Thousands Call for PM Resignation in Prague


Photo from Ukrinform – UATV

Thousands of people came to the streets of the Czech capital, Prague, after the parliament failed to express a vote of no confidence in the government of Andrej Babis.

People changed the slogan “We want a decent government” and demanded the resignation of Babis’s Cabinet and an investigation into his possible misuse of European Union funds.

The opposition parties in the parliament were able to give 92 votes in favor, nine votes short of the necessary 101 for the vote of no confidence to succeed.

“The government should be headed by an ethical, moral and honest person who has confidence even from political opponents,” Ivan Bartos, head of the opposition Pirate Party, said in parliament before the vote.

Babis — who heads a minority government but enjoys the support of President Milos Zeman — has been battling police charges that he hid the ownership of one of his many companies by listing his adult children as the owners. The company is alleged to have received a 2 million-euro grant that it should not have qualified for.

Protests have been ongoing since last week, when a media report quoted Babis’s son as saying his father had him involuntarily taken to Crimea in 2017 in order to keep him from being questioned by investigators.

The prime minister denies any wrongdoing and says the investigation is being used to push him out of politics. He also said his son, who lives in Switzerland, is being treated for a mental illness.

Police are looking into the son’s claim.