A massive demonstration gathered some 250,000 people in Prague Sunday, according to organizers and the media, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Andrej Babis suspected of fraud on EU subsidies, at a gathering that is arguably the most important in this country since the fall of communism in 1989.
"Judging from the aerial photos, it looks like we're about 250,000 here, we'll see how many more people are going to arrive," Mikulas Minar, the head of the NGO Million Moments of Opportunity, said at the beginning of the protest. democracy, at the origin of the rally.
Czech and European flags
The protesters symbolically invaded the Letna esplanade, a memorable site of the giant demonstrations against the former totalitarian regime in 1989, during which the dissident playwright Vaclav Havel, the future president, addressed the enthusiastic crowd. The rally, held under the Czech and European banners, marked the culmination of a series of protests against Andrej Babis, the country's second fortune, held in Prague and other cities since the end of April. Despite the protest, the populist ANO movement led by the prime minister won the European elections at the end of May.
"We have enough!"
"Babis, resignation!", "I'm ashamed of my prime minister!", "We've had enough!" Could be read on the banners of the protesters. "We have enough of what Andrej Babis does with the way he runs the country, we do not want him to grab money and fool people who trust him," said 39-year-old Mila Stiburkova. came to Prague from Sazava, in the center of the country.
Andrej Babis, 64, founder of the agro-food giant Agrofert, was last year in review in a case of alleged embezzlement of two million euros of European funds.
Conflict of interest
He also finds himself in a conflict of interest between his political activities and his business, according to draft European Commission audit reports, extracts of which were published by the Prague press. According to these draft reports, Andrej Babis continues to benefit from Agrofert, which he formally separated in 2017 through trust funds controlled by his wife and others. The Prime Minister vehemently denies that he is in a situation of conflict of interest, calling the audits "an attack" against his country and pinpointing "mistakes" that he finds in these texts.
Opponents of Andrej Babis also blame him for having belonged to the Communist Party before 1989 and its alleged collaboration with the secret police of the former totalitarian regime. At the same time, they demand the resignation of its Minister of Justice, Marie Benesova, whom they suspect of wanting to stop or even stop the legal proceedings against the Prime Minister. The action of Andrej Babis is disputed especially by the inhabitants of the big cities whereas his populist speech finds a favorable echo in the border regions of the country, most affected by the economic restructuring. Winner of the legislative elections of 2017, the populist ANO movement of Andrej Babis, supported by about 30% of voters, holds 78 of the 200 seats in the lower house of Parliament. Composed of ANO and the Social Democrat CSSD, the minority government is supported by the Communists.