For several months, information about merging the Bolesławiec municipality with the city has been circulating in the public sphere. It is mainly the mayor of Bolesławiec who is encouraging residents to support the merger.
“The mayor asked me whether we would be in favor, but I am opposed, and the council is opposed as well. Most village heads are also opposed,” Andrzej Janiec, head of Gmina Bolesławiec, tells istotne.pl. “We presented our arguments against merging the municipality, because it seems to me that, above all, this is not a good move for us. There have been no formal steps on our part. The mayor is pushing very hard and raising the issue in the media, but we maintain that we are opposed,” Janiec adds.
“It is primarily about using the potential synergies resulting from consolidation. It is rare for a ‘win-win’ effect to be so obvious. Both communities would gain a great deal,” says Piotr Roman, the city’s mayor. Asked whether he has already taken formal steps concerning the merger of the city and the rural municipality, including at the government or voivode level, the mayor says he has not.
If Bolesławiec and Gmina Bolesławiec are merged, the consequences could extend far beyond administrative matters. In the background, a question is emerging about the political future of the city’s current leader.
Piotr Roman has ruled Bolesławiec continuously since 2002. Under the current regulations introducing a two-term limit counted from 2018, he would, as a rule, be unable to run in the next election. But—and this is where it gets most interesting—a municipal merger could completely change the situation.
Czy jesteś za połączeniem gminy Bolesławiec i miasta Bolesławiec?
A new municipality, new rules?
The key issue is how the operation would be carried out formally. If the government decided to create a new local government unit, an argument could be made that:
- a “new municipality” would be created,
- and therefore the term counter would start from zero.
Under such a variant, the current mayor—despite more than two decades in power—could run for election again.
“The two-term limit is in force, and at this point the mayor can no longer run for mayor again, but he could run for the position of burmistrz,” Andrzej Janiec notes in an interview with istotne.pl.
“As for running for burmistrz, I am not planning to,” Piotr Roman responds firmly.
Absorption or a new entity?
The problem is that not every scenario would produce this effect. If the city’s boundaries were formally expanded instead—that is, if the rural municipality were effectively “absorbed”—legal continuity would be preserved, and previous terms would continue to count. In that case, Piotr Roman would no longer be able to run.
Politics behind the reform
That is precisely why the way any potential merger is carried out matters not only to residents but also to the local political scene.
Experts point out that administrative decisions can have direct electoral consequences, and the issue of term limits could become one of the key elements of the entire operation.
No decision—only scenarios
As of now, there is no official information about which variant might be under consideration or whether the issue has actually reached the desks of the government administration. It is also unknown whether any decision would be preceded by broad public consultations.
One thing is certain: if the process begins, its consequences could go far beyond merely changing boundaries on the map.