The Polish government announced plans Thursday to discontinue compulsory television and radio licence fees, according to DPA. The Citizens' Platform party (PO) in power since last autumn sponsored the move, with the Liberal Conservatives under Prime Minister Donald Tusk planning to let pensioners be the first to be relieved of the financial burden. PO parliamentarian Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska said legislation would be tabled in the next two to three months. The licence fee would be abolished entirely by January 1, 2009. The PO faction chairman Cezary Chlebowski pointed out that currently only 40 per cent of TV and radio users actually paid the fee of 186 zloty (around 80 dollars). Funding the state's public broadcasters would in future come out of the state budget. The political opposition warned that abolishing the fees could lead to a financial crisis as well as further media dependence on politicians.