12/31/2023 10:31 pm (current 12/31/2023 10:31 pm)
The President of Poland, Duda, accuses Tusk's government of breaking the law ©APA/AFP (file image of the inauguration of the cabinet)
In his speech at the turn of the year, Poland's right-wing nationalist president Andrzej Duda warned the new centrist government led by former EU Council president Donald Tusk against violating the constitution and the rule of law. In the speech broadcast on television and published on the home page of the presidential office on Sunday night, he mainly criticized the radical restructuring of public media carried out by the government.
The pro-European government, which has been in power since mid-December, accused the public television station TVP, Polish radio and the PAP news agency of having broadcast party propaganda in recent years under the government of the national-conservative PiS. Culture Minister Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz fired the entire management of media companies before Christmas.
When President Duda, who originally belonged to PiS, vetoed the Tusk government's budget plans, Sienkiewicz ordered the formal liquidation of the three media companies.
In his speech, Duda renewed his criticism: “In a democracy, the Constitution, the Rule of Law and good political customs must be respected. Regrettably, the governing coalition has violated these principles in recent days in its attempt to take control of public media. … Firstly, for the first time in free Poland, after 1989, there was an attempt to take control of the public media by force, the signals of some television channels were turned off and news broadcasts were interrupted. “
International organizations also criticized the fact that public media outlets offered one-sided reporting during the eight years of PiS rule.