Lithuania’s civil society sector is organising protests against plans to politicise the public broadcaster, LRT. Here’s what’s been happening so far.
Around 12,000 people – or double that, by some estimates – came out to protest in front of the parliament on December 9 against a move to make it easier to dismiss the head of LRT. Over 143,000 people also signed a petition, making it the most popular online petition to date.
Despite calls to abandon the reforms, they are moving ahead under an expedited procedure, which critics are calling a “bulldozer”.
But let’s go over it from the beginning.
What are the reforms about?
The initial reforms proposed to ease the removal of the director general from a two-third majority in the supervisory, 12-member LRT Council, to just six. A later version of the legislation which is currently being debated in the Seimas, raises the level to a simple majority, seven out of 12. Under the proposed changes, this would also be done by a secret ballot, and the reasons for dismissal would be broadened.
Four members are appointed by the president, four by the parliament (two by the parties in power, and two by the opposition), and four by various civil society organisations.
Critics say the reform is being done specifically to unseat the current director general, while proponents say it’s being done in response to the audit that found shortcoming – even if it said nothing about changing how the LRT leadership is appointed or dismissed.
Those protesting say this will open a Pandora’s box, where each successive government will be able to change the leadership of LRT almost at will, in essence censoring journalists and editors, or forcing them to self-censor. In time, the LRT would become a mouthpiece for the party in power.
Some of the protesters also see this as part of a broader picture of what they say are anti-democratic reforms pushed through by the Nemunas Dawn populists.
Who’s behind the reforms?
This is a tough one to answer.
In private conversations, some MPs from the Social Democrat Party – which makes up the bulk of the coalition government – are pointing fingers at the president.
In turn, others point fingers at the populist Nemunas Dawn and its leader Remigijus Žemaitaitis, who previously called the media a threat and spoke in favour of a foreign agents law, among many other controversial statements.
What we are sure about, however, is that the LRT audit was initiated by the populists and its rep, Artūras Skardžius, who is now appointed head of the audit committee at the parliament. He himself was at the centre of journalistic investigations over his profiled links to Belarusian and Russian businesses.
Why the social democrats are backing their populist coalition partners in this push is another question.
Some MPs are reportedly telling journalists, in private, that they fear blackmail and that Nemunas Dawn are keeping files on each one of them, or that it’s all being done by the president’s office.
Some social democrats are also telling LRT journalists that the party is seeking to strike back at the broadcaster for being perceivably too favourable to their political opposition, ie the conservative Homeland Union (TS-LKD).
Officially, however, the social democrats are presenting a united front and are “bulldozing” through the reforms, according to the term used by the parliamentary opposition.
Some of these sentiments on the inside were recently profiled by the Delfi news website, including that social democrat MPs were allegedly threatened that there would be consequences if they don’t back the reforms.
Why is it being called a ‘bulldozer’?
So after the initial protest on December 9, MPs registered a new bill under a fast-track procedure. To the protesters, this showed that they disregarded calls locally and abroad to abandon the reforms.
The list of those calling on the lawmakers to step back is long – national and international media watchdogs and NGOs, the European Broadcasting Union, the European Council, the Lithuanian parliament’s own legal department, and more.
Fast-track means that the initial call by the opposition for an expert review of the proposal – which would have been done by Vilnius University and would have slowed down the process – could be disregarded.
In response, the opposition pulled a disruptive move to register over a hundred amendments.
This meant that the parliament’s Culture Committee was stuck having to go through each one of them this week, before tabling them – again – to the Seimas.
One of them passed at the hastily organised night session on Tuesday night – a cat owned by an opposition MP could fire the director general of LRT. We’re not joking.
Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė said the whole thing was becoming a “bleeding wound” which has to be patched up before returning to discussions, thus justifying the expedited procedure. Those behind the protests disagree, saying the politicians are ignoring repeated calls to involve the media representatives in the talks.
Who’s behind the protests?
Even though the majority of LRT staff back the protests, they are organised by the Culture Assembly that steered the demonstrations against the Nemunas Dawn populists being given the Culture Ministry.
Association of Professional Journalists, one of the two major NGOs representing media workers, and other journalists are also among the organisers.
Meanwhile, many organisations and businesses have expressed support for the protests – from farmers to kebab shops.
What’s the mood inside LRT?
A separate protest campaign – which includes on-air statements – is self-organised by LRT staff, with an 18-member protest committee (which includes the author of this article) to coordinate the decision-making process.
In a statement released on December 1, LRT workers said they were not defending the director general or the administration but are fighting for principles that keep the broadcaster’s editorial independence.
In the initial statement, LRT workers also called for the Council to be depoliticised.
Members of the LRT council – recall, the one where six out of 12 members are appointed by politicians – claimed that LRT workers were exaggerating and they were, in fact, protecting journalists.
However, this is not the prevalent mood among people at LRT, for one main reason – there are questions about how much the supervisory LRT Council is playing along with the politicians seeking to dismantle the broadcaster’s independence.
LRT sources said the chair of the Council, Mindaugas Jurkynas, and several other members met MPs in the parliament to discuss the amendments that would give them more powers.
Some members of the Council, who were appointed by the civil society, also criticised the way the LRT’s supervisory body was handling the process.
Meanwhile, there were other incidents, including questions from the Council asking to identify who was organising the protests at LRT and who was “paying for them”.
Therefore, in a petition presented to the Council on Tuesday, over 400 LRT workers – around two thirds – called on the Council to resign, which would also mean that the director general would go.
“Speaking on behalf of the LRT Council, its chair Mindaugas Jurkynas does not hide the fact that he supports the amendments being bulldozed through the Seimas,” the petition reads. “Representatives of the authorities acknowledge that the amendments to the law were prepared with the assistance of the chair of the LRT Council.”
“Although the Council may not interfere with editorial independence, members of the Council do not cease filing complaints against LRT journalists with the LRT ethics controller over their work,” it adds.
The head of the Council said their resignation would be considered in January.
Is Lithuania really being Orbanised?
This is where there are visible disagreements even among those who are against the reforms.
Some say these are the first steps that pave the way for LRT to be politicised, which would be followed by other attacks on civil society, or the media in general.
Again, some protesters view these in the context of the broader pressures on civil society and recall examples in countries like Slovakia, where Robert Fico’s pro-Russian course began with attacks against the culture sector.
As an example, critics point to the proposals prepared by the parliament’s audit office – with Skardžius in charge – that would see the supervisory LRT Council be put in charge of “editorial decisions”. Critics say this shows that the reforms would go much further.
There are voices, however, that oppose the reforms but say the comparison to Hungary or Georgia is mere alarmism.
What’s next?
Lawmakers held another marathon Seimas session on Wednesday, deciding to hold another session on Thursday to deliberate the LRT question.
Several thousand people protested in front of the parliament on Tuesday, with over 10,000 people also gathering on Wednesday. Another protest is planned on Thursday.
The article was updated to reflect that the Seimas might not hold the final vote on Thursday.
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