Samoobrona change of heart allows Sejm passage for local government bills

The Sejm on Friday voted to approve changes to the laws on local government and local government elections. The most significant change is that to the m ethod of calculating votes for seats on local councils, with deputies agreei ng to the introduction of the d'Hondt system, which favors larger parties. O riginally only the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) and its coalition partner the Labor Union (UP) were in favor of the proposal, with all other parties a gainst it. However, a last minute change of heart by radical peasants party Samoobrona, which claimed that since it will win the local elections it will benefit from the new method, meant the changes won Sejm approval. Meanwhile, all parties except the SLD and UP voted against the proposed June date for l ocal elections, and as a result polling will take place in the fall, as orig inally planned. The Sejm also voted to cut the number of local government co uncil members nationwide from 52,423 to 39,966. (Rzeczpospolita, Feb.16-17, p. A5) T.J.