WARSAW – Poland’s new government moved Wednesday to wrest control of the country’s publicly owned television, radio and news agency from the hands of loyalists to the Law and Justice party, which lost power after the Oct. 15 parliamentary elections.
It is part of a broader revolution that has prompted the new parliament to set up special committees to investigate the actions of the previous government – which was in power from 2015 to this year. The new government is also replacing the heads of the security services.
Separately, a court, which is not under political control, on Wednesday sentenced two prominent PiS politicians to prison terms for crimes committed when PiS briefly ruled from 2005 to 2007.
Public television TVP, Polish Radio, and the Polish Press Agency (PAP) became subject to tight political censorship shortly after PiS won power in 2015, which saw Poland fall in global media freedom rankings. Coverage was heavily skewed towards the government, something election observers said strongly favored PiS, as well as President Andrzej Duda, and helped change the outcome in the 2019 parliamentary vote and the 2020 presidential election.
State media were strongly supportive of PiS in the parliamentary election campaign this year as well.
Law and Justice Party government Spend More than 2 billion zlotys (465 million euros) on TVP this year and more than 7 billion from 2017 to 2022.
This made regaining control of those institutions a key priority for Tusk and his coalition government ahead of local elections this spring and the European elections in June.
On Wednesday morning, Culture Minister Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz fired the heads of TVP, Polish Radio and PAP. The Ministry indicated that it “exercises ownership rights for the benefit of the state’s public treasury, and owns 100% of the shares” in public media companies.
The ministry said in a statement: “The Minister appointed new supervisory boards for the aforementioned companies, which in turn appointed new boards of directors.” statement.
Current senior officials were banned from entering media buildings and the police were called.
TVP’s 24-hour news channel TVP Info went off the air briefly after the decision was announced before returning with an old TV series about a priest who works as a detective. TVP1, the country’s main public television channel, only broadcasts its logo for 10 minutes instead of its regular noon programs.
A day before that, Parliament approved A Accuracy Calling on the Ministry of Culture to take decisive measures to restore “citizens’ access to reliable information and the functioning of public media, as well as to ensure… [their] Independence, objectivity and pluralism.”
Before this vote, Duda wrote to Parliament, calling on MPs to “act within the limits of the Constitution.”
Wednesday’s move was met with anger by PiS MPs, many of whom took up residence at TVP headquarters in Warsaw in an attempt to prevent administrative changes. They were joined by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, PiS leader and Poland’s de facto ruler from 2015 to this year’s general elections.
He added: “This is a defense of democracy.” He said Tuesday evening. “In every democracy there must be a strong anti-government media.”
Confronted by anti-PiS protesters on Wednesday, Kaczynski was angry He said To one: “Watch out you end up in jail, you little shit.”
Strong voice
Polish public media are funded through mandatory license fees paid by the public, and are supposed by law to be free of bias. Under previous governments, they leaned towards whoever was in power, but they tried to be broadly fair. However, when PiS won the 2015 elections, it moved quickly to dismiss management, editors and reporters who were deemed unsupportive of the new government. PiS’s argument was that public media were needed as a counterweight to private television and newspapers, which generally favored their opponents.
Losing control of the powerful media immediately after losing power is a double blow to the party.
“The Tusk government is implementing its plan to seize public media, ignoring the law,” said Beata Szydlo, former PiS prime minister and now a member of the European Parliament. He said On X. “Tusk administration tramples basic principles of democracy.”
Maciej Swirski, head of the PiS-backed state media regulator, described the move as a “flagrant violation of the law.”
But the new ruling coalition celebrated. “Good morning, free media.” He said Robert Biedron, a member of the European Parliament for the Left Party, is part of the Tusk-led coalition.
It is part of a broader effort by the Tusk government to isolate PiS from sources of political power and money.
State-controlled companies, most of which are run by PiS loyalists, are preparing for a purge. In recent days, parliament has set up special committees that will investigate past irregularities, such as dodgy coronavirus-era contracts and the spending of 70 million zlotys to hold the 2020 election by postal ballot that was not authorized by parliament. On Tuesday, Tusk appointed new heads of the main intelligence and security services, which have been accused of supporting the PiS and spying on the party’s opponents.
“Fasten your seat belts, Tusk.” Announce Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the court also sentenced two prominent PiS parliamentarians to prison for abuse of power in 2007, following a Supreme Court ruling that Duda’s 2015 pardon was flawed.
The two – Mariusz Kaminski, the former security services minister, and his deputy Maciej Wasik – said they would ignore the ruling and refuse to give up their parliamentary seats.
“This ruling, which we do not recognize, gives no reason to turn our seats. “It is despicable,” Kaminsky said in parliament.
New Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar He said: “We are all equal before the law and obligated to obey it… Only an independent court can decide guilt. That is what the rule of law is all about.”
President Duda’s office insisted that the ruling was flawed.
“Pardon the gentlemen, and the pardon is valid and has legal force.” He said Malgorzata Babroka, Advisor to the President.
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