The idea of erecting a monument dedicated to the late President Lech Kaczynski has become a bone of contention among citizens of Warsaw. 

“There has not been a statesman in the recent history of Poland who deserves a monument more than Lech Kaczynski,” reads a petition addressed to Warsaw authorities written by “Varsovians and friends of Warsaw”.

The petition to erect a monument dedicated to Lech Kaczynski, who died in the plane crash near Smolensk on 10 April, has been signed by over 2,000 people from all over Poland. “The capital of Poland, which the late president was strongly attached to should commemorate him in that special way,” write the authors of the letter posted on the web two weeks ago.  

The letter has divided Varsovians. “We need to preserve and cherish the memory of the presidential couple,” Law and Justice councilor Adam Kwiatkowski told the TVN broadcaster.

But not everyone agrees to building a monument in honour of a man who was a controversial politician in Poland.  

“Lech Kaczynski [an ex-mayor of Poland’s capital] was harmful to the city. If Warsaw decides to erect his monument, it will only be for the purpose of warning citizens against choosing an equally incompetent person in the future,” says the Democratic Left Alliance’s councilor Andrzej Golimont.  

Warsaw authorities, dominated by the Civic Platform party, have an alternative idea. Instead of erecting a monument of Lech Kaczynski, they suggest naming the Warsaw Rising Museum, which was the late President’s creation when he was mayor, after him. (mg/pg)