The Constitutional Court (TC) of Poland declared illegal this Thursday the plan of the new coalition government of Liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk to liquidate and reform the public media, whose leadership was fired last December. Tusk’s heterogeneous pro-European coalition – which ranges from the left to the centre-right and includes liberal centrism – maintains that state television TVP, public radio PR and the state news agency PAP had become vehicles of political propaganda for the party’s previous government. ultra-conservative Law and Justice (PiS), in charge for eight years until he was evicted from power by the results of the October 15 elections.
The new Executive promised in December, shortly after taking office, “the restoration of legal order, impartiality and credibility of the public media,” in a resolution that was adopted by the Sejm (lower house of Parliament). The public media continue to broadcast, but with new programs and other journalists, and the Government wants to liquidate them and refound them as new legal entities.
In its ruling, the TC argues that any decision on public broadcasting companies must be based on the Broadcasting Law and not on the Commercial Companies Code, thereby invalidating the decisions made by the Ministry of Culture of the current Government. “The right to dismiss members of the management [of public media] corresponds solely to the National Media Council,” the High Court said, referring to an institution created under PiS and run by several deputies or former deputies of the PiS. right-wing party
All the judges of the Polish Constitutional Court were also appointed by the PiS, which is why the Ministry of Culture on Thursday described the ruling as invalid, invoking irregularities in the appointments. The Ministry also brought up previous resolutions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that say that the Polish TC, as it is now formed, “is not an independent and impartial court”, and that therefore its rulings “ They do not have universally binding force.”
Given the exchange of darts, it has not been clear at the moment how the situation will progress. Although many Polish jurists question the legitimacy of the rulings of the Constitutional Court with its current composition, there are also voices – such as that of the Polish NGO Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights – that have questioned the legality of the new Government’s procedure with the public media. .
This matter further exacerbates the tension between the Tusk Government and the supporters and allies of PiS, among them the president, Andrzej Duda – originally from this party -, who has certain prerogatives that can hinder Tusk’s work. Last week a major institutional clash began, with the arrest of the former Minister of the Interior, Mariusz Kaminski, and his deputy, Maciej Wasik, for crimes of abuse of power committed before taking office, and who had been pardoned by Duda. The president maintains the validity of his pardon and Kaminski, who describes himself as a “political prisoner,” is on a hunger strike in prison.
