Single gmina, new districts to be created under Warsaw restructuring plan

Deputies from the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) have submitted a draft bill to the Sejm which, if approved, would see a major restructuring of the administration of Warsaw. The draft bill, which will be debated during the Sejm session that starts tomorrow, envisages the dissolution of the vast Warsaw poviat and the formation of a single gmina. Ten out of the eleven existing gminas would be transformed into districts, known as dzielnica, to join the seven districts that now constitute Gmina Centrum. Each district would be governed by a council elected directly by the inhabitants. The authors of the draft hope the changes will achieve savings by streamlining the city administration, while its opponents claim the changes are designed to deprive the suburban gminas of money and their independence. The bill is backed by the SLD and its coalition partners the Labor Union (UP) and Polish Peasants Party (PSL), as well as the opposition Civic Platform (PO). (Rzeczpospolita, p. A3) M.K.