is a signal that the party is succeeding in expanding its structures and that KO’s ‚army’ a third of PiS’s total. There will be 10,500 candidates the ruling party’s name is not seen as a burden at the local running on Koalicja Obywatelska lists. That is 5,600 fewer than government level. By contrast, some local politicians are PO put forward in 2014, despite its lists including Nowoczesna not keen on carrying the Koalicja Obywatelska or PSL logo. and Inicjatywa Polska members. Our source on the KO election The number of candidates for councillors running under a team argues that the decrease is due to the fact that Koalicja party name does not predetermine victory - at municipal supports many independent candidates in local government and and county level, party divisions are of secondary importan- does not run its own lists against them (e.g. in Kraków). KO focu- ce, and most of the seats will probably go to independent ses on big cities and regional assemblies. It is fielding few candi- candidates. dates in small municipalities - barely 700, compared to PiS’s more than 13,000 at this level.

Polityka Insight Local elections 2018 8 Elections in smaller cities will impact national politics A good result for Robert Biedroń’s replacement in Słupsk would help his political movement, while a defeat for Iwona Mularczyk in Nowy Sącz would pose a problem for PiS.

Ryszard Łuczyn, Political Affairs Analyst, Wojciech Szacki, Senior Analyst for Political Affairs

Słupsk: a measure of Biedroń’s strength. The results of the elec- Siedlce: MinEner’s son running for mayor. Wojciech Kudelski tions in Słupsk will be an indication of the potential of the politi- from PiS, who has ruled the city since 2006, is not running for cal movement created by Robert Biedroń. They will also show re-election which is why the son of MinEner Krzysztof Tchó- what the residents think of the current mayor’s four-year rule. rzewski - Karol Tchórzewski - became the PiS candidate. He will Biedroń has decided not to run for re-election and is supporting stand against Magdalena Daniel, the candidate of the joint com- his deputy, Krystyna Danilecka-Wojewódzka. She already ran in mittee of PO, Nowoczesna, PSL and SLD. Initially, the Wolność the elections in 2010 and lost narrowly in the second round. She party was also in the coalition, but the central authorities of the will compete with the chair of the city council, Beata Chrzanow- SLD insisted on its removal from the alliance. Andrzej Sitnik, the ska from PO and councillor Anna Mrowińska from PiS. If Dani- candidate of the Siedlce Independents, who got into the second lecka-Wojewódzka wins, and Biedroń manages to win more than round in 2014, is also likely to beat Tchórzewski. A possible defeat two seats in the city council, he will be able to claim a success, and for Tchórzewski’s son would not only mean PiS losing the city but it will give his new initiative additional momentum. would also weaken the MinEner himself.

Nowy Sącz: a fragmented PiS. This is one of the few cities where Elbląg: a change-over city. The city is in the Warmia-Mazury vo- PiS took over the mayor’s office in 2014. Today, PiS in Nowy Sącz ivodeship but is associated historically with the neighbouring is weakened. When the party put forward Iwona Mularczyk, the Gdańsk. In recent years, it has been ruled by mayors from the wife of the local MP, the incumbent mayor Ryszard Nowak left SLD (until 2010), PO (2010-2013, the mayor being dismissed in a PiS and announced that he would not be running for a third term. referendum), PiS (2013-2014) and PSL (since 2014). The current He supported the independent Krzysztof Głuc, a former deputy mayor, Witold Wróblewski, is fighting for re-election with the head of the municipal water supply. Małgorzata Belska, who has support of his home party, PSL, and SLD. Koalicja Obywatelska been excluded from PiS for starting her own committee, and for- is running PO city councillor Michał Missan, and Kukiz’15 – a mer AWS MP Jerzy Gwiżdż, supported by Bezpartyjni Samorzą- businessman, Stefan Rembelski. PiS opted for the former may- dowcy, are also courting right-wing voters. A good result may be or, Jerzy Wilk, currently an MP. The results in Elbląg will show achieved by Ludomir Handzel, an independent candidate who whether PiS’s promises of large investments - in this case, the narrowly lost the election to Nowak in 2014. Mularczyk’s poten- plan to cut the Vistula Spit, aimed at increasing the significance tial defeat would be an image problem for PiS and an example of of Elbląg’s port – will help win the votes of the residents. conflicts affecting election results. Lubin, a Bezpartyjni bastion. Lubin is the headquarters of one of Kielce: Liroy to promote Skuteczni. The association created by the the largest Polish companies (KGHM), which makes it one of the MP-rapper has formed a coalition with Janusz Korwin-Mikke’s richest cities in Poland. Since 2002, its mayor has been Robert Wolność party in Kielce. Skuteczni have nationwide ambitions Raczyński, the leader of Bezpartyjni Samorządowcy, who was and the candidacy of Piotr Liroy-Marzec for mayor of Kielce will once linked with the right-wing AWS. Running against him are help them gain publicity. Liroy- Marzec will most likely not get Grzegorz Zieliński- a Nowoczesna activist supported by the Ko- into the second round, so a bad result may discourage people from alicja Obywatelska, and one of the youngest PiS MPs, Krzysztof joining the association. The PiS candidate, Wojciech Lubawski, Kubów. In 2014, Raczyński won in the first round. If this result who has been the city’s mayor since 2002, stands a good chance of is repeated and the Bezpartyjni get a good result in the regional re-election. His advantage is helped by the split vote between the council election, then the probability of the grouping becoming Koalicia Obywatelska candidate, PO MP Artur Gierada, and Bog- established in domestic politics will increase. dan Wenta - a PO MEP and former coach of the Polish national handball team. Wenta is running his own committee and has the better chance of facing Lubawski in the second round.

Polityka Insight Local elections 2018 9 How local governments work in Poland The local government has three levels, which are not interdependent. Voivods represent the government in the regions.

Ryszard Łuczyn, Political Affairs Analyst

Poland’s territorial division pomorskie Since 1999, Poland is divided into voivodeships, zachodnio- counties and municipalities. There are 16 voivodeships, pomorskie 314 counties and 2,478 municipalities: 303 city, kujawsko- podlaskie pomorskie 1,559 rural and 616 city-rural. Cities with the rights mazowieckie of a county (66) are a specific territorial unit - wielkopolskie formally it is a municipality, but has the powers and lubuskie responsibilities of a county. There is no hierarchical dependency between local government units: lubelskie municipalities are not subject to counties and opolskie counties are not subject to voivodeships. As at the podkarpackie national level, a local government is divided into legislative and executive branch.

16 314 2478 voivodeships counties municipalities

Voivodeship, regional strategies created here

A voivodeship concentrates on regional development and also dispurses EU funds. The elected council drafts local laws, enacts voivodeship budgets, and creates a strategy for its development. It also appoints and dismisses members of the voivodeship board, led by the voivodeship marshal. The marshal should not be confused with the voivod, who is the government representative Mazowieckie in the voivodeship and not a local government entity. The voivod voivodeship may invalidate the resolutions of local government, but the latter can appeal such a decision in an administrative court.

Key tasks:

management of preparation of coordination of co- higher maintaning regional running EU funds development operation between education roads and public of specialized strategies local government transport of regional hospitals units importance, including railways Pniewy Grójec Grójec Chynów How does a county function county A county is the middle level of the territorial division, Jasieniec Warka implementing tasks of local character that do not fit among the competences of a municipality. Local law Goszczyn in a county is enacted by an elected council. It also Mogielnica appoints members of the executive body - the county board led by the county head. Unlike in a municipality, the council may dismiss members of the county board.

Key tasks:

running of running of theatres fire and flood counteracting running of hospitals schools above and museums protection unemployment middle school and social assistance

Municipality, the basic local government unit

The municipality is the smallest local government unit, which is responsible for meeting the basic needs of citizens. It also performs all local tasks that are not reserved for other entities. The council enacts resolutions in a municipality, which are implemented by the voit or the mayor. He or she also represents the municipality exter- nally and implements the budget enacted by the council. Both the Mogielnica council and the voit or mayor, are elected. Municipality

Key tasks:

providing spatial planning issuing identity running libraries running schools up to communal cards and registering and cultural centers middle school services residence

Polityka Insight Local elections 2018 11 Knowledge tailored to your needs

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