Polish lawmakers overturn senate veto on disputed media law
ABC News
Poland’s president will have the final decision on a controversial media bill seen as targeting a U.S.-owned TV network that’s often critical of the Polish government, after lawmakers overturned a Senate veto on the proposed legislation
WARSAW, Poland -- Poland’s president will have the final decision on a controversial media bill seen as targeting a U.S.-owned TV network that's often critical of the Polish government, after lawmakers on Friday overturned a Senate veto on the proposed legislation.
In its last session of the year, the lower house, or Sejm, unexpectedly returned to the draft law that had seemed on freeze after the upper house rejected it in September. The lower house voted 229-212, with 11 abstentions, to reject the Senate’s veto.
Now the bill, which has already been approved by the Sejm, only needs backing from President Andrzej Duda to become law. But Duda has indicated he sees it as “controversial” and “incomprehensible” to the United States, citing the U.S. attitude toward the protection of property and freedom of speech.
He can either approve it, reject it or send to the Constitutional Tribunal — which is friendly to the right-wing government — for assessment.
