LOCAL ELECTIONS AND REFERENDA

R E P O R T O N T H E S T A T E O F L O C A L D E M O C R A C Y I N B U L G A R I A

T H E S T A T E O F L O C A L D E M O C R A C Y I N C E N T R A L E U R O P E

The national party system is not uniform across the country. In municipalities with a Turkish minority population represented by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) and in rural communities politically dominated by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), the number of parties participating in local elections is much lower than the national average. In a number of municipalities with a mixed population and weak support for the left parties, the vote is so fragmented that the national party system might be considered not applicable to the local conditions. The 2003 local elections clearly showed the separation of local politics from the national political agenda. There was an extremely large number of candidates for mayor, and a great variety of political party representatives ended up in the present municipal councils.

6.1 The Electoral System

Since 1999, the following positions are contested in popular elections: member of municipal council, mayor of the municipality, and mayor of the mayoralty (a settlement or a village with population above 500). The municipal council elects lieutenant mayors for settlements smaller than mayoralty. In 1995, ward mayors and ward councilors were also directly elected. The 1999 revision to the legal framework included the following changes:

1. The number of municipal councilors was reduced by one-third (from 7,029 to 5,252).

2. Indirect elections were introduced. Prior to 1999 each mayoralty (a village or a settlement) elected a mayor by popular vote. With the new definition of mayoralty, this status was given to settlements with populations over 500. For smaller settlements the institution of lieutenant mayor was created and they were to be elected by the municipal council by a simple majority.

3. The same indirect election procedure was to apply to the 35 ward mayors in the cities of Sofia, Plovdiv, and Varna; previously they were directly elected.

4. Previously existing ward councils were abolished, as bodies that lack practical functions.

A pure proportional electoral formula is applied in the elections for municipal council (and in the 1991 and 1995 ward councils). Every municipality is a separate multimember district. D’Hondt divisors are applied to the total number of votes received by registered lists. There are no thresholds except for the barriers built into the size of the multimember district, i.e., the number of municipal council members. Within such a formula, the actual threshold depends on the number of registered lists and on the distribution of votes. Ex post analysis of election results suggests that in rare cases

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the actual threshold may reach levels over 7% in municipalities with eleven to thirteen council members, while in the cases of seventeen to twenty-one council members it is usually lower than the 4% threshold applied in parliamentary elections. For the councils comprised of 29 members and over, the actual thresholds are around 2%.

Table 2.49

Positions Contested in Local Elections (1995–1999)

Election Year

Municipal Councilors

Municipal Mayors

Mayoralty Mayor

Ward Councilor

Ward Mayor Total Number of Elected Representatives

1995 7,029 255 3,739 461 35 11,519

1999 2,525 262 1,695 Abolished Elected by

municipal council

4,982

Source: Electoral Office.

A majority run-off election formula is used in all types of mayoral elections. Unless a candidate has received a majority of valid votes, the two candidates with the most votes from the first round participate in a run-off competition. Pre-term elections are held in case a position becomes vacant.

Registration for local elections consists of two steps. Parties register at the Central Election Commission (CEC), certifying their legal status at the moment of application.

In the last elections, 96 parties applied to the CEC and all of them were registered. A certified party applies at every municipal election commission (MEC) where it chooses to stand in the elections. Of the 96 CEC-certified parties, 93 applied to at least MEC for participation in the council member elections, while 84 participated at least in one mayoral election.

Coalition registration rules are extremely permissive. A certified party may establish one municipal coalition for the proportional council member elections and another for the majority mayor elections. There is one common sense restriction—a party may not enter two different coalitions or support two different candidates in one election. Over 250 different local (municipal) coalitions have been registered for the proportional vote and 190 for the majority vote.

Independent candidates are registered at the Municipal Election Commission upon presentation of a petition with support signatures. The number of required signatures depends on the population figures. A higher share of independent candidates among municipal mayor candidates (14% of all registered) is a product of the specific party election tactics. To broaden their appeal to voters beyond traditional party supporters, candidates register as independents running with the support of one of the established parties. The voter–representative ratio has never been an issue in local politics. In the

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smallest municipality of Chavdar, 1,148 voters elect eleven representatives, while in Sofia 1.1 million voters are represented by 61 councilors.

There is a recurring debate on how many representatives should be elected in a municipality. Throughout the 1990s, the clear trend was towards reducing the number of representatives, while seeking a format for a municipal council that would function in a more effective way. Fragmentation is another clear trend, i.e., the splitting of one municipality into several smaller ones based on existing communities and the local sense of separate identity. Since 1990, thirteen new municipalities have been established, bringing the total number to 263.

The other hot issue is the status of the mayoralty. The sharp reduction in the number of popularly elected mayoralty mayors in 1999 has been perceived as an attempt of the (then) dominant coalition, the UDF, to narrow the electoral base of its main rival, the BSP and the smaller and fragmented Agrarian Union. The same argument developed concerning ward councils and ward mayors.

Although the election results are usually widely accepted, some dozen cases are appealed to the regional courts after each election. There were seven appeals after the 1995 elections, three of which were annulled on the grounds of a technical breach of the election law. New elections were held in those cases. In 1999, no annulments occurred in the twelve appeal cases.

Bulgarian voting procedures are based on a separate ready-made party ballot for each vote cast. No voting is possible prior to election day or outside the polling stations. All the party ballots are placed behind the booth; the voter picks one, places it in an official envelope, and delivers the vote to the box. The fact that voters are not required to mark the ballot and the practice of presenting ready-made lists have provoked frequent proposals to introduce a preferential vote or a variety of mixed electoral systems. However, when the mayor ballot used in 1999 contained the names of all participating candidates and voters were asked to mark their choice, the share of invalid votes tripled from 3–5% to 10–15%. Electoral reform is again being debated. A new comprehensive electoral code has been drafted and submitted to the parliament. For the parliamentary election, the code proposes the introduction of the German-style mixed proportional system. For the local vote, the proposal is to elect councilors in smaller (four member) districts with preferential choice for up to four candidates.

6.2 The Electoral Process

Voters enjoy a broad range of choices in the municipal elections, with an average of 5.9 candidates per municipal mayor seat and 6.0 candidates per councilor seat. The choice is somewhat more limited in mayoralty mayor elections: 39 candidates per seat.

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Table 2.50

Registration of Lists and Candidates in Local Elections (1999)

Elections of: 262 Municipal Councils 262 Municipal Mayors 1,695 Mayoralty Mayors

Number of registered lists

2,918 Number of candidates 30,972 including

267 independent candidates

1,574 including 221 independent

candidates

6,596 including 849 independent

candidates Average number of

candidates per seat

5.9 6.0 3.9

Source: Electoral Office.

In the mayoralty mayor elections, 38 seats (2.2% of the total) were won by acclamation. Elections with more than seven candidates were also a relatively small share (5.5%).

The municipal mayor elections had ten instances (3.7%) with only two registered candidates, while at the opposite end, ten or more candidates were registered in 22 municipalities (7.5%) of the cases.

The election of local councilors is by far the most open competition. In fourteen council elections (5.5%), there were three or four registered lists. This is similar to the share of elections having 22 or more registered lists. In some, there were as many as 43 lists!

Table 2.51

Citizen Participation in Election Campaigns

Frequency Percent

Fewer than ten 156 16.0

11–20 154 15.8

21–50 188 19.3

51–100 96 9.8

More than 100 298 30.5

Total 892 91.4

Source: LRS 2002.

The extent of citizens’ participation in local election campaigns, measured by number of volunteers, depends on the size of the municipality, i.e., number of voters and the size of the political party or coalition that respondents refer to in their answers. The election rules based on fixed list proportional representation exclude the influence of personality in the campaign, except for the leading name on the list in some cases.

T H E S T A T E O F L O C A L D E M O C R A C Y I N C E N T R A L E U R O P E

The election law guarantees equal access of registered candidates to local media.

No major complaints concerning access have been lodged, either to the election administration or to local courts. Tough competition between local media within very small markets forces them to be as interesting as possible. Election campaigns unquestionably provide a lot of attractive topics for coverage.

6.3 Electoral Results and Turnout

6.3.1 Electoral Results

In the October 1991 elections, party preferences in the local and general elections nearly overlapped. The UDF gained a majority in the eight largest urban centers, while the BSP was dominant in smaller municipalities and in the rural areas. In medium sized municipalities (with populations between 20,000 and 100,000) the vote was split, with a considerable share of the votes going to the third party (BANU) lists. The MRF won in all (30) municipalities having a majority Turkish population.

In the early 1990s, left−right party preferences followed the deeply rooted divisions of the center−periphery cleavage. In the rural municipalities, the incumbent socialist local elites retained control and support, challenged by the MRF and the BANU. In all but one of the municipalities with a population over 100,000, the UDF established a majority.

In the 1995 local election, the BSP recovered much of its losses in the previous elections. Tables 1.52 and 1.53 illustrate the socialist dominance in all types municipalities except for the three largest cities—Sofia, Plovdiv, and Varna. The elections were held ten months after the BSP had gained a similar absolute parliamentary majority in the pre-term general elections of 1994.

The parties represented in Parliament (the BSP, the UDF, the PU, the MRF, and the BBB) gained 88.6% (6,214 seats out of 7,029) of the council seats. The two main parties (the BSP and the UDF) had 66.6%. Independents accounted for 1.6% (114) of the elected councilors and the rest of the seats went to smaller parties or local lists (9.8% or 701 seats).

Socialist party candidates were also victorious in two-thirds of the elections for municipal mayor. The MRF gained similar support as in previous elections and confirmed its control over the municipalities with a majority Turkish population.

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Table 2.52 Party Seats in Municipal Councils by Type of Municipality (1995) Type of MunicipalityBSPUDFPUMRFBBBDARIndependentBSDPBANUNPOthersBCPNew ChoiceTotal < 5,00014544417352——222253 < 10,00056019811185302428271241311,102 < 20,0008863581862256546514035522131,950 < 30,0004391689711827311610132126957 < 50,0004581639616130226323281411,014 < 100,000511239805740259322651551,080 > 100,00027618631133311212135111612 Capital Sofia23315—1—————1—61 Total3,29813876476662291641141531124190297,029 Source: M. Stefanova 2003. Table 2.53 Party Seats in Municipal Councils by Type of Municipality (1995) [%] Type of MunicipalityBSPUDFPUMRFBBBDARIndependentBSDPBANUNPOthersBCPNew ChoiceTotal < 5,00057.317.416.22.81.22.00.80.00.00.80.80.8100.0 < 10,00050.818.010.17.72.72.12.52.40.092.11.20.09100.0 < 20,00045.418.49.511.53.32.32.62.00.12.81.10.6100.0 < 30,00045.917.510.112.32.83.21.71.00.13.31.20.6100.0 < 50,00045.216.19.515.92.92.20.63.10.32.81.40.09100.0 < 100,00047.322.17.45.33.72.30.82.90.26.01.40.5100.0 > 100,00045.130.45.062.15.41.80.31.960.25.71.80.2100.0 Capital Sofia37.750.88.3—1.6—————1.6—100.0 Total46.919.79.29.53.252.31.62.20.23.41.30.4100.0 Source: M. Stefanova 2003.

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Table 2.54 Party Seats in Municipal Councils by Type of Municipality (1999) Type of Municipality by Size of Population

BSPBELMRFBBBBSDPIndependentsFBNMRFBANUIMROPUUDFOthersTotal < 5,000 109195549——102258722297 < 10,000 264397319929132519132420475806 < 20,000371771641521432631432447382991,343 < 30,000 201469413922161120152718654714 < 50,000 2433589131713111312133322665783 < 75,000 1091522416733551013430363 < 100,000 117723710241—12112029333 < 160,000732285534144—8829246 > 160,000 911037—54129213042306 Capital Sofia142—————————38761 Total1,59227248188911338186115971691,5954525,252 Source: M. Stefanova 2003.

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Table 2.55 Party Seats in Municipal Councils by Type of Municipality (1999) [%] Type of Municipality by Size of Population

BSPBELMRFBBBBSDPIndependentFBNMRFBANUIMROPUUDFOthersTotal < 5,000 2.10.40.10.10.10.2——0.20.10.51.60.45.6 < 10,000 5.00.71.40.40.20.50.10.40.30.20.43.91.415.3 < 20,000 7.11.43.20.20.40.80.50.50.80.50.87.31.925.6 < 30,000 3.80.81.70.30.20.40.30.20.40.30.53.61.113.6 < 50,000 4.60.71.70.30.30.20.20.10.20.20.64.31.314.9 < 75,000 2.10.30.40.10.30.10.10.10.10.10.22.50.66.9 < 100,000 2.20.20.40.10.20.10.10.1—0.20.12.30.56.4 < 160,0001.40.40.10.10.10.10.10.10.10.1—1.70.54.7 > 160,000 1.70.20.10.1—0.10.10.10.10.20.12.50.85.8 Capital Sofia0.30.1—————————0.70.11.2 Total30.35.29.11.71.82.51.51.62.21.93.230.48.6100.0 Source: M. Stefanova 2003.

T H E S T A T E O F L O C A L D E M O C R A C Y I N C E N T R A L E U R O P E

The 1999 local election results were somewhat surprising and indicated a diminishing importance of the center–periphery cleavage. The UDF and the BSP achieved similar results in all but one class of municipalities. The UDF retained its majority in Sofia and Plovdiv, but in the next eight municipalities by size, no majority emerged. Councilors elected from small parties or local lists thus achieved an important position. In addition, in six of those eight municipal centers, socialist or nominally independent but socialist-supported candidates were elected mayor. However, for the first time in over 30 municipalities, the council majority was other than socialist and/or the elected mayor was not socialist or a socialist-supported candidate. The variety of local lists proved to be as popular as the traditional parties. Some of those may foreshadow the debut of a political platform with possible long-term effects, e.g., the Roma party named Free Bulgaria. Others were just as exotic—the list of a football club, that fans named the Green Party of Bulgaria, came in third with over 11,000 votes in the municipality of Bourgas.

Parties represented in the Parliament (the BSP, the UDF, the MRF, the PU, and the BBB) took 79.9% of the councilor seats (4,197 of a total of 5,252), indicating a slight decrease of support compared to 88.6% in the previous local elections. Further, the share of the two principle protagonists, the BSP and the UDF, also dropped to 60%

from their previous 66%. The support for independent candidates marginally increased from 1.6% to 2.5% (133 seats), while smaller and local lists nearly doubled their share to 17.6% (922 seats) from previous the 9.8%.

Table 2.56

Election Results for Municipal Mayors by Party (1999)

Type of Municipality

BSP BEL MRF

Inde-pendent

BANU NU UDF Others Total

< 5,000 11 3 — 1 2 3 4 3 27

< 10,000 19 — 7 10 3 1 20 2 62

< 20,000 21 4 10 9 3 2 26 4 79

< 30,000 6 — 3 8 — 3 10 4 34

< 50,000 8 1 3 4 — 1 8 2 27

< 75,000 4 2 — 2 — — 3 — 11

Source: M. Stefanova 2003

Only one municipal mayor, Veselin Uzunov from Razgrad, has had enduring enough support to be elected in three consecutive elections. In half of the mayoral elections in 1999, the candidates nominated by the incumbent majority party or coalition lost the race.

R E P O R T O N T H E S T A T E O F L O C A L D E M O C R A C Y I N B U L G A R I A

Table 2.57

Election Results for Municipal Mayors by Party (1999) [%]

Type of Municipality

BSP BEL MRF

Inde-pendent

BANU NU UDF Others TOTAL

< 5,000 4.3 1.2 — 0.4 0.7 1.1 1.5 1.1 10.3

< 10,000 7.3 — 2.6 3.8 1.2 0.4 7.6 0.7 23.6

< 20,000 8.0 1.6 3.9 3.4 1.2 0.7 9.9 1.4 30.1

< 30,000 2.3 — 1.1 3.0 — 1.2 3.8 1.6 13.0

< 50,000 3.0 0.3 1.1 1.6 — 0.3 3.0 1.0 10.3

< 75,000 1.5 0.7 — 0.8 — — 1.3 — 4.3

< 100,000 1.9 — — 0.8 — — 0.7 — 3.4

< 160,000 0.8 0.3 — — — — 1.2 — 2.3

> 160,000 — — — 1.6 — — 0.7 — 2.3

Capital Sofia — — — — — — 0.4 — 0.4

Total 29.1 4.1 8.7 15.4 3.0 3.8 30.1 5.8 100.0

Source: M. Stefanova 2003.

In order to broaden their appeal, many mayoral candidates choose to register in the elections as independents. Of the 40 municipal mayors who were elected on an independent platform, only two ran against candidates from the two main parties. The others relied on support from one of those parties, which did not register candidates.

In 2001, the former King Simeon the II unexpectedly registered in the general elections as the National Movement, only 63 days before election day. The movement succeeded in winning a majority with 120 of the 240 parliamentary seats (see Table 2.58). The persistent center–periphery cleavage was swept aside by personal charisma and a skillful, populist program based on the Berlusconi model.

Public approval of and trust in the government slipped to lows reaching 15%

after 2001. In the local elections of 2003, support for the Movement fell to 10% from 43% in 2001.The Bulgarian Socialist Party won 33% of the vote in the country’s 263 municipalities. The UDF won 21% and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms 10%.

A total of 147 political parties and coalitions registered to run.

One of the distinctions of the 2003 local elections was the extremely large number of candidates for mayor and the intense competition among them. The average number of municipal mayoral candidates nationally was 8.5, while 8.7 candidates on average ran for each municipal councilor position. The biggest cities had the greatest number of municipal councilor ballots.Seventy-four mayors of municipalities were electedin the first round of the local elections, while the remaining 189 were elected in runoffs.

Women were elected in 23 municipalities (8.75% of all mayors), up from fourteen prior

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to the elections. A total of 119 mayors of municipalities (45.22%) were reelected in these elections. The total number of mayors of mayoralties elected was 2,545, and the total number of municipal councilors in Bulgaria was 5,281. Bulgarian municipal councils are now characterized by a great diversity of political party representatives.

Table 2.58

General Election Results by Political Party (1990–2001) [%]

June 10, 1990

Oct. 13, 1991

Dec. 18, 1994

April 19, 1997

June 19, 2001

Valid votes 87.8 81.6 74.3 61.5 66.4

Invalid votes 3.0 1.9 0.9 1.1 0.6

Total votes 90.8 83.5 75.2 62.6 67.0

Political parties:

1 Coalition for Bulgaria—Bulgarian Socialist Party 47.2 33.1 43.5 22.5 17.1

2 Union of Democratic Forces 36.2 34.4 24.2 53.2 18.2

3 Bulgarian Agrarian National Union 8.0 3.9 6.5 — —

4 Movement for Rights and Freedoms 6.0 7.5 5.4 — 7.5

5 Fatherland Party of Labour 0.6 0.3 — — 0.0

6 Bulgarian Agrarian National Union (Nikola Petkov) — 3.4 — — —

7 Union of Democratic Forces (Center) — 3.2 — — —

8 Union of Democratic Forces (Liberal) — 2.8 — — —

9 Kingdom of Bulgaria Confederation — 1.8 1.4 — —

10 Bulgarian Business Bloc — 1.3 4.7 5.0 0.0

11 Bulgarian National Radical Party 0.1 1.1 0.5 0.2 0.1

12 Democratic Alternative for the Republic — — 1.9 — —

13 Bulgarian Communist Party — 0.7 1.5 1.2 —

14 New Choice Alliance — — 1.5 — —

15 Patriotic Union — — 1.4 — —

16 Alliance for National Salvation — — — 7.7 —

17 Euroleft — — — 5.6 1.0

18 Union for the King — — — 1.1 —

19 National Movement Simeon the Second — — — — 42.7

20 “Simeon II” Coalition — — — — 3.4

21 National Union for Tzar Simeon II — — — — 1.7

Others 1.9 6.4 7.4 3.5 8.3

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Source: Elections and Parties in New European Democracies, Rose and Munro 2003.

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6.3.2 Election Turnout

Election turnouts have been steadily declining since 1990, except for the 2001 parliamentary elections where the turnout was higher than in 1997. Table 2.59 illustrates the general trend to lower participation.

Table 2.59

Total Number of Voters in Millions and Percentage Turnout in Elections (1991–2001)

Election Year 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1997 1999 2001 2001

Parliamentary 5.699 5.261 4.291 4.568

83.9% 75.2% 62.9% 66.1%

Local 5.650 3.933 3.558

83.2% 57.7% 51.6%

Presidential 5.206 4.317 3.775

75.9% 63.1% 55.1%

Source: Electoral Office.

This rather sharp decline in voter turnout reflects both a decline in population (from 8.9 to 7.9 million for the last twelve years, of which an estimated 0.6 million is due to emigration) and rising alienation from politics.

Since the number of registered voters has not followed this trend—rising slightly from 6,790 million in 1991 to 6,916 million in 2001, the official figures concerning proportions are considered the least reliable of the election statistics. Though participation rates are bitterly discussed among experts, there is general agreement that local elections attract fewer voters than the parliamentary ones, which have levels close to the presidential elections.

Turnouts in local elections depend on the size of the municipality. In the largest urban centers, turnouts in local elections are far beneath the levels registered at the preceding parliamentary elections, while in the small (and peripheral) municipalities, turnouts are either about the same or higher. The higher motivation to vote in small municipalities is linked to two factors. First, there are far fewer voters per candidate—in the smallest municipalities one councilor is elected with 60 to 70 valid votes, while in Sofia the number is between 5,000 and 7,000. Second, there is a sensitivity to small group solidarity regarding the choices to be made in the additional mayoralty mayor elections. Young voters in urban centers are especially indifferent to local elections. In campus precincts, the usual turnouts sink to single digit figures.

Nationwide, the turnout in the 1999 local elections was 83% of the 1997 parliamentary election turnout. Table 2.60 illustrates high and low turnouts in samples of peripheral versus urban municipalities.

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Table 2.60

Turnouts in the 1999 Local Elections Compared to the 1997 Parliamentary Elections

Sample of Peripheral Municipalities

Number of Votes 1997

Number of Votes 1999

Increase from 1997 to 1999 [%]

Belitsa 4,971 6,201 125

Garmen 6,364 7,807 123

Satovcha 7,390 10,201 138

Kresna 3,258 4,124 127

Sofia 69,5521 413,016 59

Plovdiv 201,803 105,713 52

Varna 184,665 101,040 55

Burgas 120,741 87,211 72

Source: Electoral Office.

The election turnout in the 2003 local elections marked the lowest result since the beginning of the transition—47% in the first round and 50% in the second round. This raises serious concerns about citizen support and involvement in local politics. However, as the first elections in recent Bulgarian history to be conducted without international observers, they are evidence of Bulgaria’s success in establishing and maintaining a tradition of free and fair elections.

6.4 Local Referenda

The Law on Referenda (1996) regulates all application of direct democracy to national and local issues as well as procedural and technical rules related to holding a referendum.

Any of the existing communities—municipality, ward, mayoralty, or settlement—may take a decision by referendum on questions of local importance that are within the authority of the local council.

The holding of a referendum is a binding aspect of the procedure for establishing a new municipality. The government can establish a new municipality only upon the positive outcome of a popular vote on the matter.

Certain issues are excluded as subjects of referenda. Questions related to local taxes, local budgets, or agreements with financial institutions (including loans), cannot be put on the ballot. Matters that are subject to direct democracy include concessions, privatization and leasing of municipal property, as well as construction and infrastructure projects of importance for the community, when investments exceed usual local revenues.

A referendum may be initiated by one-fourth of the voters, one-fourth of council

R E P O R T O N T H E S T A T E O F L O C A L D E M O C R A C Y I N B U L G A R I A

members, the municipal mayor, or the regional governor, who submit a request to the local council. A valid decision for the holding of a referendum requires support by more than half of the council members, and only a petition supported by half of the voters in a community is binding for the local council, which then sets only the date of the ballot. On issues related to municipal boundaries, a petition of one-fourth of the voters is binding for the council if the regional governor supports it. A referendum is valid if more than half of the voters participate and half of them have supported the proposition on the ballot. The outcome is binding for the local council, which should then take measures to implement the decision.

Because of the high threshold barriers, the absence of a tradition of referenda, and the quality of representative channels, referenda are not practiced except for cases related to the change or establishment of municipal boundaries. A variety of NGOs have attempted to provoke a local vote with limited success. In March 2003, the Swiss Fund for Development offered financial support to local NGOs in their efforts to organize referenda on local issues in the municipalities of Elena and Sevlievo. One issue involved establishing a pedestrian area in the Sevlievo town center and the other was about whether to turn a municipal building into a library. Both of these efforts to motivate citizens to get involved in community issues failed. The turnout in both cases was about 7%.

6.5 Conclusion

Ever since the first democratic, multi-party local elections of October 1991, Bulgaria has conducted free and fair local elections. The legal and administrative framework allows for effective democratic participation of citizens in local politics, by controlling or providing feedback to their representatives. The severing of local politics from the national political agenda was somewhat delayed and occurred in the 1999 elections. A large number of diverse electoral parties was registered and new coalition tactics of local party branches emerged, driven by local partnerships rather than directives from national offices. The trend of party fragmentation, the expanding role of independent candidates, and the divergent pattern of participation in urban and peripheral municipalities was tested in the 2003 local elections. These elections featured an extremely large number of candidates for mayor, intense competition, and the greatest diversity of political party representatives ever in the municipal councils. Election turnouts registered a considerable decline, reflecting both a strong negative demographic trend and rising alienation from politics. The general lack of interest in municipal affairs is also reflected in the low election turnout. Thus, the 2003 local elections marked the lowest turnout since the beginning of the transition—47% in the first round and 50% in the second round. Local referenda as a form of direct participation of citizens in local public affairs

In document The State of Local Democracy in Central Europe (Pldal 115-130)