Thousands protest in Prague against Babis

Opponents of the current government of Andrej Babiš (ANO) protested Sunday afternoon on Wenceslas Square in Prague. At the very beginning of the demonstration, the Million Association issued a symbolic bill to the cabinet. He wrote all the problems and cases of Babiš’s policy on a life-size receipt. He also launched a campaign to support democratic coalitions in the elections. According to the police, around 5,000 people took part in the protest in the center of Prague. The peaceful demonstration lasted an hour and a half.

The flags of the European Union prevailed at the demonstration. As at previous events of the association, people brought banners calling on the Minister of Justice Maria Benešová (for YES) to resign. There were also slogans against Prime Minister Babiš or against the alliance of President Miloš Zeman with the Russian head of state Vladimir Putin.

“A million moments begin with the campaign for democracy that each of you needs,” said Benjamin Roll, chairman, at the beginning of the protest. “We all need to get involved,” he added. Only in this way, according to him, can the YES movement be defeated. “The next government will have only one task: to correct the mistakes of the current government,” he added.

At the protest, people also showed on their posters what their political preferences were. Right at the beginning of the demonstration, a small quarrel arose, because a group supporting Svobodné also arrived at the protest with a banner against Babiš. The group was eventually separated from the protesters by the police, who supervised the event as always.
According to the Prague police spokesman Jan Rybanký, the protest was peaceful. “There was no disturbance of public order during the demonstration,” he told CTK.

Roll called on protesters to vote for one of the opposition coalitions. He set himself apart from other parties, including the movement of the former head of the anti-mafia police department, Robert Šlachta. He stressed that there are only 109 days left in the elections, it is necessary to convince especially undecided voters.

Protesters came to be supported by Slovak singer Juraj Hnilica, musician Tomáš Klus and actor Jan Potměšil. The blind Czech pianist Ráchel Skleničková ended the event by singing the Czech anthem. The organizers concluded that they would like “a million moments to turn into a million votes for democracy”.

People filled the upper third of the square. Many tried to stay in the shade of the surrounding buildings in hot weather.

The Million Moments Association was established after the parliamentary elections in 2017. It organizes protests and demonstrations in which it draws attention to cases connected primarily with Babiš. According to the association, the prime minister has a conflict of interest and does not keep his election promises. According to the organizers, up to 250,000 people took part in the largest demonstration of the Million Moments in Prague’s Letná last June.