Tens of thousands of people demanded at demonstrations today, September 28, in the afternoon in Prague, Brno, Ostrava and other Czech cities, the resignation of the centre-right five-party government led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala and the "change of political orientation" of the Czech Republic.
“We want to change the political orientation of the Czech Republic by 180 degrees. We want to achieve a breakthrough without violence,” said Jiří Havel, one of the main organizers of the protests at the beginning of the Prague rally.
Ladislav Vrabel, another main organizer of the protests, said the government should resign and call new elections. “The government of the country should be handed over to experts with national obligations,” Vrabel said.
Tens of thousands of people are taking part in a demonstration in the center of Prague, the Czech police said on Twitter. The organizers have not yet commented on the number of protesters.
The current series of protests is a continuation of the Prague rally in early September, which, according to police, was attended by 70 thousand, and according to the organizers, more than 100 thousand people. Dozens of Czech flags flew over the heads of the crowd, and several banners critical of the government were visible.
Today's protests were the largest public uprising to date against the centre-right coalition government, which has been in power for just nine months.
During the demonstrations, held under the slogan of "non-violent revolution", speakers said that the current Czech government is anti-social, unable to cope with the energy crisis, rising inflation, and its misguided policies are pushing the population into poverty and leading the country to disaster. They demanded that the Czech economy be freed from foreign dependence, that the country become neutral, and that the government negotiate directly with Moscow to import Russian gas.
The main organizers of anti-government protests are individuals who declare their political independence. They also demand that the Czech Republic withdraw from NATO, the European Union, the United Nations and stop providing “moderate” assistance to refugees from Ukraine.
The central anti-government rally on Wenceslas Square in Prague was watched by protesters on large screens in the centers of more than a dozen Czech cities.
“The economic policy of the government is completely vicious, and if we add to this the similarly vicious green policies of the European Union and the policies of Ukraine, the result can be nothing but disaster and poverty,” said Miroslav Shevchik, dean of the Faculty of National Economics at the Prague School of Economics.
In addition to the government, the speakers - mostly left-wing, ethnically oriented figures from civil society organizations and representatives of non-parliamentary parties - also sharply criticized the European Union, primarily the energy policy of Brussels, while at the same time characterized its official attitude towards the Russian-Ukrainian conflict as misguided.
While in Prague tens of thousands took part in demonstrations, in other large cities - one or two thousand, several hundred people. The anti-government protests were broadcast live on public television ČT24, while the Czech news agency ČTK and some news websites broadcast ongoing protests on the Internet.
Among the parliamentary parties, the protest was supported only by the Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party of Tomio Nokamura.
Several speakers at the protests criticized the Czech government's support for Ukraine with weapons.
According to Prime Minister Petr Fiala, the demonstration in Prague in early September was called by "pro-Russian extremist forces" working against the interests of the Czech Republic. “Everyone has the right to express their opinion. I think that these events do not correspond to the interests of the Czech Republic and its people,” the Prime Minister said at the time.
Pro-government politicians have yet to comment on the ongoing protests. Public television analysts felt that the government should not underestimate the protests because they represent the opinion of part of the country's population.
bbabo.Net