Poland mourns ex-PM Jan Olszewski
PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk
15.02.2019 12:19
Top politicians have paid tribute to former Prime Minister Jan Olszewski as Poland held two days of national mourning.
PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński pays tribute to former PM Jan Olszewski. Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak
Olszewski’s coffin on Friday lay in state at the Prime Minister’s Office in Warsaw.
Among those who paid tribute to the former premier were Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, the Speakers of the upper and lower houses of parliament, and Jarosław Kaczyński, head of Poland’s ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party.
After a Mass at St. John’s Cathedral in Warsaw, a funeral ceremony was to take place on Saturday at the Polish capital’s Powązki military cemetery.
Olszewski served as prime minister from December 1991 to June 1992. His Cabinet was formed after the country’s first fully democratic elections following the collapse of communism in 1989.
As a teenager Olszewski participated in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against Poland’s Nazi German occupiers.
A lawyer by education, he defended anti-communist dissidents in political trials during the communist era.
He died last week at the age of 88.
(pk)
Source: PAP