The liberal coalition that has ruled Poland since last week is quickly fulfilling its promises. One was to “clean up” the public media, which critics say has become a propaganda machine with few deontological principles during eight years of ultra-conservative government. The new Minister of Culture Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz announced this Wednesday the dismissal of the management of television (TVP), radio (PR) and the public news agency (PAP). Several MPs from the Law and Justice party (PiS), led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who now leads the opposition, have occupied the TVP headquarters in protest against the changes, while the new authorities have stopped broadcasting news content.
In 2019, when Donald Tusk held the presidency of the European Council, he traveled to Warsaw to give a lecture at the university. TVP, the public television broadcaster, illustrated the information with a recording of the Nazi army marching past the university during the occupation in 1939 as well as other pictures of Hitler and Stalin. It is just one of countless attacks in the public media on the current prime minister, who has been described as a “traitor” and “puppet” of Germany, Brussels and even Russia, particularly in the recent election campaign.
Tusk stated on Tuesday that “public television in its current form does not deserve to be financed by taxpayers.” The draft budget for 2024 presented on the same day does not take TVP into account in the public bill. Both Tusk and members of his government have repeatedly spoken of “cleaning” the chain but also “liquidating it.”
On Tuesday, the new parliamentary majority, consisting of the three liberal parties that form the governing coalition, passed a resolution in the Sejm (lower house of the Polish parliament) calling on “all state authorities to take immediate measures to restore the constitution.” Regulation on Citizens' Access to Reliable Information and the Functioning of Public Media.” The decision, followed by the layoffs announced by the Ministry of Culture, has sparked grotesque scenes at the TVP headquarters, with ultra-conservative politicians spending the night there, and others call for protests.
The opposition leader arrived at the TVP headquarters amid great excitement to defend “democracy” and “the independence of Poland.” Kaczynski led a sit-in by members of his party who occupied the television headquarters hall. There were moments of tension in the building, with fights between the outgoing and incoming teams, with one deputy ending up with her arm in a sling, and a police presence. TVP's news channel stopped broadcasting in the morning, as did its website, which was redirected to the general television website. However, social media profiles remained under the control of PiS loyalists, who tweeted and shared messages and videos from ultra-conservative politicians. Former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who headed the executive branch punished by the Commission for deteriorating the rule of law, wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “We will not give up.” “We will not allow a dictatorship to be established in Poland.”
“Act of Anarchy”
Join EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without restrictions.
Subscribe to
The president of the National Broadcasting Council, Maciej Swirsk, considered the announced dismissals of the culture minister, who was interior minister in a previous term of Tusk, as a “serious violation of the law.” The director, who was appointed by the previous ultra-conservative parliamentary majority at the suggestion of PiS, added
Kaczynski, this Wednesday upon his arrival at the TVP headquarters in Warsaw.WOJTEK RADWANSKI (AFP)
In a move to protect the public media from the liberal parties' takeover of power, the Constitutional Court, which remains in the hands of people close to PiS, issued a precautionary measure last Thursday banning any action to “dissolve” the media . The Constitutional Court also vetoed “any activity aimed at changing its board” until it ruled on a constitutionality question raised by a group of PiS MPs. In the statement with which the Ministry of Culture announced the dismissals and new appointments, the minister described the decision of the Constitutional Court as “legally ineffective and in no way binding”.
President Andrzej Duda wrote to the Sejm after the resolution was passed on Tuesday, warning: “If the new majority wants changes in public media, it must do so in accordance with the constitution, that is, change the law or wait until.” on the mandate of the Sejm The National Media Council ends,” as his chief of staff Marcin Mastalerek announced at a press conference.
The tumultuous day comes on the same day that a Warsaw district court sentenced former interior minister and ex-secret service chief Mariusz Kaminski and his number two, Maciej Wąsik, to two years in prison over a 2007 scandal. Duda pardoned the convict eight years ago, but a few months ago the Supreme Court found this measure of clemency inappropriate since it was granted when the verdict was not yet final and reopened the case.
At the same time, the new Minister of Justice, Adam Bodnar, receives in Warsaw the Vice-President of the European Commission, Vera Jourová, as “an important confirmation that the European Commission recognizes the changes that restore the rule of law” in the country. “This is a historic moment and evidence of Poland’s new position in European and international politics,” Bodnar wrote in X.
Follow all international information on Facebook and Xor in our weekly newsletter.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
_