The law will prevent companies outside the EEA from having a controlling shareholding in Polish media companies. In practice, this means that American Discovery must sell its majority stake in TVN, which is one of Poland’s largest private TV networks and which has had critical news coverage by the government.
The proposal for a new media law was the backdrop for a chaotic and emotional meeting in parliament on Wednesday.
Then the government lost four votes in the National Assembly.
With only a two-vote majority, the opposition won with a first attempt to postpone a vote on the law until September.
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The President’s signature
The decision was unexpected, and some opposition politicians cheered and said there was still hope for preserving press freedom. That same evening, the leader of the parliament decided to hold a new vote, which the government won and which meant that a vote was still held on the media law late Wednesday night.
Opposition MPs responded by accusing the government of buying support. But the majority knocked through the media law, which needs the president’s signature before it can enter into force.
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Fired Deputy Prime Minister
The drama in Warsaw took place the day after Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki fired Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Gowin from the Contracting Party for criticizing the new law. On Wednesday, the party left the governing coalition.
– The parliamentary majority, glued together with mud from corruption and extortion, is weathering before our eyes, tweets former EU President Donald Tusk.
He leads the opposition party Borgerplattformen.
Minority government
The coalition can continue to govern as a minority government as it requires a formal no-confidence vote to overthrow it.
– Everything seems to indicate that we are sitting with a minority government, says Adrian Zanberg from the Left Party.
– It may continue for a while, but it is no longer able to rule, Tusk says.
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Commentators, however, point out that Morawiecki may have difficulty continuing as he will be dependent on the support of the far-right Confederate party, which is critical of the government.
The next ordinary election in Poland is not until 2023.
Freedom of the press
The Contracting Party, which has 13 of the 460 representatives in the National Assembly, was seen as the most moderate of the three parties in the coalition government. The governing coalition, which has ruled Poland since 2015, is dominated by the Law and Justice Party (PiS).
The new media law that the elected representatives approved on Wednesday is seen by some as a being or not being for independent media in Poland.
The United States has strongly criticized the bill and warned that it could have consequences for foreign investment in Poland.
Liberation from liberation
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PiS believes that the media law is necessary to prevent hostile foreign powers from taking control of broadcasters and is in line with the legislation in other European countries.
On Tuesday, several thousand people demonstrated in several places in Poland against the bill.
Over the past six years, the right-wing populist government has curtailed the free media and the independence of the judiciary in the country.
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