The local polls followed one year after the decisive victory of the Democratic Left Alliance in the 2001 parliamentary elections, and were seen as a test to the popularity of the Democratic Left Alliance and Polish People's Party coalition government under Prime Minister Leszek Miller.
One year following the Democratic Left Alliance's triumph in the 2001 parliamentary election, local polls were held to assess the popularity of the governing coalition led by Prime Minister Leszek Miller and the Democratic Left Alliance.