Seven new poviats created in administrative restructuring of regions

The government has increased the number of poviat administrative districts to 315, by creating seven new ones. Explaining the reason behind the change, deputy interior minister Jozef Ploskonka said that the new poviats were created to satisfy people's expectations rather than economic needs. "Of course, we could have one hundred large, fairly rich poviats. But do we need poviats where people are unhappy and the elite are simply fighting one another?" he said. To qualify as poviats, all seven had to meet four criteria: they were recommended by a voivod and local government, they existed as poviats prior to the administrative reform of 1975, they had "strong cultural, social and geographical links", and they had no urban poviats on their territories. Most analysts consider that the number of poviats is already too high, and that the smaller ones will inevitably have difficulties in attracting investment. The newly upgraded towns greeted the decision with celebrations. But the disappointed citizens of Elblag near the Baltic Sea were upset that their city had not as they had hoped been moved from Warminsko-Mazurskie Voivodship to Pomorskie Voivodship. Local Solidarity Election Action (AWS) leaders have announced plans to take the matter to the European Tribunal in Strasbourg. (Gazeta Wyborcza, pp.1,4) M.K.