The draft legislation, which would significantly restructure the public media landscape, was among the topics discussed during Nawrocki’s meeting on Thursday with lower-house Speaker Szymon Hołownia.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Nawrocki said he hoped to cooperate with parliament on legislative initiatives once he takes office. He singled out the planned new media law as a matter of particular interest.
On Friday, in an interview with private broadcaster RMF FM, Nawrocki’s spokesman Rafał Leśkiewicz said the president-elect was "curious about the solutions proposed in the media law" because "they relate directly to presidential competencies."
Leśkiewicz pointed to several key elements of the draft law, including proposed changes to the structure of the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT).
Under the proposal, the council would return to a nine-member format, with four members appointed by the lower house, two by the upper house, and three by the president.
This would reverse the current structure, in which five members are appointed—two by the lower house, one by the upper house, and two by the president—for six-year terms.
The draft also calls for the dissolution of the National Media Council, an institution established under the previous government to oversee public broadcasters.
Another change would be the abolition of the compulsory television and radio license fee, with public media instead funded by a guaranteed 0.09 percent of the national budget annually.
The media reform is one of the flagship pledges of Poland 2050, the junior government party led by Hołownia.
The newly appointed culture minister, Marta Cienkowska, told reporters on Thursday that work on the legislation would now “kick into high gear.”
She added that public media in Poland had “already suffered enough at the hands of politicians of all stripes” and that viewers and listeners had suffered alongside them.
The culture ministry published its draft concept for implementing the European Media Freedom Act in June last year. The proposal was submitted to the Government Programming Committee earlier this month, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
(rt/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP