Polish parliament passes election law amendment
The Polish Sejm (lower house) on Thursday night passed an amendment to the election law as prepared by the ruling party, Law and Justice, which limits the number of terms of office local government heads can serve and makes changes to the state election body.
The new legislation ends the term of office of the State Electoral Commission (PKW) members after the 2019 parliamentary election and changes the way new members are to be elected. Seven out of nine PKW members will be appointed by the Sejm, instead of being delegated by the Constitutional Tribunal, the Chief Administrative Court and the Supreme Court, as is the case today.
County towns will be obliged to set up a civic budget of at least 0.5 percent of the municipality's expenditure.
Top local government officials, including commune heads and city mayors, will be able to serve a maximum of two consecutive five-year terms of office.
The head of the National Electoral Office (KBW), an assistance body to PKW, will be elected for a seven-year term from among three candidates put forward by the interior minister. This amendment was strongly criticised by opposition MPs, who claimed the solution politicised the election process. Law and Justice's Marcin Horala responded that in 10 other EU countries the interior ministry was responsible for preparing elections.
The law removes single-seat constituencies in communes with more than 20,000 inhabitants in favour of the majority voting system.
The legislation also scraps postal voting, a change scorned by opposition members, who argue it will restrict disabled people's access to the election process. The ruling party claims postal voting caused a significant number of irregularities, arguing the law secures other ways of voting for people with disabilities. (PAP)
jd/jch
