President Lech Kaczynski will most probably veto the new media bill or forward it on to the Constitutional Tribunal.

“Chances that the President will approve the media bill are very low because it is obviously unconstitutional,” said Piotr Kownacki from the President’s Chancellery.

The government wants to scrap the licence fee for public TV and radio and replace it from finance taken from taxation.

“By introducing a new financing scheme for public broadcasting and limiting the role of the National Broadcasting Council to merely a consultative body, not a decision-making body, the new media bill aims at destroying Polish public media,” explained Kownacki.

On Wednesday the Sejm, the Lower House of the Polish Parliament, approved all the major amendments to the country’s new media law proposed by the Senate, the upper house of the Parliament.

The future of the media bill is now in the President’s hands. Lech Kaczynski can approve it or forward it on to the Constitutional Tribunal, but most probably he will reject the new bill.

To overturn a presidential veto, the government needs to find a three-fifths majority in the Sejm - which means they need the support of the Left Democratic Alliance. (mg/pg)