June 24, 2019

Andrew Campbell 

On June 23 a crowd of around 250,000 people filled Prague’s Letna Plain park, a historic site where the 1989 velvet revolution took place that ended communism in former Czechoslovakia. Protesters demanded the resignation of Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš who had been denounced as a threat to democracy and accused of fraud and collaborating with the Communist-era secret police.

The billionaire tycoon, Babiš, aged 64, dubbed "Czech Trump" by Czech media, is under rising pressure to step down after two leaked European Commission audits showed that he and his giant Agrofert conglomerate, a chemical, farming, food, and media company, are in conflict of interest over EU subsidies. One audit revealed that the Czech Republic would have to pay back €17 million for improper subsidies received by Agrofert.

The protest organized by a student movement, Million Moments for Democracy, is the 5th rallies in Prague held against Babiš since April.

Demonstrators from across the country were driven to Letna Plain park to claim that truth and love must prevail, just as the slogan on the banner said. According to Martin Exner, mayor of Nova Ves, they wanted “the main communist apparatchiks to be punished by law” and they came “to finish the velvet revolution.”

A no-confidence parliamentary vote called for by opposition parties has been scheduled for June 26. However, minority coalition, the Social Democrats (CSSD), and the Communists (KSCM) said they would continue to back Babiš.

Photo:Webshot.