Over 100 local authority aldermen and women were forced to stand down last year because of a political conflict, often because they had overspent their budgets, according to local council publication VNG-Magazine.

Only in 2004 and 2008 were more council executives ousted from their jobs, the magazine says.
In a third of cases, disputes over council spending were the main reason for standing down. A further 27 left because they got another political job and 14 became mayors.