The European Broadcasting Union has called on President of Poland Andrzej Duda to refrain from signing new legislation concerning public media.

Part of the bill, which was created by the ruling Law and Justice party and passed by the Senate on Thursday, would allow a government minister to dismiss the supervisory and management bodies of television station TVP and Polskie Radio (Polish Radio).

Ingrid Deltenre, Director General of the EBU, wrote in a letter to President Duda that she and her colleagues “are dismayed” that the bill has been created.

“The haste with which this new law has been rushed through Parliament strikes a discordant note about Poland and its respect for the rule of law and the democratic process,” Deltenre argued.

“To preserve the integrity and independence of public service media as a symbol of a free and democratic country, we ask you in the strongest possible terms not to sign this measure into law and certainly not without having first undertaken a careful analysis of its compatibility with the Polish constitution and the freedom and pluralism of the media, guaranteed by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.”

The conservative Law and Justice party won the 25 October general election after eight years of a centrist coalition government led by the Civic Platform party. President Andrzej Duda, who won the presidential election in May, is a former member of Law and Justice. (nh)