Following a meeting between President Bronislaw Komorowski and the State Electoral Commission, Thursday, no date has been set for the elections, although 30 October has been rejected due to its proximity to the feast of All Saints, which is a national holiday in Poland.

Presidential minister Krzysztof Laszkiewicz told journalists after the meeting that the State Electoral Commission had also presented an estimated cost for the elections, which may be held over one or two days.

One-day elections would set back the tax payer 90 million zloty (23 million euro), while two-day elections would cost 130-140 milion zloty, it was reported.

The meeting marked the beginning of the debate about when to hold the general elections. President Bronislaw Komorowski is to first meet with government representatives to deliberate how the elections would fit in to the programme of Poland’s presidency of the EU in the second half of 2011. Meetings with political parties are expected to follow.

According to Poland’s constitution, the President  decrees parliamentary elections up to 90 days before the end of the four-year term, choosing a day in the last 30 days of the parliamentary term.

The first sitting of the Sejm lower parliamentary house took place on 5 November 2007, meaning the election dates should take place between 6 October and 4 November.

Possible dates for Poland’s seventh general elections since 1991 are the 9, 16, 23 and 30 October, although the last date is most likely to be ruled out. (jb)

Source: PAP