The junior coalition Hlas-SD party is proposing introducing five-years term for mayors (primator), city mayors (starosta) and regional governors (župan), but only as of the next electoral term onwards, as such a proposal could potentially also gain opposition support, with a constitutional majority required for such a change, House Chair Richard Raši (Hlas-SD) stated on Tuesday.
"There is no rationale for changing the system now," said Raši, explaining that the current local government officials were elected for a four-year term.
"We in Hlas-SD were the first to launch a discussion on a five-year electoral term," he said at a press conference on Tuesday, noting that such a request arose some time ago. "But to extend the term to five years, we need the consent and mandate of those to whom this would apply — our towns, municipalities, and regions," he added.
Raši also pointed out that the proposal currently lacks sufficient support, as the opposition has rejected it. He stressed the need for legal certainty to ensure that the change is not challenged, as the current officials were elected for four years. "Any talk or sudden move to change the term to five or six years right now has no basis — we don't have the numbers, we don't have the MPs, and we don't have the consent of those affected," he said.
Hlas-SD proposes that, following discussions with local governments, five-year terms should be introduced as of the next electoral cycle. "That way, we can ensure that the change is done properly. Then I can imagine we'll gain support from the opposition parties as well, as we'll need a constitutional law," Raši emphasised. He also noted that the economic and social development plans of municipalities typically span five years, as do school board mandates: "So, five years makes sense — but only when there is the political will, which we need for constitutional change, and only when we can ensure legal certainty".
Banska Bystrica Regional Governor Ondrej Lunter considers the proposal absurd.
In his opinion, the mandate cannot be changed and extended in the middle of the election term, but he did not rule out a discussion on such a proposal in the future. "We received a mandate for four years. This means that the people, as the sovereign of power, handed over their power to us, the local governments, for four years and we have four years to administer the local governments. No one can ask us whether we want to do it for a year longer," said Lunter, adding that such a proposal is also in conflict with the social contract that exists here.
At the same time, Lunter did not rule out such a discussion in the future. In his opinion, an argument in favor of such a proposal would be that the elected representatives would have a longer period to implement projects in such a case. "There is an argument against it that says that currently, if some autocrats are looking to hijack democracy, we are actually giving them a precedent and in the future someone may say that the term of the National Council will also be extended," he noted.
The idea of postponing municipal and regional elections by one year — to 2027, after the next parliamentary elections — was floated over the weekend by Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) during the Smer-SD party congress. However, representatives of local governments haven't supported the proposal so far.
Source: TASR
