Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party voted to raise Poland’s public broadcaster TVP to over PLN 2 billion (€428 million) in the parliamentary public finance committee, which opposition representatives see as hidden financing of the election campaign.
PiS wants to increase the funding for TVP by 800 million PLN (€171 million). The large increase in public finances allocated to the TV station is a controversial issue as the Polish state already spends PLN 1 billion 995 million (€427 million) annually. Ultimately, according to the PiS’ plans, the TV fund would amount to PLN 2.7 billion (€578 million).
“This will be the hidden financing of the election campaign,” said liberal Civic Coalition (KO) MP Arkadiusz Marchewka at a press conference.
“There is no money for teacher raises, for child psychiatry, for defence, they want to put us into debt beyond our means, but there is money for political propaganda. This is scandalous and irresponsible,” added Marchewka.
Public television has been receiving state funding since 2017, previously maintained by subscription fees. The allocation of almost two billion zloty to TVP in 2020 had already sparked controversy – it is all the more vital now that another PLN 800 million is at stake.
“At the Finance Committee, PiS is pushing through a knee-jerk increase in funding for TVP. From 1.95 billion to 2.7 billion. There is no money for the Poles, but there is always money for the party broadcast. Unbelievable level of arrogance,” wrote KO MP Marcin Kierwiński on Twitter.
“We have an election year ahead of us, and they will not save on propaganda. A scandal,” commented KO MP Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska.
TVP has been accused of bias, unreliable presentation of information and politicisation for the last seven years. It has been regarded by political commentators as a propaganda tube of the PiS party, serving to spread conservative content and the agenda of the ruling party and its President, Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
(Bartosz Sieniawski | EURACTIV.pl)
Source: euractiv.com
