The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage announced before Christmas that the head of the ministry, Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz, dismissed the current presidents of Telewizja Polska, Polish Radio and the Board of Directors of Polish Radio, based on a resolution of the Sejm and the Code of Commercial Companies. Polish Press Agency, as well as Supervisory Boards. The minister appointed new supervisory boards of the companies, which appointed new management boards.
On Wednesday, Sienkiewicz decided to charge TVP, PR and PAP state of liquidation. He justified his decision by vetoing President Andrzej Duda's budget act, which included funds for financing public media.
Prof. Zibertovich: Public media needed an overhaul
Prof. Andrzej Zybertowicz was asked on TVN24 if he thought the president's veto was a “tactical error” that gave Donald Tusk's government an excuse to take a “hard liquidation decision.”
– Does this government need more excuses to break the law? This is its mode of operation. Public media needed repair, and that repair could be done in accordance with the law, Zybertovic emphasized.
– How? Either with the main opposition party, i.e. Law and Justice, or at the same time, or first by communicating with the president, by developing a way to legally repair this media – the professor claims.
As he added, “they chose to act illegally, which is no doubt the case for many lawyers.”
RMN: Sienkiewicz's actions are illegal. Bodnar: We are looking for a legal basis
The National Media Council and the current governing board of media companies consider the actions of Minister Sienkevich illegal. PiS politicians talk about “attack” on public media and call the ruling coalition “Coalition 13 December” (Donald Tusk's government was sworn in on December 13, the anniversary of the introduction of martial law).
The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights issued a statement saying that “initiating changes in public media raises serious legal concerns.”
– We cannot ignore what happened in Polish public media and how many people were affected by this media. We have a situation where we are restoring constitutionality and we are looking for some legal basis to do so – said the Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar in a radio interview.
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There is a motion to terminate the mandate of Adam Bodnar
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