Media fees undone

The Sejm voted to abolish public media subscription fees for retirees and the unemployed last week. The event was not without controversy, however, and a heated debate preceded the voting.

"This crassness that you're demonstrating, this banging on desks and yelling, is evidence of your rather low level of political manners," Deputy Speaker of the Sejm Stefan Niesiołowski (PO) told the MPs.

Around 262 deputies voted in favor of abolishing subscription fees, while 138 voted against and 16 abstained.

Before the voting commenced, members of PO and Law and Justice (PiS) exchanged heated words. Members of PO argued that the head of public television, Andrzej Urbański, was a "behemoth who spends money on useless television programs," while PiS retorted that PO only cared about private television.

Premier Donald Tusk blamed PiS MPs, especially Elżbieta Kruk, for not wanting to abolish what he saw as an unnecessary burden on the Polish people. He also questioned her ethics.

"It was you who handed the public media into the hands of Lepper and Giertych. And you directed retirees and pensioners to pay so that compromised people had an influence on public media," said Tusk.

There has been a long-running debate on the subscription fees. Last month, the presidents of Poland's largest TV stations sent a request to Sejm Speaker Bronisław Komorowski opposing the new legislation and suggesting a tax relief instead.