Czechs Protest Against Babiš Before His Second Appointment

Thousands of Czechs protested in Prague against Andrej Babiš on Tuesday, a day before his second appointment as prime minister and his second attempt at forming a government. Similar rallies were also held in no less than 200 Czech towns and villages.

Babiš and his ANO party won a parliamentary election in October but his minority government lost a confidence vote in January and had to resign.

President Miloš Zeman is due to appoint Babiš prime minister again on Wednesday after Babiš reached an agreement on a coalition with the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD). The agreement is now subject to a referendum among ČSSD members.

It will thus have a key role, albeit informally, in forming the government for the first time since the 1989 Velvet Revolution led by Vaclav Havel that peacefully swept away communism in then Czechoslovakia.

The protesters are condemning Babis’ plan and have called for his resignation. They also waved portraits of the estimated 4,500 victims of the former totalitarian regime before 1989.

His position is also complicated by reports he collaborated with the former communist-era secret police. 

Author: red