Poland - Kaczynski: The other Lech who changed Poland's face

Though he didn't come from the dockyard in Gdansk, Lech Kaczynski honed his political skills under the leadership of the legend with whom he shared his first name. Kaczynski joined Lech Walesa's Solidarity in the 1980s and became an important leader of the anti-communist movement as he spent time in jail on the charges that he had worked in illegal union activities. Out of jail and back to their union activities, Lech and identical twin brother Jaroslaw were involved in negotiations between the Solidarity movement and the government. Later, in 1990, the Kaczynski brothers became the driving force behind Walesa's election as president, when Poland held its first free election after the collapse of Communism in eastern Europe.

As Walesa put Poland on the path of post-communism reconstruction in the early 1990s, the Kaczynski brothers fell out with the Polish president over the issue of Solidarity leadership and found themselves outside mainstream politics. Not used to lying low, the brothers who shot to fame at the age of 12 as stars in the film 'Two boys who stole the moon', founded the Law and Justice party, which stresses the traditional values of the Roman Catholic Church, in 2001. This was the period that saw Lech's metamorphosis from a backroom boy to a politician who was not afraid to appeal to populist sentiments. In 2004 and 2005, as mayor of Warsaw, Kaczynski made the controversial decision of banning the city's gay rights parade. Poland was subsequently convicted at the European Court of Human Rights of being in contravention of EU law. But his right-wing on many issues found ready reception among many Poles, especially traditionalist and rural voters, and Lech won the nations presidency in 2005 as he travelled around the country telling people that they needed a president who would stand up for their interests. After assuming presidency, he lost no time in naming the other Kaczynski as the prime minister. Completely different from Walesa in style as well as substance, the Kaczynskis often called for radically transforming the post-communist Poland, called the "Third Republic", into a "Fourth Republic", based on social justice and a strong state.

While he remained popular at home with his conservative policies, Kaczynski became a controversial figure on the world stage with his unusual rhetoric. During an October 2009 ceremony to sign the European Union's reform treaty into law, Kaczynski stressed that the EU remained a union of sovereign nation states and said it must remain open to new members, including countries in the Balkans and Georgia. Known for his anti-Russian stand and strong support of the Bush administration's missile shield plan, Kaczynski agreed in 2009 to allow a small US base equipped with SM-3 interceptors on Polish soil which would target short and medium-range missiles. Polish President Lech Kaczynski was a great admirer of Indian democracy and a major critic of China. He also had a soft corner for the Dalai Lama and always met him when the Tibetan spiritual leader came to Poland. The president had earlier expressed his desire to visit India.

Its ironic that Kaczynski perished on the Russian soil just before he was to attend a ceremony to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre — where Russian forces killed more than 20,000 Polish people during World War II.

For more: Kaczynski: The other Lech who changed Poland's face - The Times of India