A senior parliamentarian and the father of the country’s prime minister, Kornel Morawiecki passed away on Monday at the age of 78.
On Friday, his coffin was put on display for mourners to pay their last respects at the houses of parliament in Warsaw, ahead of a vigil at a city church later in the day and a state funeral scheduled for the following day.
Among those who paid tribute to the veteran politician were parliamentary Speakers, government ministers and Jarosław Kaczyński, head of Poland’s ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party.
Earlier this week Poland’s lawmakers observed a minute’s silence to honour the departed politician.
Polish President Andrzej Duda signs a book of condolence for the late Kornel Morawiecki in Warsaw on Tuesday. Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak
Kornel Morawiecki was a member of Poland's parliament with the Freedom and Solidarity party, which he founded in 2016.
Under communism, he was a prominent dissident and founder of the hard-line anti-communist Fighting Solidarity organisation.
After the fall of communism, Kornel Morawiecki in 1990 became leader of the Freedom Party, which was critical of the democratic opposition’s 1989 Round Table deal with the country’s communist authorities.
In 2010, he unsuccessfully ran for president, and in 2015 was elected an MP, running on the ticket of the anti-establishment Kukiz'15 group.
He opened the first session of Poland’s newly elected parliament in 2015. In 2016, he left Kukiz'15 and founded the Freedom and Solidarity group.
In January this year, Kornel Morawiecki disclosed he was suffering from pancreatic cancer.
At the end of last week he was taken to a Warsaw hospital in what was reported to be critical condition.
President Andrzej Duda last Friday bestowed on Kornel Morawiecki the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest state decoration, for his "contribution to democratic changes" in the country and for his "outstanding achievements in public service."
Kornel Morawiecki will be laid to rest at Warsaw’s Powązki Military Cemetery on Saturday afternoon, following a funeral mass at the city’s Polish Army Cathedral.
He is survived by family members including his son Mateusz Morawiecki, who serves as Poland’s prime minister.
Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and members of his family during memorial ceremonies for the late Kornel Morawiecki at the houses of parliament in Warsaw on Friday.
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Source: IAR, TVP Info