POLAND’S parliament passed two controversial laws yesterday tightening government control of the courts and media.

The votes came as Finance Minister Mateusz Morawiecki was confirmed as the successor to Prime Minister Beata Szydlo.

The legislation must now pass the Senate, where the ruling conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS) also has a majority.

President Andrzej Duda’s aide Pawel Mucha told MPs after the first vote that the head of state believed “Poland’s justice system needs this Bill” — indicating that he would ratify it.

MPs moved swiftly to pass another Bill, this one increasing government control over national broadcaster Polish Television.

Both pieces of legislation have been strenuously opposed by opposition protesters over the past year and have been attacked by EU authorities.

The Venice Commission, which advises human rights watchdog the Council of Europe on constitutional law, called the first Bill a “grave threat” to the judiciary as it would allow the government to appoint judges.

Human rights commissioner Nils Muiznieks said it would “further undermine the independence of the judiciary” and “erode the separation of powers.”

Ms Szydlo resigned for unknown reasons on Thursday night after PiS MPs easily defeated a no-confidence vote in her government that had been called by the opposition Civic Platform party.

The opposition wants Poland to toe the EU line more closely, but Ms Szydlo opposed the one-candidate re-election of former Civic Platform prime minister Donald Tusk as European Council president earlier this year.

There was speculation that PiS leader and former PM Jaroslaw Kaczynski had forced out Ms Szydlo, who gave no explanation for her departure.

“These two years were an amazing time for me, and serving Poland and Poles an honour,” she said.