PM says local elections will likely be put back

Poland's local elections, which are scheduled for the autumn of 2023, will likely be postponed due to a potential overlap with parliamentary elections, Mateusz Morawiecki, the prime minister, has said.

Morawiecki said at a press conference on Tuesday that a bill to this effect will likely be discussed "at one of the closest meetings of the Sejm (the lower house of parliament - PAP)."

"We have received information from institutions that deal with elections... and they are signalling huge operational problems connected with the simultaneous execution of parliamentary and local elections, so therefore we'll be filing a motion to put back the local elections, which can be done by a law," Morawiecki said, adding that under Poland's constitution parliamentary elections cannot be postponed.

Local and national elections in Poland used to be held every four years, but with a one-year difference between them. According to this model, the last parliamentary elections were held in 2019 and the last local elections in 2018.

But in 2018, the ruling coalition MPs passed an amendment that extended the term of office of local governments from four to five years, which led to the 2023 election overlap.