Hundreds of thousands of people rallied Sunday in Prague to urge Prime Minister Andrej Babis to resign, assembling from across the Czech Republic for the capital\u2019s biggest anti-government protest since the 1989 pro-democratic Velvet Revolution that brought down the communist regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The demonstration at Letna Park, a site of massive gatherings that significantly contributed to the fall of communism in what 30 years ago was Czechoslovakia, was the largest from two months of street protests opposing Babis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The protesters of 2019 said they didn\u2019t come to overthrow the current political system but to defend it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They consider Babis, a populist billionaire, as a threat to democracy, including the independence of the country\u2019s legal system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe demand the resignation of Andrej Babis,\u201d said Mikulas Minar, a student who put his studies on hold to help lead the recent demonstrations organized by a group called Million Moments for Democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Babis has repeatedly said he has no reason to resign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt will likely be a long run,\u201d another organizer, Benjamin Roll, told the crowd. \u201cThe current situation is unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Opposition to Babis has been fueled by the appointment of a new justice minister as prosecutors are deciding whether to indict Babis over alleged fraud involving European Union funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The protesters fear the new minister might undermine the independence of the Czech legal system, a threat that has brought the governments of Poland and Romania warnings from the European Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Justice Minister Marie Benesova is a close ally of Babis\u2019 and voted against a police request to strip the prime minister of parliamentary immunity to face a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A preliminary European Union report leaked in May concluded that Babis might have had a conflict of interest over EU subsidies involving his former business empire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Babis denied wrongdoing and accused the EU of trying to destabilize the Czech Republic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Besides demanding the prime minister and justice minister\u2019s resignations, many of the demonstrators accused Babis and his key ally, President Milos Zeman, of undermining Czech politics and democracy overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Babis also faces allegations he collaborated with Czechoslovakia\u2019s secret police before 1989, as well as criticism of his government\u2019s power-sharing deal with the Communist Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat is happening is more than we can tolerate,\u201d said Dagmar Kratochvilova, a 60-year-old pottery maker who traveled across the country on a bus to reach Prague with others from the eastern city of Frydek Mistek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The peaceful crowd chanted \u201cResign, resign,\u201d and \u201cWe\u2019ve had enough\u201d while waving Czech and also European Union flags. \u201cNo Tolerance for Lies and Fraud,\u201d read a banner unrolled by the demonstrators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m fed up with the government,\u201d Natalie Bartkova, 18, a student from just south of Prague. \u201cBabis seems to think that anything goes for him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Babis\u2019 critics cited a new source of frustration, blaming him is for contributing to the inability of European Union leaders to agree on a plan to make the bloc\u2019s economy carbon neutral by 2050.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The protesters announced another major protest at the same location for Nov.16 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n