Lech Kaczyński
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Lech Aleksander Kaczynski
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 23 December 2005 |
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| Prime Minister | Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz Jarosław Kaczyński Donald Tusk |
| Preceded by | Aleksander Kwaśniewski |
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Justice Minister of Poland
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| In office 12 June 2000 – 4 July 2001 |
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| President | Aleksander Kwaśniewski |
| Prime Minister | Jerzy Buzek |
| Preceded by | Hanna Suchocka |
| Succeeded by | Stanisław Iwanicki |
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Mayor of Warsaw
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| In office 18 November 2002 – 22 December 2005 |
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| Preceded by | Wojciech Kozak |
| Succeeded by | Mirosław Kochalski (acting) |
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President of the Supreme Chamber of Control of Poland
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| In office 1992 – 1995 |
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| Preceded by | Walerian Pańko |
| Succeeded by | Janusz Wojciechowski |
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| Born | 18 June 1949 Warsaw, Poland |
| Political party | None Law and Justice (2001-2006) |
| Spouse | Maria Kaczyńska |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Lech Aleksander Kaczyński, pronounced [ˈlɛx alɛˈksandɛr kaˈtʂɨɲskʲi] (born 18 June 1949) is the President of the Republic of Poland a politician of the conservative party Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (Law and Justice, PiS). Kaczyński served as President of Warsaw from 2002 until 22 December 2005, the day before his presidential inauguration. He is the identical twin brother of the former Prime Minister of Poland, Jarosław Kaczyński.
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Personal life
Early life
The Kaczyński twins were born in Warsaw as sons of Rajmund (an engineer who served as a soldier of the Armia Krajowa in World War II and a veteran of the Warsaw Uprising)[1] and Jadwiga (a philologist at the Polish Academy of Sciences)[2]. Lech can be distinguished from his brother by a mole on his left cheek.[3] As children, the brothers starred in a 1962 Polish film, The Two Who Stole the Moon (Polish title O dwóch takich, co ukradli księżyc), based on a popular children's story by Kornel Makuszyński.
Kaczyński is a graduate of law and administration of Warsaw University. In 1980 he was awarded his PhD by Gdańsk University. In 1990 he had his habilitation in labour and employment law. He later assumed professorial positions at Gdańsk University and Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw.
Marriage and family
He is married to Maria Kaczyńska, born 1943, and has one daughter, Marta (born 1980).
Opposition to Communism
In the 1970s Lech Kaczyński was an activist in the democratic anti-Communist movement in Poland, Workers' Defence Committee, as well as the Independent Trade Union movement. In August, 1980, he became an adviser to the Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee in the Gdańsk Shipyard and the Solidarity movement. During the martial law introduced by the communists in December, 1981, he was interned as an anti-socialist element. After his release from internment, he returned to trade union activities, becoming a member of the underground Solidarity.
When Solidarity was legalized again in the late 1980s, Lech Kaczyński was an active adviser of Lech Wałęsa and his Komitet Obywatelski Solidarność in 1988. From February to April, 1989, he participated in Polish Round Table talks.
Porozumienie Centrum
| Republic of Poland |
 This article is part of the series: |
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Judiciary
Elections
Divisions
Political parties
Foreign policy
See also
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Other countries · Atlas |
Kaczyński was elected a senator in elections of June 1989, and became the vice-chairman of Solidarity trade union NSZZ Solidarność. In the 1991 parliamentary election, Kaczyński was elected to the parliament as a non-party member. He was, however, supported by the electoral committee Center Civic Alliance, closely related but not identical to the political party Porozumienie Centrum (Center Agreement) led by his brother. He was also the main adviser and supporter of Lech Wałęsa when the latter was elected as President of Poland in December 1990. Wałęsa nominated Kaczyński to be the Security Minister in the Presidential Chancellery but fired him in 1992 due to a conflict concerning Jan Olszewski's government. That event marks the beginning of a long conflict between Wałęsa and the Kaczyński brothers. According to Wałęsa, who recently criticized the Kaczyński brothers, a reason was that "His approach is to first destroy and then think about what to build".[4]
Lech Kaczyński was the President of the Supreme Chamber of Control (Najwyższa Izba Kontroli, NIK) from February 1992 to May 1995 and later Minister of Justice and Attorney General in Jerzy Buzek's government from June 2000 until his dismissal in July 2001. During this time he was very popular because he fought corruption.
Law and Justice
In 2001 he founded the Prawo i Sprawiedliwość party with his brother Jarosław. He was the president of the party between 2001 and 2003.
President of Warsaw
In 2002, Kaczyński became the mayor of Warsaw. As mayor, he supported the construction of the Museum of the Warsaw Uprising. During his election campaign he famously said "Spieprzaj dziadu!" ("Piss off, old man!") to a man heckling him on the street. This has now become one of the most famous sayings in modern Poland.[5]
He banned a gay movement parade in 2004 and 2005, stating the lack of necessary documentation by organisers as the reason but also saying the parade would promote a "homosexual lifestyle".[6] He also cited as reasons for the ban security measures, it being offensive to public morals and the fact that the parade coincided with the unveiling of a monument to general Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski. In 2004 his opponents called his actions unconstitutional and he has been repeatedly criticised by the Mazowieckie voivodeship administration, which officially supervises the Mayor of Warsaw. In 2005, he allowed a counter-demonstration, the "Parade of Normality."[7]
As President of Warsaw, Lech Kaczyński established a historical commission in 2004 to estimate material losses that were inflicted upon the city by the Germans in the Second World War (an estimated 85% of the city was destroyed in the Warsaw Uprising) as a direct response to heightened claims coming from German expellees from Poland. The commission estimated the losses on at least 45.3 billion euros ($54 billion) in current value. The Deutsche Welle and others described his presention of the findings as anti-German card to win voters for Kaczyński’s presidency. Deutsche Welle quoted political analyst Stanisław Mocek who in his critique of various elements of Kaczyński’s campaign described the timing of the investigation of war time losses of Warsaw as an attempt to "win over older voters who still vividly remember the war." That view was rebuked by Kaczyński, who replied: "Work on this report was begun in May 2004; it is not linked in any way whatsoever to the electoral calendar."[8]
Presidency
Presidential elections
On 19 March 2005, he formally declared his intention to run for president in the October 2005 election. Lech won and his brother became Prime Minister in summer 2006.
Elected President of the Republic of Poland on 23 October, he assumed the office on 23 December 2005 by taking an oath before the National Assembly.
Domestic policy
In his first public speech as president-elect, Kaczyński said his presidency would have the fundamental task amelioration of the Republic. This will consist of "purging various pathologies from our life, most prominently including crime (...), particularly criminal corruption – that entire, great rush to obtain unjust enrichment, a rush that is poisoning society, [and preventing the state from ensuring] elementary social security, health security, basic conditions for the development of the family [and] the security of commerce and the basic conditions for economic development.[9]
During his inauguration he stated several goals he would pursue during his presidency. Among those concerning internal affairs were: increasing social solidarity in Poland, bringing justice to those who were responsible or affected by communist crimes in the People's Republic of Poland, fighting corruption, providing security in economy, and safety for development of family. Kaczyński also stated that he would seek to abolish differences between regions. In his speech he also put emphasis on combining modernisation with tradition and remembering the teachings of Pope John Paul II.
"Low popularity" in Opinion poll
As of February 2008 approval rating for President Kaczyński is low - 29%.[10] The same survey showed that the approval of the opposition-controlled legislature was at 39%, a fact omitted by the leftist-leaning Gazeta Wyborcza. [11]
As of June 2008, according to polls, 73% of voters don't want Kaczyński to seek re-election in 2010. Only 35% approve his foreign policy (with 59% dissapprove). Also 35% aporove his domestic policy, while 62 do not[12].
Foreign affairs
In foreign affairs, President Kaczyński noted that many of Poland's problems were involved with lack of energy security and this issue would have to be resolved in order to protect Polish interests. Strengthening ties with the USA while continuing to develop relations within the European Union are two main goals of Polish foreign affairs, as well as improving relations with France and Germany despite several problems in relations with the latter. Outside those issues, the main tasks are developing a visible strategic partnership with Ukraine and greater cooperation with the Baltic states and Georgia.
Defense Minister Radosław Sikorski compared the planned Russia to Germany gas pipeline to the infamous Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact and Foreign minister Anna Fotyga stated that the pipeline was a threat to Poland's energy security.[13]
In November 2006 Helsinki European Union--Russia meeting Poland vetoed the launch of EU-Russia partnership talks due to Russian ban on Polish meat and plant products imports.[14]
As a reaction to claims by an obscure German exile group Preussische Treuhand, which represents post-1945 German expellees from Eastern Europe, the Polish Foreign Minister Fotyga (a protégé of Kaczyński) mistakenly threatened to reopen a 1990 Treaty fixing the Oder and Neisse rivers as the border between the two countries instead of the Neighborhood Treaty signed in the same year.[15][16]
Taz article controversy
On 26 June 2006, the German left-wing newspaper die tageszeitung (taz) published a satirical article about Lech Kaczyński, titled Poland's new potato.[17] The writing formed part of a series of satirical characterisations of politicians titled Rogues who want to rule the world. Previous subjects of the series included, among others, the dictators Saddam Hussein (before being toppled in 2003)[18] and Alexander Lukashenko,[19] as well as German politicians such as Ulla Schmidt[20] and Sigmar Gabriel.[21] The article lampooned, among other things, the Kaczyński brothers' perceived xenophobic, homophobic and authoritarian stance:
Now Parliament is to rubber-stamp more than a hundred laws without irritating the government's glorious nose with any criticism. The Kaczyńskis' role model is Józef Piłsudski, the inventor of the Poland of 1919, who in 1926 came up with "guided democracy" and greased the path of the semi-fascist military regime of 1935. Like Piłsudski, the Kaczyńskis are Poles up to their ears, and the Fatherland fits them like a glove. Both have proved that they are clean fore and aft: Lech, who has on several occasion prohibited public buttocks on the men of Warsaw, and even more so Jarosław, who's living with his own mother – but at least without a marriage certificate.[22]
The Polish government soon expressed its strong disapproval:
- Lech Kaczyński called the article "disgusting and mean" and on 21 July 2006, he said that he knew of no comparable attacks against politicians and their families.[23]
- His brother Jarosław declared that "an insult to a head of state is a crime and there must be consequences." (Indeed, the Polish law qualifies it as a crime.)
- Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga said that "such a collection of disgusting remarks is reminiscent of the language of the Stürmer", a Nazi propaganda paper. She added that some dictators, as Saddam Hussein and Alexander Lukashenko were not treated this way. Fotyga then demanded a reaction from the German government, triggering a diplomatic row with Germany that the German press dubbed the "Potato War".[24]
On their part, German officials have declined to comment or to take any actions on grounds of the freedom of the press, while (according to newspaper reports) privately describing the row as "risible" and "unworthy" of a European Union member state.[25] The Kaczyński twins were also criticized by their political opponents in Poland, including former president Lech Wałęsa, who called them "men lacking the necessary stature".[26]
On 2 July 2006 Kaczyński effectively cancelled the Weimar Triangle summit with German Chancellor Merkel and French President Chirac, stating that he had stomach problems.[27] After Polish and German media speculated that the taz article was the real reason of the cancellation, Kaczyński stated that making a connection to the article was unfair and that the meeting was actually cancelled by his European partners who did not accept the choice of Prime Minister Marcinkiewicz as the Polish representative.[28]
Opposing homosexuality
On 20 February 2007, on a state visit to Ireland, Kaczyński said that the human race ‘‘would disappear if homosexuality was freely promoted’’. Kaczyński also revealed, during a debate at the Forum on Europe in Dublin, that he was opposed to homosexuality being ‘‘treated as one of several choices’’.[29] The comments generated scandal in Ireland among some media, and LGBT community. Senator David Norris, a key figure in securing the decriminalization of homosexuality in Ireland in 1993, said the remarks were ‘‘distempered, ignorant, unsophisticated attitudes".[30] TD Joan Burton, a finance spokesperson with the Irish Labour Party, said the comments were ‘‘a pity’’ given people’s efforts to ‘‘eliminate gross and crass discrimination’’.[30]
On 19 March 2008 President Lech Kaczynski broadcast a video of American couple Brendan Fay and Tom Moulton at their wedding on Poland's national television to illustrate a presidential address he was giving warning the nation that supporting the Lisbon Treaty, which is linked to the EU Charter of Human Rights, would mean that same-sex marriage could come to Poland.
Agence France Presse reported that Fay expressed outrage that video of his wedding, which took place in Canada, was being used in such a manner (even though Fay invited numerous journalists and the wedding thus became a public ceremony).
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk response to President Kaczyński actions: "To scare Poles by saying that homosexuals and Germans pose a threat to the EU is stupid, indecent, contrary to our fundamental interests and very damaging to Poland's image abroad."
Gallery
References
- ↑ Rajmund Kaczyñski h. Pomian: genealogia (Potomkowie Sejmu Wielkiego)
- ↑ Jadwiga Jasiewicz h. Rawicz: genealogia (Potomkowie Sejmu Wielkiego)
- ↑ 'Terrible twins' take power and declare war against EU liberals - World - Times Online
- ↑ "NYT editorial".
"Der Spiegel artikel (German)".
"Wałęsa interview (Polish)". - ↑ http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spieprzaj_dziadu
- ↑ "BBC News: Gay marchers ignore ban in Warsaw".
- ↑ "Radio Polonia: Anti-gay demonstration in Warsaw".
- ↑ Polish Politician Plays Anti-German Card | Europe | Deutsche Welle | 18.10.2005
- ↑ "Speech of the president-elect on his official webpage".
- ↑ Gazeta Wyborcza
- ↑ [1] CBOS Public Opinion Pages 3-4
- ↑ 73 proc. Polaków nie chce, żeby L. Kaczyński ubiegał się o reelekcję
- ↑ "ENERGY DELIVERIES -- Gas Diplomacy" (in en), The Warsaw Voice (2006-06-07). Retrieved on 2006-01-16.
- ↑ "EU Divided After Poland’s Veto Hosts Russia’s Putin at Summit" (in en), MosNews (2006-11-24). Retrieved on 2006-01-16.
- ↑ "Poles Angered by German WWII Compensation Claims" (in en), Spiegel Online (2006-12-18). Retrieved on 2006-01-16.
- ↑ "Furious Poland Threatens to Re-Open German Border Treaty" (in en), Spiegel Online (2006-12-19). Retrieved on 2006-01-16.
- ↑ (German) Peter Köhler (20 June 2006). "Polens neue Kartoffel", die tageszeitung, p. 20.
(Polish) Peter Köhler. "Młody polski kartofel (Nowy kartofel w Polsce)". Retrieved on 2006-07-16. - ↑ (German) Peter Köhler (2 February 2003). "Er wollte Balletttänzer werden", die tageszeitung, p. 32.
- ↑ (German) Peter Köhler (24 November 2004). "Das Monster von Minsk", die tageszeitung, p. 20.
- ↑ (German) Peter Köhler (15 March 2004). "Frau Doktor Honigkuchenpferd", die tageszeitung, p. 20.
- ↑ (German) Peter Köhler (21 January 2003). "Der König der Kartoffeln", die tageszeitung, p. 20.
- ↑ Author's translation.
- ↑ (German) "Polnische Staatsanwaltschaft ermittelt gegen "taz"", Spiegel Online (21 July 2006).
- ↑ (German) "Viel Lärm um wenig", Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
- ↑ Tony Paterson (16 July 2006). "Germany in hot water after labelling Polish leader a 'potato'", The Daily Telegraph.
- ↑ (German) "Walesa attackiert Kaczyński-Brüder", Spiegel Online.
- ↑ David Crossland (11 July 2006). "Poland's Hypersensitive Twins", Spiegel Online.
- ↑ (Polish) "Możemy przegrać bitwę o Polskę". Retrieved on 2006-06-24.
- ↑ de Breadún, Deaglán (2005-02-21). "Unwise to promote homosexuality - Kaczyński", National Forum on Europe (originally at The Irish Times). Retrieved on 2007-04-23.
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 Hoskins, Paul (2005-02-21). "Polish president angers Irish gay rights groups", SignOnSanDiego.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-23.
External links
- (Polish)/(English) Official site
- (Polish) [2]
- Strong and Moral State: Lech Kaczynski Speaks on His Presidential Plans
- Lech Kaczynski – The Head of the Capital Ready to Head the State
- The Times: New Polish leader finds demons lurking at home and abroad
- The Economist: Twins together, Poles apart
- Jewish Currents: The Return of the Radical Right in Poland
- (Polish) Fundacja Batorego: Wykład Lecha Kaczyńskiego, 19 September 2005
- (Polish) Wprost: Sylwetka
- BBC profile: [3]
- The Guardian: Polish leader's anti-gay stance threatens EU voting rights - 25 October 2005
- (Polish) WP.pl:About Independence
- Kaczynski Brothers: Movie Stars That Turned Politicians
- President to Welcome Polish President Lech Kaczynski to the White House
- IISS by H.E. Lech Kaczyński, President of the Republic of Poland
- GW:Kaczyński prezydentem
- US Congartulation
- With USA Vc-president
- The Polish President Lech Kaczyński visited the United States (8-11 February 2006).
- Visit in Ukraina
- Raport ws. żołnierzy WSI będzie jawny - Wojskowe Służby Informacyjne
- Lithuanian president in Warsaw
- Poland supports Turkish EU entry
- Poland hopes for complete pullout from Iraq by end 2007
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Walerian Pańko |
President of the Supreme Chamber of Control 1992 – 1995 |
Succeeded by Janusz Wojciechowski |
| Preceded by Hanna Suchocka |
Minister of Justice 2000 – 2001 |
Succeeded by Stanisław Iwanicki |
| Preceded by Wojciech Kozak |
President of Warsaw 2002 – 2005 |
Succeeded by Mirosław Kochalski Acting |
| Preceded by Aleksander Kwaśniewski |
President of Poland 2005 – present |
Incumbent |
| Order of precedence | ||
| Preceded by None |
Polish order of precedence President |
Succeeded by Bronisław Komorowski Sejm Marshal |
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