Kraków mayoral election: Eight candidates registered

The Miejska Komisja Wyborcza in Kraków has finalized the list of candidates for the upcoming mayoral election on September 27. Eight candidates have been officially registered, including Michał Drewnicki, Łukasz Gibała, Daria Gosek-Popiołek, Jan Hoffman, Michał Klimek, Aleksandra Owca, Monika Piątkowska, and Sławomir Pietrzyk.

Notably, Bartosz Bocheńczak of the Konfederacja party failed to secure registration after the commission rejected a significant portion of his submitted signatures. Despite submitting nearly 5,000 signatures, many were deemed invalid due to errors such as incorrect PESEL numbers, illegible names, or incorrect addresses. Bocheńczak has taken responsibility for the failure, stating, “I messed up.”

The registration failure has triggered internal political turmoil within Konfederacja. Sławomir Mentzen has dismissed Bocheńczak from his position as district president and suspended local party officials, referring to the situation as a “catastrophe.” Other candidates, such as Marian Banaś, also faced rejection due to insufficient valid signatures. The election follows a referendum that removed the previous mayor, Aleksander Miszalski.