Lawmakers in Poland have decided to wait until after Sunday's state funeral for President Lech Kaczynski to decide when to hold an election to replace him.
Acting president Bronislaw Komorowski, the Polish Parliament Speaker, was due to give the date later Wednesday, but with the country still in mourning, lawmakers decided to hold off on the election call for a few more days.
Elections had been scheduled for this fall, since Kaczynski was coming to the end of his five-year term. With Kaczynski's death, an early presidential ballot has to be announced within two weeks of that date and take place within another 60 days.
Many Poles believe the election will be a race between Komorowski, and Jaroslav Kaczynski, the late president's brother.
But the first cracks in a display of national unity that grew after last weekend's crash are already appearing, as arguments grow about where Kaczynski and his wife should be buried.
Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz announced on Tuesday the pair would be interred at the 1,000-year-old Wawel Cathedral -- a place reserved for the nation's heroes, poets and kings, as well as Gen. Wladyslaw Sikorski, the last Polish leader killed in office. He died in an air crash in 1943.
But many are criticizing the decision to have Kaczynski interred there too.
"The decision to bury him in Wawel is hasty and emotional," said leading daily Gazeta Wyborcza in a front-page editorial.
"It is inappropriate to demand that Lech Kaczynski after his death become the equal of Jozef Pilsudski, architect of Polish independence ... This decision will certainly divide Poles."
About 500 people staged a protest in central Krakow late Tuesday against the decision, waving banners that read "Not Krakow, not Wawel" and "Are you sure he is the equal of kings?"
Others organized protest campaigns on Facebook, with one group titled "No to Kaczynski's burial in Wawel." It had attracted over 26,000 fans by Wednesday morning, while nearly 5,000 had joined a group bearing the name "I want to be buried in Wawel too."
As the debate rages, plans continue for Sunday's state funeral. A mass is set to be held at St. Mary's Basilica and numerous heads of state are set to attend, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper, U.S. President Barack Obama, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
"I'm sure that this list is going to grow longer," says CTV's Tom Kennedy told Canada AM from Warsaw. "I think the length of this list and the fact that these world leaders are coming reflects the incredible impact that this tragedy has had internationally and particularly on the people of Poland."
As for the cause of last weekend's crash in the Smolensk region of Russia, investigators' early conclusions are that there were no mechanical problems with the plane.
They say the plane probably crashed in dense fog because, for reasons that may never be understood, the pilot ignored warnings from the ground that the weather made landing too dangerous.
"The Russians are they key; they are running this investigation," Kennedy said. "We're getting information from them fairly slowly. But they are proceeding in a very slow, very meticulous way."
Ninety-four others were killed in the crash besides Kaczynski and his wife. Kennedy said recovery of the bodies continues, but so far, about 70 have been identified and the remains sent home to Poland.
