In Poland, the new government fired the entire leadership of the public broadcaster. Both those affected and politicians continue to protest.
In Poland, the conflict over public media continues after the leadership was replaced by the new government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Politicians from the voted-out national-conservative ruling party PiS also protested on Thursday. PiS President Andrzej Duda called the action “completely unlawful” and a violation of the constitution. Anyone who wants different rules for media management must first change the relevant law, Duda told the Zet radio station. “This is anarchy. It is anarchy to circumvent the existing law,” he said.
The day before, Culture Minister Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz fired the entire leadership of the public broadcaster in one fell swoop. This affected the CEOs and supervisory boards of the TVP television station, Polish radio and the PAP news agency. 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 by the public media in Poland.
The PiS leadership around Jaroslaw Kaczynski protested and spoke of a coup and an attack on democracy and press freedom. Rallies in front of the television headquarters on Wednesday were not very popular. Some PiS representatives also stayed overnight in the TVP building. Normal news operations should resume on Thursday under new aegis.
At the PAP agency, the previous boss Wojciech Surmacz did not want to accept his dismissal, as the gazeta.pl portal reported. At the same time, the new manager Marek Blonski was in the company and had ordered the first 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.
Source: Stern
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