The twin brother of the Polish president who died in a plane crash this month has announced that he will stand as a candidate in the June presidential elections.
Saying that Poland is “our great responsibility”, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who co-founded the Law and Justice Party in 2001, said he seeks to continue his brother’s mission.
“Poland is our common, great responsibility,” said Kaczynski, 60. “It demands that we overcome personal suffering to take action despite a personal tragedy. This is why I have taken the decision to be a candidate for the office of President of the Republic of Poland.”
His brother, the late president Lech Kaczynski, along with the president’s wife and a host of senior officials, was killed on 10 April when their plane crashed in Russia en route to a ceremony marking the Katyn massacre.
The snap election is scheduled to be held on 20 June. Parliamentary speaker and current acting president Bronislaw Komorowski had been preparing to run against Lech Kaczynski until the tragedy. Opinion polls indicated that he would defeat Kaczynski, but the BBC has suggested that a sympathy vote could play a role in the outcome.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski has held office before, serving as prime minister in 2006 after heading a right-wing coalition. He lost power in a general election in 2007.
