Polish govt tries to curb press freedom; protesters besiege parliament  

Showing support to the opposition MPs, who strongly protested against the Polish government’s move to curb the press freedom, thousands of protesters besieged the Polish parliament. Earlier, the Polish government declared that it would only allow selected media houses to cover the parliamentary proceedings. It was learned that only five news channels would be allowed to cover the parliament sessions hereafter. Denouncing the government’s press policy, the opposition members interrupted the budget session of the Polish parliament. Anyway, following the protest, the ruling government conducted the budget session away from the main chamber. It was the first time a budget session, since the establishment of a democratic regime, held outside the main parliament chamber.

An opposition MP opined that it was the first time he saw armed force inside the parliament building. Meanwhile, the ruling party members categorized the protest as an act of hooliganism, and asserted that it would not allow such kind of activities. Notably, the opposition also demanded that the government should rerun the budget proceedings as it was conducted outside the main chamber of the polish parliament. It was told that the ruling party might not admit the opposition’s demand. The fact was that only feeble members were present in the parliament when the ruling party presented the budget. But, the ruling party claimed that there were enough members in the parliament when it placed the budget proposal. However, the government managed to clear the finance proposal of the upcoming financial year without proper discussion with the parliament members.

Vignesh

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