New government - Conflict over public media in Poland continues
In Poland, the conflict over the public media continues after the new government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk replaced the leadership. Politicians from the voted-out national-conservative ruling party PiS also protested on Thursday. President Andrzej Duda, who comes from the PiS, called the procedure "completely unlawful" and a violation of the constitution. Anyone who wanted different rules for the management of the media would first have to change the relevant law, Duda told the radio station Zet. "This is anarchy. It is anarchy to circumvent the law," he said.
The previous day, Culture Minister Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz had fired the entire management of the public broadcasters in one fell swoop. This affected the CEOs and supervisory board members of the TV station TVP, Polish radio and the news agency PAP. The Tusk government accuses the media of spreading party propaganda over the past eight years under the PiS government. International organizations had also criticized the one-sided reporting of the public media in Poland.
The PiS leadership around Jaroslaw Kaczynski protested, speaking of a coup d'état and an attack on democracy and freedom of the press. However, rallies in front of the television headquarters on Wednesday were not very popular. Some PiS representatives stayed in the TVP building overnight. Normal news operations were to be resumed on Thursday under a new aegis.
At the PAP agency, the previous head Wojciech Surmacz did not want to accept his dismissal, as the portal gazeta.pl reported. At the same time, the new head Marek Blonski is in the building and has ordered initial personnel changes.
In the election on October 15, a three-party alliance of the former opposition led by Tusk won the government majority. The PiS, which had been in power since 2015, lost power.
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- Due to the ongoing conflict, the new government led by Donald Tusk in Poland has faced criticism from the PiS's management team, particularly from President Andrzej Duda, who deemed the procedure of replacing the public media's leadership as "completely unlawful" and a violation of the constitution.
- The conflict over the public media in Poland has intensified, with international organizations and the previous Tusk government accusing the media under the PiS government of spreading party propaganda over the past eight years.
- Following the three-party alliance victory in the October 15 election, which led to Tusk's government gaining the majority, the PiS, which had been in power since 2015, lost its influence over the public media.
- In response to the firing of its leaders and management team, the management and supervisory board members of TVP, Polish radio, and news agency PAP protested, with some PiS representatives even choosing to stay overnight in the TVP building to contest the changes.
- As a result of the conflict, the government and opposition in Poland have been at odds, with Andrzej Duda's assertion that any attempt to change the management of the media without changing the relevant law being viewed as an attack on freedom of the press and democracy.
Source: www.stern.de
