President-elect: Smolensk memorial in front of presidential palace
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
28.05.2015 12:58
Andrzej Duda, the winner of Sunday’s second round of the presidential election, has conducted his first media interview, voicing his opinion about the polarising proposed location of the Smolensk memorial.
Andrzej Duda. Photo: PAP/Jacek Bednarczyk
“I have always said that the monument should stand [in front of the presidential palace] on Krakowski Przedmieście [a street in Warsaw – ed.], where thousands of people gathered,” Andrzej Duda told his first major interview following being elected President on Sunday.
Until now, the media has published only perfunctory comments by the president-elect.
The interview, which will be published in the Saturday edition of the Rzeczpospolita daily, focused on, among other things, the Smolensk crash and the monument, which is to meant to commemorate the victims of the disaster.
Duda said that he thinks the space in front of the presidential palace is an ideal location for the memorial.
“This is where thousands of people gathered on 10 April and they therefore decided where they want a memorial to be,” President-elect Andrzej Duda said, adding that he would talk to the Warsaw’s conservator, who currently opposes the construction of the monument precisely in front of the historic architecture.
“We will discuss it calmly, perhaps we will need to announce a competition, yet I will not be deciding alone. But I will take this matter on, because I think that this monument should finally stand – and in a worthy place,” Duda said.
The Smolensk memorial is a planned tribute to a 2010 plane crash which saw the death of 96 people including then-president Lech Kaczyński, the co-founder of the Law and Justice (PiS) party. Andrzej Duda was the PiS candidate in the presidential elections.
Any change to council resolution goes against constitution
Meanwhile, Warsaw Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz has said that the location of the proposed monument cannot be changed.
“The president-elect cannot change a Warsaw City Council resolution on the memorial to the victims of the Smolensk catastrophe,” Gronkiewicz-Waltz told journalists on Thursday.
According to the Warsaw mayor, no changes can be made to the resolution, as it would infringe on the Polish consitution, with Gronkiewicz-Waltz citing the law on the independence on municipal authorities on such matters. (rg/jb)