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Post by Jaga on Dec 16, 2016 19:17:58 GMT -7
I am glad that finally the opposition started to act against continuous attempt of discrediting any critical thoughts and mass media blockage. The majority wants to remove mass media from Polish Parliament. The opposition is against it, and after a very confrontational exchange they decided to block the parliament. Here is a story: www.dw.com/en/opposition-lawmakers-in-poland-block-parliament-to-protest-media-rules/a-36807041The protest was the first of its kind in the parliamentary chamber in a decade. It began as a single opposition MP, Michal Szczerba, walked to the parliamentary podium holding a placard with the words "free media." Other opposition members joined him chanting "no censorship." Their action stopped proceedings in the chamber and forced the postponement of a budget vote on Friday. As the occupation continued, the leader of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party Jaroslaw Kaczynski told reporters that those taking part would face consequences. "We will not be terrorized. With utmost certainty we will pass the budget," said Kaczynski, as he called the protest "hooliganism." The new media rules, set to take effect on January 1, 2017 would allow only five, selected TV stations to record parliamentary sessions. The number of journalists allowed in the parliamentary building would also be restricted and journalists would be obliged to work in a separate building. Private television station TVN24 broadcast the protest with the message: "We will not be able to show this" after January 1. Kaczynski defended the media rules saying they were no different to those in many other European countries. While journalists have for the 27 years of post-Soviet government been banned from the main assembly room, they can meet and interview politicians in the halls. Tightening controls Since coming to power in October 2015, the PiS has tightened its control over public news media and the state prosecution. It has also moved to weaken Poland's highest court. The country's human rights commissioner, Adam Bodnar, also criticized the new rules, saying the constitution guaranteed the public access to information and that journalists provided that to Poland's citizens. The European Union has been scrutinizing Poland's policies which have been deemed anti-democratic by opponents. kbd/jm (AFP, AP, Reuters)
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Post by Jaga on Dec 16, 2016 19:23:12 GMT -7
Guys, please see what is going on in Poland. The majority tried to get rid of the opposition member, the rest of the opposition got so upset and started chanting "reinstate a member":
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Post by Jaga on Dec 16, 2016 19:31:29 GMT -7
here is a better audio:
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Post by Jaga on Dec 16, 2016 19:51:10 GMT -7
Polish opposition is still blocking the parliament because there is no media freedom in Poland. Journalists will not be allowed into the Parliament since January 2017. They ask for reinstating Michal Szczerba who openly was against it. I think they are so upset by what is going on.... that they are blocking the access to the parliament for anybody and in this time of the year the budget needs to pass: wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/14,114871,21132543.html#MT I am proud that finally opposition started talking with one voice
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Post by Jaga on Dec 16, 2016 19:55:37 GMT -7
www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/17/protesters-block-polands-parliament-as-political-crisis-escalates Poland's political crisis: police use tear gas to clear parliament blockade Law and Justice party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski left parliament in a convoy of cars after police forcefully removed protestersThe head of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, left parliament in the early hours of Saturday after police forcefully removed protesters blocking the exit from parliament, television footage showed. Kaczynski left in a car that drove away in a convoy with the car of prime minister Beata Szydlo and several other vehicles, footage from broadcaster TVN24 showed. Opposition party MP Jerzy Meysztowicz told the television network that police used tear gas to disperse the protesters who tried to prevent the cars from leaving. Protesters had blocked all exits from the parliament on Friday after the opposition said PiS politicians illegally passed the budget for next year by moving the vote outside of the main chamber of parliament. The protest marked the biggest political standoff in years in European Union member Poland and the sharpest escalation of the conflict between the opposition and the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party since it came to power in October 2015. The police attempted in the early hours of Saturday to remove protesters by grabbing them and pulling them aside, but stopped as new protesters arrived at the scene. The police also called on protesters blocking the parliament to disperse, saying on loudspeakers that they might otherwise use force. Thousands protest against rightwing government in Poland Read more “Everybody sees that PiS has crossed a certain line and nothing will be the same any more,” Tomasz Siemoniak, deputy leader of the biggest opposition party Civic Platform said. The parliament was surrounded by hundreds of police, some of whom were carrying rubber bullet guns.The protesters chanted that politicians would remain blocked and called on Kaczynski to come out and face them. It was unclear how many people were inside waiting for the exits to be unblocked. Some opposition politicians said they would spend the night in parliament. Polish opposition parties accused PiS earlier on Friday of violating the constitution after speaker Marek Kuchcinski moved a key vote on next year’s budget outside of the main chamber of parliament and blocked the media from recording the vote. It was the first time since Poland’s transition from communism in 1989 that a sitting of the lower chamber of parliament was conducted outside of the main chamber. “The ‘sitting’ was illegal. Period. This is a constitutional crisis,” Civic Platform head Grzegorz Schetyna said on social media. Kuchcinski decided to transfer the sitting and the budget vote outside the main chamber after opposition politicians occupied the parliamentary podium protesting against a plan to curb media access and against Kuchcinski’s decision to exclude one lawmaker.Ruling party politicians said the transfer of the vote was legal and the vote itself was valid. “What the opposition did was a scandal. And we were working,” said PiS’s Jaroslaw Zielinski, who took part in the budget vote. Opposition parties Civic Platform and Nowoczesna together with the PSL party said in a statement that the speaker has violated the constitution. Opposition MPs also said they had problems in accessing the budget vote.The parties demanded the parliament sitting be held once again next week. Since coming to power last year, the nationalist-minded, eurosceptic PiS has tightened its control over public news media and state prosecution and moved to weaken the country’s highest court.PiS is the first party since Poland’s transition to democracy to hold an outright majority in parliament.
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Post by karl on Dec 16, 2016 20:58:00 GMT -7
Jaga
It is good of you with update of currant opposition to this form of government. The people are speaking and it would be well if Mr. Kaczynski will learn to listion for his future may well depend upon that skill.
People are not sheep, they think and recogonize when some thing is not correct.
Karl
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Post by Jaga on Dec 16, 2016 23:06:16 GMT -7
Karl, I cannot believe what is happening in Poland. What is even worse - the ruling party is doing more and more to restrict journalists. I could not find too many international news about what is going on. It makes me quite upset.
Who knows what would happen in the US during the next 4 hours. Nobody would believe that changes like that happen in Poland 2-3 years ago?
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Post by Jaga on Dec 16, 2016 23:57:53 GMT -7
Here is info from German Deutschewelle with report about Polish private militia... it is really scary www.dw.com/en/protesters-stop-lawmakers-leaving-polands-parliament/a-36808832Protesters stop lawmakers leaving Poland's parliamentProtesters have blocked all exits from the Polish parliament as a row escalated over plans to limit media access to lawmakers. The opposition delayed the passing of next year's budget with its own protest in the chamber. Protest outside Poland's parliament Demonstrators turned out waving white-and-red national flags, denouncing PiS' attempts to introduce tough new rules on January 1 that would curb media access to parliament. Hundreds of protesters chanted for Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the head of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS), to face the crowd. The exits to the parliament building in Warsaw were protected by scores of policemen, many of whom carried rubber bullet guns. Friday night's protest was organized by the KOD pro-democracy movement, which is critical of the PiS' policies on media, education and the Constitutional Court. Police warn of clampdown Hours after the protest began, police called on protesters to disperse, using loudspeakers to warn that force might otherwise be used, the Reuters news agency reported. The government's new media restrictions will ban journalists from shooting still pictures or video in parliament, in particular when MPs break the rules, for example by voting for an absent colleague. Anti-government protesters in PolandProtesters are angry about plans to limit media access to MPs Reporters will also be moved to a media centre located in another building, limiting their access to politicians. Although banned from the main assembly room, at present journalists can mingle freely in the parliament building and grab politicians for interviews in the halls. Media coverage halted Several Warsaw-based journalists tweeted as more than 20 Polish media outlets refused to cover parliament on Friday, under the hashtag #DzieńBezPolitykow (Day without politicians). They included newspapers "Gazeta Wyborcza" and "Rzeczpospolita." Follow Annabelle Chapman @ab_Chapman In #Poland, media outlets holding "day without politicians" to protest against restricting press access to parliament. #DzieńBezPolitykow The PiS has defended the measure, saying it seeks to ensure a comfortable work environment for both lawmakers and journalists. "It's definitely not meant to reduce transparency," said PiS lawmaker Arkadiusz Mularczyk. Outside parliament, the country's ex-foreign minister Rad Sikorski, addressed the crowd late Friday, denouncing the government under Kaczynski's rule.
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Post by Jaga on Dec 17, 2016 10:22:37 GMT -7
more videos:
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Post by Jaga on Dec 17, 2016 10:38:02 GMT -7
Poles call is CREEPING DICTATORSHIP, since the government run by Jaroslaw Kaczynski does things in a sneeky ways, so that the public opinion would not even notice
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Post by pieter on Dec 17, 2016 12:07:32 GMT -7
Jaga,
It is good that there are opposition forces that resist government plans to limit media access to lawmakers, the lack of press freedom in general and the tightened control of PiS over public news media and the state prosecution.
Cheers, Pieter
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Post by Jaga on Dec 17, 2016 15:33:31 GMT -7
Pieter, I am really shocked and terrified about what is going on in Poland. For me the problems created by right wing are of much bigger proportion than I ever thought. There might be a bloody confrontation and although I would not like to see blood flowing maybe it would finally wake up the rest of the world.... about the dangers.
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Post by Jaga on Dec 17, 2016 22:30:58 GMT -7
Pieter, very good analysis, but something should change now. The opposition calls this situation "creeping totalitarism". the ruling party cannot behave as like they can do everything without any check and balances. The opposition is occupying the parliament main room, but the PIS party voted and accepted the budget in another hall yesterday, which was done hastily and without following a right procedure and should be revoked..... Protesting people were blocking the roads so that ruling party politicians could not leave the Parliament last night untl 2:30 in the morning. They were laying bodies on the streets, finally the police was able to clear the way, so that Kaczynski and rest left at 3 am. They are not going to compromise. They use the law in the worst possible way, to push what they want. They don't care whether it is controversial, they just go with the whole steam. This is not a just government, this is enforcement of the laws of one party without a common consensus. Even communists in the past were giving up violent changes when they saw that people are protesting, current part does not do it. THEY PUSH ALL THE WAY WITHOUT TRYING TO FIND ANY CONSENSUS People are protesting in many towns but their protests seem to have no impact on ruling party. They use the law like the toy. WHY RULING PARTY DOES NOT ALLOW FOR ANY DISCUSSION, CONSENSUS, COMPROMISE? They push to have everything their way. It is crazy and ridiculous. www.washingtonpost.com/world/polish-opposition-leaders-call-for-additional-demonstrations/2016/12/17/349148a6-c499-11e6-9578-0054287507db_story.htmlPolish opposition leaders call for additional demonstrations
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Post by Jaga on Dec 17, 2016 22:50:46 GMT -7
www.yahoo.com/news/polish-minister-accuses-opposition-trying-seize-power-illegally-100436719--business.htmlWARSAW (Reuters) - Polish opposition leaders said on Saturday they would maintain their blockade of parliament's main hall and called for popular protests against a government that has accused it of trying to seize power. Poland's biggest political standoff in years began on Friday when opposition lawmakers objected to plans by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party to curb media access to parliament, and blocked the plenary hall podium ahead of a budget vote.
About two dozen members of the Civic Platform (PO) party have taken turns to occupy the podium and the party's leader said they would remain there for the next few days. PiS lawmakers moved voting to another area without media access, prompting accusations they had passed the 2017 budget illegally, breaching the constitution. Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said the protest was just whining by parties that lost an election in 2015 after eight years in government. But striking a more conciliatory tone, PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski moved to organize a meeting between the speaker of the upper house of parliament and the media late on Saturday night to discuss the new plan for journalists' access. Several thousand people protested in Warsaw and other cities after police broke up a blockade of the entrances to parliament in the early hours of Saturday. Poland's Western allies have expressed concerns over government plans to reform the constitutional court, saying it contravened democratic standards. But despite criticism at home and abroad, the euroskeptic PiS enjoys steady support among many Poles eager to hear its message of higher welfare, more Catholic values in public life and less dependence on foreign capital. "The situation ... has nothing in common with the real condition of our country," Prime Minister Szydlo said in a televised address. "On the contrary, it reflects a sense of helplessness and frustration on the part of those who lost power and don't have nay ideas how to attract Poles to their views." Earlier on Saturday, European Union Council President Donald Tusk, a former head of the PO - Poland's largest opposition party - urged the government to "respect and regard the people, constitutional principles and morals." "Those who undermine the European model of democracy (and) attack the constitution and good customs, expose all of us to strategic risks. By throwing away the spirit of freedom and community, they write the next act of Poland's solitude," Tusk, who has a long-standing feud with PiS head Jaroslaw Kaczynski, told a conference in Wroclaw. At Saturday's protests in a freezing Warsaw, opposition leaders served hot tea to the police and some of the 5,000 demonstrators who held banners saying "Free media" and carried Polish and European Union flags. "If it becomes clear that it is impossible to talk to (PiS lawmakers), we should have early elections," Ryszard Petru, head of the liberal Nowoczesna grouping, told the protesters. A snap election is unlikely, however, as PiS has a majority in parliament and could block any vote of no confidence. One EU diplomat said the protests highlighted divisions in Poland but did not represent a growing anti-government movement. "The people who have gone out to the streets are essentially those who are anti-government from the beginning," said the diplomat. "I am not getting a feeling that people are ready to go up and protest. It doesn't mean they won't one day,"
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Post by Jaga on Dec 17, 2016 23:03:04 GMT -7
here is more from BBC, it contains the video and lots of good pictures that show how tense the situation is Polish protesters block parliament over press freedomwww.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38347674Protesters have blockaded the Polish parliament in Warsaw in support of opposition MPs unhappy about new rules restricting press reporting. Police intervened to clear a path for government officials to leave by car after a late-night stand-off. Poland's populist right-wing government wants to limit the number of reporters allowed to cover parliament. The MPs' protest delayed a vote on the budget, which was held later, away from the main chamber. The opposition accused the government of passing next year's budget unlawfully earlier on Friday evening by transferring the key vote to a smaller hall and excluding the press. It was the first time since the restoration of democracy in 1989 that such a vote was held outside the main chamber of parliament. Enough MPs were present for the budget vote to be valid, according to the leader of the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party, Jaroslaw Kaczysnki, and other party members.
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