The presidential Tu-154 jet was around 20 years old, and there had been discussions in Poland on replacing it, but no replacement had been purchased due to insufficient funding. Kaczynski was on his way to Smolensk to mark the 70-year anniversary of the Katyn massacre, during which Soviet soldiers executed Polish officers. Kaczynski had refused to attend an earlier Katyn ceremony organized by the Russian government that his prime minister — and domestic rival — Donald Tusk attended with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin only a few days earlier.
...It is highly likely that Kaczynski’s right-wing nationalist supporters will see the accident as more than just related to foggy conditions, further dividing nationalists and centrists in Poland.
Polish Plane Crash Analysis
