Municipal commissioner

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Municipal Commissioner (Swedish: kommunalråd) is an office and political title in the Municipalities of Sweden for councillors with executive responsibilities. The Commissioners are the only full-time employed office-holders outside the municipal civil service. The municipal commissioner is elected by the municipal council, which in turn is elected in general elections.

The title is given to the chairperson of the executive committee, deputy chairpersons, and sometimes even heads of executive subcommittees and boards. Sole responsibility systems, where the commissioner is without any board or committee to chair, are rare.

Many medium-sized municipalities elect a vice commissioner, often from an opposition party, and known as oppositionsråd. Large municipalities have several commissioners (Stockholm have twelve, uniquely called borgarråd), from most council parties.

As Sweden does not use the Swedish title of Mayor (Burgomaster) (Swedish: Borgmästare) anymore, Commissioner is often translated as Mayor, referring to the chairman of the executive committee. The title of burgomaster is nearly always used when referring to municipal leaders outside of Sweden, making the use of the title similar with the terminology around the President of the People's Republic of China.