Polish local elections, 2006

2006 local elections were held in Poland on November 12 and November 26, 2006. In the first round there were elected 39,944 municipal ("gmina") councillors, 6284 county ("powiat") councillors and 561 voivodeship councillors. Additionally, 2460 city and town mayors and borough leaders were chosen in direct, two-round elections.

Results

Turnout

:Source: [http://serwisy.gazeta.pl/kraj/1,34397,3738595.html "Najwięcej radnych w skali kraju ma PSL"] , gazeta.pl

County councils

:Source: [http://serwisy.gazeta.pl/kraj/1,34397,3738595.html "Najwięcej radnych w skali kraju ma PSL"] , gazeta.pl

Municipal councils

:Obejmuje dane na temat radnych gmin, radnych miast na prawach powiatu oraz radnych dzielnic Warszawy

:Source: [http://serwisy.gazeta.pl/kraj/1,34397,3738595.html "Najwięcej radnych w skali kraju ma PSL"] , gazeta.pl

Problems after elections

A law enacted in 2005 obliged the mayors of Polish municipalities to publicly disclose their own as well as their spouse's financial circumstances. The law requires the successful candidate's disclosure statement to be provided within 30 days after the inauguration, whereas the statement regarding the candidate's spouse is to be submitted within 30 days after the actual election. The law became subject of controversy. Some of elected ones resigned while the others refused. The most known person who didn't resign was newly elected president (=mayor) of Warsaw, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz. She submitted her own and her husband's statements on January 2nd, 2007, exactly 30 days after her inauguration. On January 20th, the newspaper Dziennik reported that Mr. Waltz's documents had been two days past the deadline, which in his case had been on December 28th, 2006. Based on this, prime minister Jarosław Kaczyński of the governing Law and Justice party maintained that Gronkiewicz-Waltz's mandate had expired on December 28th, 2006, and announced to repeat the local elections. Gronkiewicz-Waltz's party argued that the prime minister does not have the authority to make this decision, and that the case would need to be examined in court instead. Polish legal experts maintained that by submitting their statements on the same day, Gronkiewicz-Waltz had observed the spirit, even if not the letter of the law. Also, having two different deadlines for the statements could be considered as an unconstitutional legal trap. In the meantime, Platforma Obywatelska announced that it would nominate Gronkiewicz-Waltz again, should the elections need to be repeated. On Tuesday, March 13, 2007, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal ruled against the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party and struck down the controversial law that threatened her and many other public officials. However, those who had already resigned, weren't given their posts back.

External links

* [http://www.pkw.gov.pl/pkw2/index.jsp?place=Menu01&news_cat_id=1925&layout=1 National Electoral Commission - official results]
* [http://wybory2006.wp.pl/ 2006 local electsion - wp.pl]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6141776.stm "Polish PM faces local poll blow"] , BBC
* [http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061112/wl_afp/polandvote_061112211039 "Local elections test Poland's conservative twins"] , Yahoo!