President Lech Kaczynski will decide today whether or not to veto the controversial media bill or pass it on to the Constitutional Tribunal.

The bill – which has passed through both houses of parliament – seeks to abolish the license fees from 2010 and to fund public radio and TV directly by the state budget.

The bill also seeks to restructure the supervisory Radio and Television Council and enforce public media to respect Christian values.

President Kaczynski has already announced that he will not sign the law, arguing that it threatens the very existence of public media in Poland. He is also against the proposal to turn regional television centers into individual companies.

The media bill has also been criticized by the OSCE, saying that it threatens the political independence of public media.

If President Kaczyński vetoes the bill, the government would have to find a two-thirds majority in parliament to overturn it – something it does not have as both the opposition Law and Justice, and Democratic Left Alliance parties have strongly criticized the proposed legislation. (ek/pg)