Thread: Polish President Lech Kaczynski and wife Maria die in plane crash

Poland's acting president reassures nation in mourning

By Edward Cody
Washington Post staff writer
Monday, April 12, 2010; 2:37 PM

WARSAW -- Poland's interim president, Bronislaw Komorowski, reassured his countrymen Monday that the government continues to function despite the airplane crash that killed President Lech Kaczynski and a number of senior officials, stunning Warsaw's political elite and plunging the nation into a remarkable display of national mourning.

Komorowski, the speaker of parliament who assumed presidential powers according to the constitution, vowed in a short televised address to work closely with parliamentary political factions in naming replacements for posts left vacant by the tragedy Saturday that took the lives of all 97 passengers aboard a Tupolev TU-154 presidential aircraft as it approached an airport in Smolensk, Russia, in heavy fog.

"The parliament should demonstrate unity in view of the national tragedy," Komorowski said in somber tones.

As Komorowski spoke from inside the presidential palace, thousands of Poles lined up in silence on the esplanade outside for a chance to enter and sign their names on a condolence book. It was the third day running that grief and patriotism led large crowds to assemble spontaneously in front of the palace, where they placed flowers, lighted votive lamps or just stared at the building where Kaczinski had lived and worked.

The government announced that Kaczynski's casket and that of his wife, Maria, would be placed in the palace for public viewing beginning Tuesday. Planning for a state funeral was underway, with Saturday as a target date, and a number of political leaders announced their intention to attend, including President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia.

Komorowski said many empty government and military posts had already been filled provisionally by assistants, permitting government to continue functioning. He said he would consult with parliament members of all parties beginning Tuesday on naming a swift replacement for Slawomir Skrzypek, head of the National Bank of Poland.

More @ washingtonpost.com

Good point.

Uh, no pun.