Poland: National conservative government broken

Jaroslaw Gowin, Deputy Prime Minister of Poland

Photo: Radek Pietruszka / picture alliance / dpa

Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has kicked his deputy, the previous Development Minister Jaroslaw Gowin, from the government.

This was announced by government spokesman Piotr Müller.

The reason for the dismissal was that Gowin and the members of his group had not worked sufficiently on reforms of the national-conservative ruling party PiS.

"The actions of Vice Prime Minister Gowin undermine confidence in the government's actions," said Müller.

The 59-year-old represents the conservative group Porozumenie (Understanding), which has so far formed an alliance with the PiS.

Porozumienie withdrew from the coalition after Gowin's dismissal, according to a report by the Gazeta Wyborcza.

The national-conservative government in Poland falls apart.

PiS boss Jarosław Kaczyński, who is also Vice Prime Minister, remains in office.

The background to the conflict is likely to be the dispute over an amendment to the Broadcasting Act.

Gowin is against it because, from his point of view, it strains Poland's relations with the USA.

The change introduced by the PiS in July stipulates that broadcasting licenses can only be issued to foreigners if they "have their headquarters or their place of residence in the European Economic Area".

In addition, the condition applies that the licensee must not be dependent on someone who has his company headquarters or his place of residence outside the country.

According to critics, the law targets the private broadcaster TVN, which is part of the US group Discovery through a holding company registered in the Netherlands.

The news channel TVN24 in particular takes a line that is critical of the PiS.

Several thousand people took to the streets against the law in various Polish cities on Tuesday evening.

Parliament wants to vote on it on Wednesday.

mfh / AFP / dpa