Profile: Bronislaw Komorowski

Komorowski, pictured, was named acting president after the death of Lech Kaczynski [Reuters]

Bronislaw Komorowski, Poland’s parliamentary speaker, is seen as the front-runner in the country’s presidential election.

He is a prominent member of the governing liberal-conservative Civic Platform party and was chosen as its candidate for the October 2010 presidential poll in March 2010.

Just two weeks later, Lech Kaczynski, the country’s president, was killed in a plane crash along with 94 others.

Komorowski, 58, was named acting president and following the constitution, he called for early elections to be held in June.

He has pledged to work closely with the government of Donald Tusk, the Polish president, to adopt the euro in about five years if elected. He has also vowed to end the country’s unpopular military mission in Afghanistan and promote pro-market reforms.

Opposition activist

Komorowski began his political career as an opposition activist during the Communist era. He worked as an underground publisher and was arrested several times by the government in the 1970s.

He won a seat in parliament for the first time in 1991 and was Poland’s defence minister between 2000-2001.

Though he belongs to an aristocratic family, Komorowski, who was born in 1952, grew up in poverty.

“I experienced real poverty,” he said on his website.

He was also active in the Scout movement, a global youth movement aimed at helping young people play a constructive role in society – an activity that he said in many ways shaped his life.

Komorowski, a father of five, went on to study history at Warsaw University. Since 1989, he has held several positions in government, including a term as the vice-marshal of the country’s lower chamber of parliament.