35 years of regional self-government
Today (27 May) is Local Government Day. On the eve of the 35th anniversary of the first free local government elections in Poland, a Regional Local Government Forum was held in Kowal, during which local government officials of our voivodeship at all levels signed a declaration to mark the 35th anniversary of the reborn local government. Marshal Piotr Całbecki participates today (27 May) in a ceremonial session of the city council of Toruń. Kowal 2025 Regional Self-Government Forum
– The restoration of local government in our country was one of the most beautiful gifts we could have received from people fighting for a free Poland. Our country would not be at such a level of development today if it were not for those decisions. Self-government is the proper implementation of a beautiful idea, because it is self-government that ultimately affects the standard of living in the country – it is about thrift, about caring for everything that serves the community. (…) We are all executors of one project – it is about Poland. We have one task: to take care of Poland. We share [with the government] competences, but we have a common goal. Thank you for being here,” said Marshal Piotr Całbecki, opening the Forum’s deliberations in Kowal on 23 May.
Local self-government in Poland was reborn on 27 May 1990, when the first fully democratic elections to commune and town councils were held. The event marked the beginning of a reform in the functioning of the state, which led to the decentralisation of public authority. Eight years later, the scope of local self-government was significantly expanded. At that time, district self-government was introduced at the local level and voivodeship self-government at the regional level.
In Kujawsko-Pomorskie voivodship, one of 16 Polish voivodships, there are 144 communes and 23 poviats (including 4 urban poviats – Bydgoszcz, Toruń, Włocławek and Grudziądz).
Beata Krzemińska
Spokesperson of the Marshal’s Office
27 May 2025