Polish opposition wants culture minister gone after media changes
Poland's former ruling party, Law and Justice (PiS), now in opposition, has submitted to the parliamentary speaker a motion of no confidence in the minister of culture, the head of PiS's parliamentary caucus said on Wednesday.
Mariusz Blaszczak said his party expected the motion to be considered at the nearest sitting of the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, scheduled for January 10-11, 2024.
PiS MPs announced their intention to file the motion last Friday, two days after Culture Minister Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz dismissed the senior management of state-owned media companies. Blaszczak said at the time that Sienkiewicz had breached the constitution.
Blaszczak announced the submission of the motion of no confidence on the X platform on Wednesday morning.
"If Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz, a colonel of the special services delegated by (Prime Minister - PAP) Donald Tusk to the ministry of culture, had an ounce of honour he would offer his resignation," he wrote. "But we cannot hope for that, so we have just submitted a motion for a vote of no confidence to the speaker of the Sejm."
The pro-EU parties making up the current ruling coalition have for years accused PiS of politicising state-owned media and of having turned them into party propaganda outlets. They have also vowed to restore impartiality to public media, but the replacement of the media heads by the culture minister spurred legal disputes as to whether such a move was legal. When in power, PiS had managed to change laws in its favour by appointing a new state media oversight body, the National Media Council (RMN), where PiS loyalists hold a majority. PiS says only the RMN has the power to dismiss media bosses, but the new government claims the body is unconstitutional. (PAP)
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