POLAND
AND ARGENTINA
TRY TO GAIN MORE LATITUDE TO CONTROL THEIR
JUDICIAL SYSTEM AS
WELL AS THE MEDIA
Just
days after taking controversial measures to gain more control of their
respective Judicial System, as GeopoliticalAnalysis and Monitoring pointed out in a recent published article,
the
two newly elected conservative far right leaning governments did not hesitate taking controversial measures
in order to adapt their respective Media Laws, giving them more latitude to control their media
ARGENTINA
– MACRI AND HIS TIES TO THE CLARIN GROUP
Background
Information:
ARGENTINE
CORPORATE MEDIA: WAR BY MEDIA AND THE TRIUMPH OF PROPAGANDA
Unlike
in POLAND, where the EUROPEAN UNION’S - OSCE
- Organization for Security and Co-operation in EUROPE has expressed deep
concerns, stressing that media freedom and pluralism is crucial to the
functioning of the EU, such monitoring systems unfortunately do not exist in ARGENTINA thus jeopardizing democratic values.
IS
ARGENTINA PIVOTING TOWARDS AUTOCRACY?
ANALYSTS
AGREE MOVE TO TAKE CONTROL OF AFSCA BY DECREE HURTS DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS
Via Buenos Aires Herald
President MAURICIO MACRI’S decision to place the AFSCA media
watchdog under trusteeship is the wrong approach to deal with a poorly run
department, communications and media specialists told the Herald hours after
the publication of the controversial decree.
“They say they want to examine
alleged administrative irregularities, but you cannot place a department under
trusteeship only to then try to find out whether there’s something going on,” GUILLERMO
MASTRINI, a communications professor at the BUENOS AIRES and QUILMES
universities, told the Herald.
“There are clear legal mechanisms
to remove (AFSCA chief Martín) SABBATELLA from his post — but the government is
not using them,” he added.
MACRI’S legal offensive is
contradictory with the 2009 Broadcast Media Law, a legislation passed with broad majority in both houses of Congress and
praised by international organizations. But the experts say the
administration of former president CRISTINA FERNÁNDEZ DE KIRCHNER also bears
some blame for the arbitrary way in which it dealt with several key aspects of
the regulation.
“The law has been sparsely — and
poorly — implemented and that created the conditions for this new government to
say they want to change it,” media expert SANTIAGO MARINO told the Herald.
Whatever the blame, experts
largely agreed the decree issued yesterday is bad for democratic institutions.
“We went from a constitutional
law that was given the OK by the three branches of government, to a mere decree
establishing a trusteeship,” MARINO said.
MACRI’S LET’S CHANGE coalition
does not have a majority of its own in either chamber of Congress.
THE
FUTURE OF CLARÍN
The trusteeship imposed gives MACRI
broad powers when it comes to the implementation of communication policies. This includes deciding on the fate of large
media conglomerates currently violating the anti-trust mandates of the law.
Background
Information:
CLARIN
MEDIA GROUP – COLLABORATOR OF THE FASCIST 1976 -83 MILITARY JUNTA
Concretely, the move allows the
Let’s Change government to review decisions made by AFSCA regarding the
adjustment plans that were filed by media groups.
Should Communications Minister OSCAR
AGUAD and AFSCA trustee AGUSTÍN GARZÓN (a former PRO party lawmaker) want to
pursue a laissez-faire policy of letting anti-trust regulation fall to the wayside
the new government would leave the CLARÍN GROUP — the country’s largest media conglomerate — with dozens of excess radio and TV
licences over and above the current limit of 24 licences nationwide.
The AFSCA board of directors that
was put on hold by MACRI’S decree claimed it had control over 237 licences,
while the conglomerate claims it has a total of 158.
Media specialist MARTÍN BECERRA sees
the trusteeship as sign of a bigger trend.
“Some pro-MACRI intellectuals are
now bringing the old myth of free enterprise as a synonym of freedom of
expression back from the dead,” Becerra wrote in a blog post yesterday. “By
doing that, they contradict more than 70 years of international jurisprudence
on the issue, while at the same time they play down the role played by media in
the formation of public opinion ... and use the excuse of ‘triple-play’ as a
shortcut to overcome ‘state intervention’ through laissez-faire policies.”
CLARÍN, the country’s largest
media conglomerate, proposed to divide itself into six different business unit
shortly after the Supreme Court confirmed, in a landmark 2013 ruling, the
constitutionality of the Media Law. AFSCA’s board of directors unanimously
approved that plan, but in October, 2014, SABBATELLA accused the company of
fraud and announced it will move forward with the forced divestment of the
company’s excess licences. That move was quickly challenged and is now stalled
in the courts.
THE
MEDIA GIANT’S CHALLENGE WAS HARDLY THE ONLY ONE FACED BY AFSCA WHEN MACRI TOOK
OFFICE.
The adjustment plan filed by SPANISH
GIANT TELEFÓNICA was okayed last year by the media watchdog, that accepted the
much-maligned argument that broadcast TV channel TELEFE is not directly owned
by the local unit of the firm and therefore should not be forced to change
hands to comply with the law.
Similar presentations made by
dissident Peronist leader ALBERTO PIERRI and MEDIA GROUPS PRISA, VILA-MANZANO and
ÍNDALO were also approved by SABBATELLA.
A
HIDDEN AGENDA - THOSE WHO WERE CALLING TO BOOST DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS ARE NOW
DEMANDING EXCEPTIONS
Last night, the CENTRE FOR LEGAL
AND SOCIAL STUDIES (CELS) led by journalist HORACIO VERBITSKY said that what
the previous administration did, and its eventual failure to implement the law
in an equitable fashion, does not allow the new administration to go against
the main tenants of the law.
“Delays or problems with the
implementation of the Broadcast Media Law require measures to boost its
application, not an undemocratic change of goals and principles,” CELS said.
On the other hand, little has
been said by the new administration about the distribution of 33 percent of the
frequencies to community radio and TV stations set by the current law,
suggesting that aspect of the need for freedom of expression is not a priority.
For Becerra, the decree could
have reverberations beyond the issue at stake.
“It sets a precedent because (MACRI’S)
successors could do exactly the same thing with measures that are now being
adopted by MACRI, hurting the very concept of a state policy,” he concluded.
“It’s notable that those who were calling to boost democratic institutions are
now demanding exceptions.”
POLAND
POLISH PARLIAMENT ADOPTS CONTROVERSIAL PUBLIC MEDIA LAW
By JAN CIENSKI
POLAND’S parliament adopted a new
media law that gives the conservative government more latitude to control
state-run television and radio.
DOMESTIC
AND INTERNATIONAL CONCERNS GROW OVER LAW AND JUSTICE POLICIES
The law on “national media” is
the latest in a series of legislative efforts by the newly elected LAW AND JUSTICE
PARTY (PiS) government to take control of a wide array of state institutions,
something that’s creating a growing, but so far ineffective, domestic and
international push-back.
 |
| President ANDRZEJ DUDA |
Because PiS commands an absolute
majority in parliament, the bills have been speedily approved. The opposition
has been unable to stop the PiS legislation, but international institutions are
starting to voice their concerns.
FRANS TIMMERMANS, first vice
president of the EUROPEAN COMMISSION, sent a letter to POLAND’S foreign and
justice ministers stressing that media
freedom and pluralism is crucial to the functioning of the EU. The OSCE - ORGANIZATION
FOR SECURITY AND CO-OPERATION IN EUROPE expressed “deep concern” about the
media bill.
“I fear the hastily introduced
changes will endanger the basic conditions of independence, objectivity and
impartiality of public service broadcasters,” DUNJA MIJATOVIĆ, the OSCE’s
representative on freedom of the media, said in a statement. Her concern was
echoed by groups such as REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS and the ASSOCIATION OF
EUROPEAN JOURNALISTS.
The law, which would come into
effect immediately after being signed by President ANDRZEJ DUDA, would allow
the treasury minister to swiftly replace senior public broadcast officials.
“The public media are ignoring
their mission towards the nation,” ELŻBIETA KRUK, a PiS MP, said in parliament.
“Instead of creating a media shield for the POLISH national interest,
journalists often sympathize with negative opinions about POLAND.”
In the quarter century since the
end of communism, POLAND has been unable to create apolitical public media, and
there is something of a tradition of new governments putting their loyalists
into top jobs — it’s just that Law and Justice’s moves are faster and blunter
than their predecessors.
RAPID
CHANGES – MIRROR IMAGE OF MACRI’S “LETS CHANGE” PARTY
Parliament
also passed a bill restructuring the civil service by scrapping the requirement
that senior jobs be put out to tender, which critics say will allow the
government to put its loyalists into key bureaucratic posts.
The legislature also started
debate on a police bill, which gives police and security agencies more power to
snoop on citizens’ email, social media and other forms of communications — a
measure the government argues increases public safety. However, the HELSINKI
FOUNDATION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS warned the legislation may violate the EU’s data protection regulations.
That’s only a part of the growing
resistance faced by Law and Justice. The party’s moves have already brought
thousands of demonstrators onto POLISH streets in December, and members of the EUROPEAN
COMMISSION and other institutions have expressed concern about the country’s
direction — although none of that has stopped PiS from acting.
JUDICIAL
CHALLENGE – ONCE AGAIN A MIRROR IMAGE TO ARGENTINA
A
bill signed into law by DUDA hobbling the CONSTITUTIONAL TRIBUNAL, the country’s top constitutional court, is now
going to be examined by the same tribunal to see if it violates the
constitution. The legislation was called a violation of “the division of powers
and the principles of the rule of law” by the head of POLAND’S Supreme Court.
An earlier missive from TIMMERMANS on that issue was ignored.
JAROSŁAW KACZYŃSKI, the leader of
PiS and POLAND’S most powerful politician, told the ULTRA-CATHOLIC RADIO MARYJA
that the tribunal was leading a ”rebellion” against the “good changes” his
party wants to bring about.
Concern is also rising abroad.
Although the U.S. State Department was careful to say it considers POLAND a
close NATO ally and a democratic state, spokesman MARK TONER said WASHINGTON
had been in touch with WARSAW about the tribunal. (Interesting, why was WASHINGTON not in touch with BUENOS AIRES on same
topic?)
“We have raised questions with
the government about legislative actions with regard to the CONSTITUTIONAL
TRIBUNAL,” he told reporters. “I think a system of checks and balances and
judicial independence are crucial elements of constitutional democracy and the
rule of law.”
NATO
WORRIES
There are also problems on other
fronts. SLOVAKIA’S Defense Minister MARTIN GLVÁČ sent a sharply worded letter
to his POLISH counterpart, ANTONI MACIEREWICZ, about efforts to remove the head
of a joint counter-intelligence center.
MACIEREWICZ’S chief of staff,
backed by military police, staged a late-night raid on the center on December
18 to remove the officer in charge, saying he had lost his security clearance.
The officer, Colonel KRZYSZTOF DUSZA, maintained he could only be removed on
the joint authority of the SLOVAK and POLISH defense ministers, as the
counter-intelligence center, which is affiliated with NATO, includes 10
countries.
“I appeal to you to stop all
non-standard actions,” GLVÁČ wrote to MACIEREWICZ in a pre-Christmas letter
obtained by POLAND’S RADIO ZET and confirmed by the SLOVAK defense ministry. He
pointed out that the center isn’t part of the POLISH ministry and denied POLISH
assertions (by MACIEREWICZ, among others) that the SLOVAKS had been consulted
before the unconventional efforts to remove Colonel DUSZA.
