Is Poland suffering from ‘mourning sickness’?

John Godson, the Nigerian-born MP for the ruling Civic Platform party says that the calling of days of national mourning every time a tragedy occurs “leads to the devaluation” of the sentiment.

Godson’s remarks come after Poland's president declared a period of two days of national mourning on 5 March following a train crash which killed 16 people in southern Poland.

“Of course, I had my doubts [about raising this issue] since I'm not a native Pole and it’s easy to accuse me of lacking Polish sensitivities,” Godson, Poland’s first black MP, told the TOK FM radio station.

“But I am a citizen of Poland and I represent the 30,000 people who voted for me [in his Lodz constituency],” he added.

Godson says he has written to PM Donald Tusk to ask if there is “any possibility of legally limiting periods of mourning. Announcing it after every tragedy leads to its devaluation. We need to introduce national mourning less often,” he said.

The MP pointed out that other European countries announce periods of national mourning much less frequently than Poland does.

In the last 20 years, France has called for a period of national mourning just twice, as has the UK. In Poland, national mourning has been called 14 times in the last two decades. (pg)