▶️ Around a quarter million Czechs rallied against the prime minister and president, Saturday, November 16, over concerns the pair are chipping away at democracy in the deeply divided nation celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.
👉 Protesters from around the nation of 10.7 million filled Prague's Letna park, waving Czech and EU flags at the site of the biggest rallies in November 1989 when communist rule in Czechoslovakia crumbled peacefully weeks after the Berlin Wall fell.
Many in the crowd chanted "we are here," echoing the cry from 30 years ago during the protests that propelled Vaclav Havel into office.
Organizers want Prime Minister Andrej Babis to sever ties to his Agrofert business they say represents a conflict of interest, or step down by the end of the year. Babis -- a billionaire businessman -- has said he has resolved any issues by moving his assets to trust funds.
Speakers, including former dissidents who spoke at the 1989 rallies, said Babis and President Milos Zeman were unfit for office. Zeman, who has fostered warmer relations with Russia and China, described the protests as undemocratic because they fail to respect a decision to drop fraud charges against Babis and parliament's rejection of calls for his own impeachment. (Reuters)
