Terezie Huskova stood under a giant graffiti portrait of the first president of Czechoslovakia, Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, crying over the state of the country and wiping his tears with the Czech flag. She was among a crowd of tens of thousands of people gathered in Prague on June 23 as part of the largest protest in the Czech Republic since the Velvet Revolution in 1989 which brought down the communist regime.
Huskova came from a city about 70 miles outside of Prague, Hradec Kralove, to participate in the protest calling for the resignation of the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis. At 5 p.m., organizers estimated that 250,000 people had filled Letna Park with thousands still pouring in from a nearby subway station and hundreds more watching from the roofs of apartment buildings bordering the park.
“We’re concerned about independent justice in our country. We are concerned about how the funds of the European Union are used in our country. And we are concerned that our prime minister is treating people with no respect,” Huskova said.
The protests, organized by the student group Milion Chvilek pro Demokracii (A Million Moments for Democracy), are calling for the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis to step down, along with his appointed judicial minister. Protests escalated in April after Babis appointed the new justice minister, Marie Benesova, who is a close ally of the Czech President Milos Zeman. The previous justice minister unexpectedly stepped down just days after Czech police investigators recommended Babis be charged for fraud. Protesters argue that Benosova will not be impartial in legal proceedings against the prime minister.
Many protesters worry that this disregard for democratic institutions could lead the Czech Republic down a path toward an authoritarian government, similar to that of their neighbors, Poland and Hungary.
Sixteen-year-old Matej Hreben traveled to the protest with his father by train from Liberec, a city about 70 miles north of Prague.
“Like all of the people here, I am concerned that our prime minister is a criminal and quite frankly, everyone knows that recalling the minister of justice and putting his own people there is a textbook authoritarian tactic,” Hreben said.
On stage, there were moments of silence and moments when the crowd was asked to cheer as loud as they could. Babis, who is considered the Donald Trump of the Czech Republic, was compared to Voldemort on stage and also cursed by speech-givers. Protesters filled the park waving Czech and EU flags and carrying witty signs alluding to Babis’s communist-era secret police cover name, Bures (more on this later), now used as a joke among the opposition.
Benjamin Roll, spokesman for A Million Moments for Democracy, says that he hopes the protests put pressure on Babis to step down, as well as to replace Benosova. A petition created by the organization has over 400,000 signatures.
“Our demand is for him to resign, but he already said that he will never do that, which is, I think, unacceptable in a democratic country that he ignores his citizens,” Roll said in an interview before the protest.
“People in our country used to be very resigned, and I think that’s why Babis won, because he said, ‘You don’t have to care; I will manage everything.’ And I think that a democratic society can’t work like that. We need active people that care about what is happening in our politics.” Roll said. “That’s what we are trying to do, activate this civil society.”
The Accusations
The billionaire prime minister has faced criticism in the past, mainly over conflicts of interest in his business holdings and media organizations while also holding office. The European Commission is investigating allegations that Babis used EU funds to support his multi-industry holding company Agrofert. Although Babis put Agrofert in a trust when he became prime minister, Transparency International, an international NGO that keeps a check on corruption, has argued that Babis is ultimately still the sole benefactor. In a case from over a decade ago, Babis allegedly used 2 million euros in EU subsidies to support a resort outside of Prague called the Stork’s Nest (Čapí hnízdo).
A preliminary audit report from the European Commission that was leaked in May, said that due to the illegal use of EU funds, the Czech Republic may have to return millions of Czech crowns to the international organization.
Babis is also accused of allegedly kidnapping his son last November, and is widely considered to have collaborated with the Czechoslovak communist-era secret police force, StB, in the 1980s, according to archived files and a Slovakian court ruling. Babis has denied both accusations.
Last week, opposition parties in the Czech parliament called for a vote of no-confidence, although they do not have enough votes for it to succeed.
“It’s a good step that the opposition announced it, but everybody knows that it won’t happen,” Roll said.
Another no-confidence vote occurred in November, after allegations that Babis kidnapped his son, but the government survived the vote.
Despite this being the largest protest in Czech history since toppling the communist regime, there is still a big division between Czechs — some locals ignored the protests and some were completely against them.
Who are Pro-Babis?
In May’s European Parliament elections, Babis’s ANO party won the most seats, taking 21.2 percent of the vote. Indeed, despite investigations and protests, Babis supporters point to the successful parliamentary elections to discredit the opposition.
In opinion polls conducted in the midst of protests in June, 31 percent of respondents said they believed when the prime minister said he was not in a conflict of interest, while 53 percent did not, according to Radio Praha.
Babis has also undermined the opposition by vehemently denying all accusations. He has presented himself as a victim of smear campaigns. He called the EU’s claims against him “an attack on the Czech Republic.”
Babis also argues that the Czech economy is doing great under his watch and there is no need for Czechs to complain. Retired Czechs, seen as the base of the ANO party, continue to support Babis — especially after he increased their pensions and discounted transportation tickets for students and the retired.
There is also a lot of disinformation involved with politics in the country. A rumor spread that people participating in the protest were being paid to turn up in large numbers, Roll said. To the people who hate the protests, Roll says, “We are trying to explain that demonstrations are a normal thing in a democratic society. If we think something is bad, we can, and we should express our opinions.”
The Babis supporters also say that the protesters are upset because their party lost the parliamentary elections. But Roll agrees that the ANO party’s victory was a fair one.
“The ANO movement was elected democratically and it’s a legitimate government. But that doesn’t mean that the prime minister can act however he wants — that it’s okay that he is criminally prosecuted and that he can ignore us. I think the best thing would be for ANO to change the prime minister. If ANO movement was a normal democratic party, they would have already done that,” Roll said.
Others argue that the protests are only a thing for “Praguers” and that people outside of Prague cannot relate.
However, protests have taken place in smaller regions across the nation. On June 11, solidarity protests were held in 313 locations. Over 6,000 people turned out to a protest in Brno, a large city in the east of the Czech Republic.
The protests have been occurring with the vision of the peaceful Velvet Revolution in mind as the country prepares for the 30-year anniversary in November.
“We are working with the symbolism of 1989 but we are trying to look forward,” Roll said.
There is hope for change, but little confidence.
“I truly hope this is the last demonstration that we have to go to. I’m quite skeptical, but still hopeful,” said Luci Bila, a 25-year-old living in Prague.
Another protest is already scheduled for November 16 — the 30-year anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.
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