Opposition extends sit-in protest in Polish parliament
Members of Poland’s main opposition party have rejected calls for stopping a sit-in protest in the parliament as talks to resolve a dispute over proposed restrictions on media access fail to produce an agreement.
Around two dozen members of the opposition Civic Platform (PO) extended their parliamentary sit-in on Sunday after a small group of protesters held an overnight vigil in front of the chamber.
The sit-in and demonstrations outside the parliament began after the opposition and its supporters protested new rules for journalists put forward by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party. The lawmakers blocked the plenary hall podium ahead of a budget vote on Friday and vowed to continue to disrupt sessions in protest at the media restrictions.
The speaker of the upper house of the parliament and about a dozen media representatives gathered for an emergency meeting late on Saturday after the powerful PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski intervened to broker a resolution to the dispute.
President Andrzej Duda is also planning a meeting late Sunday in a bid to defuse the row, which is the biggest of its kind to hit the European Union state.
Protests have also been planned for later Sunday as the opposition and its supporters continue to defy the government’s plans for carrying out reforms in Poland’s constitutional court. The opposition says the PiS has failed to live up to Poland’s democratic standards by tightening its grip on state media and the legal system.
The PiS, which ascended to power a year ago, has also faced criticism from the West over its domestic policies. However, party leaders have generally dismissed protests over the reforms, saying the opposition is still whining about the defeat it suffered in the 2015 election after eight years in government.
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