Polish parliament passes media ownership restrictions amid angry scenes

A controversial law to restrict foreign media ownership in Poland was today approved in parliament amid angry scenes and controversy over alleged violation of procedures by the speaker.

The legislation is seen as being aimed in particular at Poland’s largest private broadcaster, TVN, whose American owner, Discovery, Inc., would be forced to sell its majority stake. Critics see the move as an attempt to silence an outlet that often provides critical coverage of the government.

The ruling national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party’s decision to press ahead with the measures, which it argues are necessary to protect the national interest, has prompted a dispute with Washington. It also contributed to yesterday’s collapse of the ruling coalition and brought thousands onto the streets in protest.

Ahead of today’s sitting of the Sejm – the dominant lower house of parliament – there had been uncertainty over whether PiS would have enough votes to pass the bill. In particular, it faced opposition from junior coalition partner Agreement (Porozumienie).

Agreement’s leader, Jarosław Gowin, had argued that the measure would harm relations with Washington and reduce foreign investment in Poland. He also expressed concern that it could infringe on media freedom and plurality.

Yesterday, Gowin was fired as deputy prime minister and today Agreement left the ruling coalition, leaving the government without a majority in parliament. Ahead of a vote on the media bill this afternoon, rumours abounded of PiS seeking to persuade Agreement MPs to defect.

Gowin accused the government of “political corruption”, saying his colleagues had been offered ministerial positions and state funds for their districts in return for supporting the legislation.

In an unexpected twist, the opposition then introduced a motion to adjourn the sitting of parliament until September. It was approved by a majority of votes, after Gowin and four colleagues voted in favour, along with all opposition parties.

However, following an appeal by PiS MPs, the speaker of the parliament, Elżbieta Witek, who is also from PiS, ordered the vote to be taken again. She claimed that she had consulted with lawyers and that there had been a technical error before the vote.

That led opposition MPs to accuse her of violating parliamentary rules, with some shouting that she would be sent to prison. Nevertheless, the vote was repeated, and this time the motion was rejected after three MPs from the right-wing Kukiz’15 party changed their votes (claiming they had mistakenly voted in favour previously).

As a result, the sitting of the Sejm continued and, after 9 p.m., a vote was held on the media bill. It passed with 228 votes in favour and 216 against, along with 10 abstentions.

While Gowin and four of his Agreement colleagues voted against, PiS was able to secure a majority thanks to some Agreement support, three Kukiz’15 votes as well as two non-attached MPs.

The legislation now passes to the upper-house, Senate, where the opposition has a majority. However, while senators can delay the legislation for up to a month, any decision they make on it can be overturned by an absolute majority of 231 MPs in the Sejm.

As three PiS MPs were absent from today’s vote, it appears possible that the government has enough support in the Sejm to push through the legislation regardless of the Senate’s decision.

Following the passage of the bill, protesters immediately began to gather outside parliament, chanting that PiS had carried out a “coup”. Some clashed with police. Demonstrations have also been taking place in other cities.

Meanwhile, TVN24’s Washington correspondent reported that sources in the US State Department were warning that today’s vote “will have consequences for bilateral relations”.

Earlier this month, a bipartisan group of US senators appealed to the Polish authorities to withdraw the proposed law, arguing that it would continue Poland’s “democratic backsliding” and “undermining of media freedoms”.

In parliament itself, opposition MPs also protested against today’s proceedings. A group of lawmakers from Civic Coalition (KO), the largest opposition group, have formally requested that Witek provide her legal justification for repeating the vote on adjourning today’s sitting.

Szymon Hołownia, leader of the centrist Poland 2050 (Polska 2050) party, accused Witek of “committing a coup d’etat”. “PiS and its helpers have destroyed freedom of speech in Poland, our economic security and our geopolitical security,” he added.

In an apparent attempt to ease tensions, Marek Suski, the main PiS lawmaker behind the bill, said that an amendment would be proposed in the Senate that would exempt broadcasters with a satellite licence – such as TVN’s 24-hour news channel – from the ownership rules.

Wojciech Szacki, an analyst at the Polityka Insight think tank, said that such an amendment would effectively be meaningless, as TVN24 could broadcast to Poland from any EU country even without it, while it would not apply to the rest of TVN’s broadcasting operations.

Main image credit: Slawomir Kaminski / Agencja Gazeta

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.