Jaroslaw Kaczynski
Encyclopedia
Jarosław Aleksander Kaczyński (jaˈrɔswaf kaˈʈ͡ʂɨɲskʲi; (born 18 June 1949) is a conservative Polish
politician who served as Prime Minister
from July 2006 to November 2007. He is presently the chairman of the Law and Justice
party, which he cofounded in 2002. He has been the leader of the opposition since the 2007 elections.
He has a Doctor of Law
degree. He is the identical twin brother of the late Polish president Lech Kaczyński
. After the 2007 electoral defeat
of PiS, Kaczyński stepped down from office as Prime Minister following the first meeting of the new Sejm
.
He ran against Bronisław Komorowski in the Polish presidential election on 20 June 2010, which were called following the death of Lech Kaczyński
. Kaczyński announced his candidacy on 26 April 2010, and said he would take the place of his recently deceased brother. He received 36.46% of votes in the first round, while acting president Bronisław Komorowski received 41.54%. In the second round, against Komorowski, he was defeated—receiving 46.99% of the votes, while Komorowski received 53.01% and won.
. Jarosław and Lech were born in Warsaw
.
The Kaczyński brothers are 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
) and Jadwiga (a philologist at the Polish Academy of Sciences
). On 11 May 2010, Jarosław Kaczyński said a Russian
man saved his grandparents' lives in World War II.
As children, Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński starred in the 1962 Polish film The Two Who Stole the Moon
, based on a popular children's story by Kornel Makuszyński
.
Kaczyński is unmarried, but there were rumours about his close love relationship with one of his unmarried employees, MP
Jolanta Szczypińska
.
He lived with his ailing mother until her hospitalization. In 2007, he said his only sleeping partner was Alik, his cat.
In 2006 the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita
reported on communist-era secret service files which documented a discussion on his sexuality. In the files, a former SB officer speculated on Kaczyński's sexual orientation
. Relations between Lech Wałęsa
and Kaczyński have for many years been strained since Wałęsa told a joke about 'two brothers who arrive at a party – one with his wife and one with his "husband"'. He was alluding to Jarosław Kaczyński having a male sexual partner.
Kaczyński resides in Warsaw
.
In the 1980s, he became a member of the Solidarity trade union. Kaczyński was the executive editor of the Tygodnik Solidarność
weekly in 1989–91.
In 1991, he created the centrist, Christian democratic Centre Agreement party and later became its chairman, remaining in the role until 1998. In the years 1991–3 and 1997–2005 Kaczyński was a member of the Polish Parliament (Sejm
).
. However, when the party emerged as winner of the election, he pledged that he would not take the position, expecting that his nomination would reduce the chances of his brother Lech Kaczyński
, who was a candidate for the October presidential election
.
Kaczyński was the architect of the coalition with the left wing populist
Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland
and the conservative Christian League of Polish Families
party. Party-member Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz
was appointed Prime Minister
.
In the succeeding months, he was described as a frontbench
MP
and the leader of his party. Many also described Kaczyński as Poland's most influential politician. He was said to have enormous influence on the Prime Minister's decision-making process.
on 10 July, and officially sworn in on 14 July, following the formation of cabinet and a confidence vote in the Sejm
.
During Lech Kaczyński's election campaign in 2005, he had pledged that should he win, Jarosław would not become prime minister.
Kaczyński's government has also made changes to the tax. At the request of his government, Parliament lowered PIT and rent tax. Kaczyński controversially initiated a nationwide program (lustracja) which required thousands of public employees, teachers, and journalists to formally declare whether or not they had collaborated with the security services of the former communist regime. Kaczyński's government was also criticized both at home and abroad for souring Poland's foreign relationships, particularly with Germany and Russia.
on 21 October 2007, finishing a distant second behind Christian-democratic
and conservative liberal Civic Platform
. Kaczyński was succeeded as Prime Minister by Donald Tusk
, remaining chairman of Law and Justice and becoming leader of the opposition.
He was running against Bronisław Komorowski in the presidential election, held on 20 June 2010. Kaczyński announced his candidacy on 26 April 2010, and said he would take the place of his recently deceased brother. Some analysts have said Kaczyński has softened his image during the campaign, in order to win centrist voters. On 11 May 2010, he made a televised address to Russia, greeting his 'Russian friends' and praising the millions of Russians who died fighting in World War II. He got 36.46% of the votes in the first round, while acting president Bronisław Komorowski got 41.54%. In the second round, against Komorowski, he was defeated—he got 46.99% of the votes, and Komorowski got 53.01%, which made him the winner.
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Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
politician who served as Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland
The Prime Minister of Poland heads the Polish Council of Ministers and directs their work, supervises territorial self-government within the guidelines and in ways described in the Constitution and other legislation, and acts as the superior for all government administration workers...
from July 2006 to November 2007. He is presently the chairman of the Law and Justice
Law and Justice
Law and Justice , abbreviated to PiS, is a right-wing, conservative political party in Poland. With 147 seats in the Sejm and 38 in the Senate, it is the second-largest party in the Polish parliament....
party, which he cofounded in 2002. He has been the leader of the opposition since the 2007 elections.
He has a Doctor of Law
Doctor of law
Doctor of Law or Doctor of Laws is a doctoral degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country, and includes degrees such as the LL.D., Ph.D., J.D., J.S.D., and Dr. iur.-Argentina:...
degree. He is the identical twin brother of the late Polish president Lech Kaczyński
Lech Kaczynski
Lech Aleksander Kaczyński was Polish lawyer and politician who served as the President of Poland from 2005 until 2010 and as Mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 22 December 2005. Before he became a president, he was also a member of the party Prawo i Sprawiedliwość...
. After the 2007 electoral defeat
Polish parliamentary election, 2007
Early parliamentary elections for both houses of parliament were held in Poland on 21 October 2007 after the Sejm voted for its own dissolution on 7 September 2007. The election took place two years before the maximum tenure of four years, with the previous elections having been in September 2005...
of PiS, Kaczyński stepped down from office as Prime Minister following the first meeting of the new Sejm
Sejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
.
He ran against Bronisław Komorowski in the Polish presidential election on 20 June 2010, which were called following the death of Lech Kaczyński
2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash
The 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash occurred on 10 April 2010, when a Tupolev Tu-154M aircraft of the Polish Air Force crashed near the city of Smolensk, Russia, killing all 96 people on board...
. Kaczyński announced his candidacy on 26 April 2010, and said he would take the place of his recently deceased brother. He received 36.46% of votes in the first round, while acting president Bronisław Komorowski received 41.54%. In the second round, against Komorowski, he was defeated—receiving 46.99% of the votes, while Komorowski received 53.01% and won.
Biography
Kaczyński is the identical twin brother of the late Polish President Lech KaczyńskiLech Kaczynski
Lech Aleksander Kaczyński was Polish lawyer and politician who served as the President of Poland from 2005 until 2010 and as Mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 22 December 2005. Before he became a president, he was also a member of the party Prawo i Sprawiedliwość...
. Jarosław and Lech were born in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
.
The Kaczyński brothers are sons of Rajmund (an engineer who served as a soldier of the Armia Krajowa
Armia Krajowa
The Armia Krajowa , or Home Army, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej . Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces...
in World War II and a veteran of the Warsaw Uprising
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces...
) and Jadwiga (a philologist at the Polish Academy of Sciences
Polish Academy of Sciences
The Polish Academy of Sciences, headquartered in Warsaw, is one of two Polish institutions having the nature of an academy of sciences.-History:...
). On 11 May 2010, Jarosław Kaczyński said a Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
man saved his grandparents' lives in World War II.
As children, Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński starred in the 1962 Polish film The Two Who Stole the Moon
The Two Who Stole The Moon
The Two Who Stole the Moon is a 1962 Polish children's film based on Kornel Makuszyński's 1928 story "The Two Who Stole the Moon". The film stars the Kaczyński twins, two of the country's future political leaders....
, based on a popular children's story by Kornel Makuszyński
Kornel Makuszynski
Kornel Makuszyński was a Polish writer of children's and youth literature.-Life:Makuszyński attended the Jan Długosz gymnasium in Lviv . While in school he wrote occasional poetry , and had his first poem published in 1902 in the newspaper Słowo Polskie , for which he soon became a theatrical critic...
.
Kaczyński is unmarried, but there were rumours about his close love relationship with one of his unmarried employees, MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Jolanta Szczypińska
Jolanta Szczypinska
Jolanta Szczypińska is a Polish politician.After professionally working as a nurse, she was elected to Sejm on September 25, 2005 getting 20,270 votes in the 26th Gdynia district, running on the Prawo i Sprawiedliwość list....
.
He lived with his ailing mother until her hospitalization. In 2007, he said his only sleeping partner was Alik, his cat.
In 2006 the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita
Rzeczpospolita
Rzeczpospolita is a traditional name of the Polish State, usually referred to as Rzeczpospolita Polska . It comes from the words: "rzecz" and "pospolita" , literally, a "common thing". It comes from latin word "respublica", meaning simply "republic"...
reported on communist-era secret service files which documented a discussion on his sexuality. In the files, a former SB officer speculated on Kaczyński's sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
. Relations between Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa is a Polish politician, trade-union organizer, and human-rights activist. A charismatic leader, he co-founded Solidarity , the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland between 1990 and 95.Wałęsa was an electrician...
and Kaczyński have for many years been strained since Wałęsa told a joke about 'two brothers who arrive at a party – one with his wife and one with his "husband"'. He was alluding to Jarosław Kaczyński having a male sexual partner.
Kaczyński resides in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
.
Early career
Jarosław Kaczyński was a graduate of law and administration of Warsaw University, which in 1976 awarded him a PhD in Law.In the 1980s, he became a member of the Solidarity trade union. Kaczyński was the executive editor of the Tygodnik Solidarność
Tygodnik Solidarnosc
Tygodnik Solidarność is Polish conservative newspaper. Started and published by the Solidarity movement on 3 April 1981, it was banned by the People's Republic of Poland following the martial law declaration from 13 December 1981 and the thaw of 1989...
weekly in 1989–91.
In 1991, he created the centrist, Christian democratic Centre Agreement party and later became its chairman, remaining in the role until 1998. In the years 1991–3 and 1997–2005 Kaczyński was a member of the Polish Parliament (Sejm
Sejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
).
2005 elections
Kaczyński was the Law and Justice prime ministerial candidate in the September 2005 Polish parliamentary electionPolish parliamentary election, 2005
Parliamentary elections for both houses of the Parliament of Poland were held on September 25, 2005. Thirty million voters were eligible to vote for all 460 members of the lower house, the Assembly of the Republic of Poland , and all 100 members of the upper house, the Senate of the Republic of...
. However, when the party emerged as winner of the election, he pledged that he would not take the position, expecting that his nomination would reduce the chances of his brother Lech Kaczyński
Lech Kaczynski
Lech Aleksander Kaczyński was Polish lawyer and politician who served as the President of Poland from 2005 until 2010 and as Mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 22 December 2005. Before he became a president, he was also a member of the party Prawo i Sprawiedliwość...
, who was a candidate for the October presidential election
Polish presidential election, 2005
-External links:**] ]**...
.
Kaczyński was the architect of the coalition with the left wing populist
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland
Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland
Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland , abbreviated to SRP, is an agrarian political party and trade union in Poland led by Andrzej Lepper. Its platform combines left-wing populist economic policies with religious conservative social policies....
and the conservative Christian League of Polish Families
League of Polish Families
The League of Polish Families is a right-wing political party in Poland. It was represented in the Polish parliament, forming part of the cabinet of Jarosław Kaczyński, until the latter dissolved in September 2007....
party. Party-member Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz
Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz
Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz is a Polish conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of Poland from October 31, 2005 to July 14, 2006...
was appointed Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland
The Prime Minister of Poland heads the Polish Council of Ministers and directs their work, supervises territorial self-government within the guidelines and in ways described in the Constitution and other legislation, and acts as the superior for all government administration workers...
.
In the succeeding months, he was described as a frontbench
Frontbencher
In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then known as being on the frontbench and are described as...
MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
and the leader of his party. Many also described Kaczyński as Poland's most influential politician. He was said to have enormous influence on the Prime Minister's decision-making process.
Prime minister
Following reports of a rift between Kaczyński and Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, the latter tendered his resignation on 7 July 2006, and Kaczyński was appointed prime minister by the President Lech KaczyńskiLech Kaczynski
Lech Aleksander Kaczyński was Polish lawyer and politician who served as the President of Poland from 2005 until 2010 and as Mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 22 December 2005. Before he became a president, he was also a member of the party Prawo i Sprawiedliwość...
on 10 July, and officially sworn in on 14 July, following the formation of cabinet and a confidence vote in the Sejm
Sejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
.
During Lech Kaczyński's election campaign in 2005, he had pledged that should he win, Jarosław would not become prime minister.
Kaczyński's government has also made changes to the tax. At the request of his government, Parliament lowered PIT and rent tax. Kaczyński controversially initiated a nationwide program (lustracja) which required thousands of public employees, teachers, and journalists to formally declare whether or not they had collaborated with the security services of the former communist regime. Kaczyński's government was also criticized both at home and abroad for souring Poland's foreign relationships, particularly with Germany and Russia.
2007 elections
Despite gaining votes, Law and Justice lost the parliamentary electionPolish parliamentary election, 2007
Early parliamentary elections for both houses of parliament were held in Poland on 21 October 2007 after the Sejm voted for its own dissolution on 7 September 2007. The election took place two years before the maximum tenure of four years, with the previous elections having been in September 2005...
on 21 October 2007, finishing a distant second behind Christian-democratic
Christian Democracy
Christian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe under the influence of conservatism and Catholic social teaching...
and conservative liberal Civic Platform
Civic Platform
Civic Platform , abbreviated to PO, is a centre-right, liberal conservative political party in Poland. It has been the major coalition partner in Poland's government since the 2007 general election, with party leader Donald Tusk as Prime Minister of Poland and Bronisław Komorowski as President...
. Kaczyński was succeeded as Prime Minister by Donald Tusk
Donald Tusk
Donald Franciszek Tusk is a Polish politician who has been Prime Minister of Poland since 2007. He was a co-founder and is chairman of the Civic Platform party....
, remaining chairman of Law and Justice and becoming leader of the opposition.
Presidential candidacy
Following the death of Lech Kaczyński in a plane crash in Russia, Jarosław announced that he would run for President against Bronisław Komorowski in the upcoming elections.He was running against Bronisław Komorowski in the presidential election, held on 20 June 2010. Kaczyński announced his candidacy on 26 April 2010, and said he would take the place of his recently deceased brother. Some analysts have said Kaczyński has softened his image during the campaign, in order to win centrist voters. On 11 May 2010, he made a televised address to Russia, greeting his 'Russian friends' and praising the millions of Russians who died fighting in World War II. He got 36.46% of the votes in the first round, while acting president Bronisław Komorowski got 41.54%. In the second round, against Komorowski, he was defeated—he got 46.99% of the votes, and Komorowski got 53.01%, which made him the winner.
External links
Official Website of Jarosław Kaczyński|-
|-