Rallies in support of President Petr Pavel were held in the Old Town Square and the lower part of Wenceslas Square in the centre of Prague yesterday afternoon. The organisers, the Million Moments association, estimated the attendance at 80,000 to 90,000 people, according to the association’s chair Mikulas Minar.
The demonstrators expressed support for the head of state in his dispute with the Motorists, the junior partner in the coalition government, over his refusal to appoint the party’s honorary chair and MP Filip Turek as the Environment Minister. “These people can no longer be silenced, and that is extremely important,” said Minar.
The rallies started at 3pm and ended before 5pm. They called for the dismissal of the Foreign Minister, Motorists leader Petr Macinka, and opposed the planned repeal of the civil service law and abolition of licence fees for the public Czech TV and Radio.
In two weeks, the association wants to organise smaller rallies in as many municipalities as possible. If it obtains a million signatures for the appeal, entitled ‘We Stand Behind the President’, it plans a large demonstration in Prague’s Letna park. The appeal was launched at the end of last year after the formation of the new government of ANO, Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and the Motorists, amid growing pressure on the president. By 5.30pm yesterday, the number of signatures stood at 620,000.
Million Moments held its largest event in Letna park in the summer of 2019, when an estimated quarter of a million people took part in a protest against the first government of Andrej Babis (ANO).
Due to the large number of participants, the police closed access to Old Town Square from Zelezna and Celetna streets, but otherwise no problems were reported during the rallies, police spokesman Jan Danek told CTK after the event.
Speaking at the event, Minar said the Czech Republic must not repeat the mistake made in Slovakia, where constant attacks discouraged President Zuzana Caputova from defending her mandate. He called on people to come out in two weeks to express their support for the president in all municipalities where his supporters can be found.
Minar said he had heard from Slovak colleagues that Caputova had been deterred by the rudeness and vulgar attacks of people behaving like a mob. “We in the Czech Republic will not make the same mistake. We believe that this country has hope,” he stressed.
According to Minar, the collection of over 600,000 signatures shows that hundreds of thousands of people appreciate the president’s work and stand behind him. He called on anyone who does not want to stand by silently and watch the destruction of the Czech Republic and “primitive rudeness” to gather in all regional and district cities, as well as smaller municipalities, on 15 February. “We believe that hundreds of places will get involved,” he said.
Minar also encouraged citizens to participate in an event in support of Ukraine on Old Town Square on 21 February.
Attendees to the rally brought Czech, European Union and Ukrainian flags, and some Iranian flags were also present on Wenceslas Square. The protesters also carried banners with slogans against the Babis government, as well as portraits of the president.
Representatives of the former government and current opposition parties also attended the rally in Old Town Square, including: Martin Kupka, new leader of the Civic Democrats (ODS) and former transport minister; Vit Rakusan, former interior minister and the leader of the Mayors and Independents (STAN); and Zdenek Hrib, the leader of the Pirate Party.
Meetings in support of President Pavel were also held yesterday in other towns across the Czech Republic, including Hradec Kralove, Pardubice, Zlin, Vrchlabi, Jesenik, Uherske Hradiste and Trebon, according to Million Moments.
The dispute between Pavel and Macinka escalated on Tuesday, when Pavel announced that the foreign minister had sent him text messages via his adviser Petr Kolar, which the president characterised as an attempt at blackmail. The communications were published by the Presidential Office.
Macinka denied that his messages constituted blackmail, arguing that trying to influence someone’s position is the essence of any negotiations in politics. The opposition is demanding Macinka’s resignation and has called for a vote of no confidence in the cabinet.
Macinka said on Czech Television yesterday that Pavel was playing the role of the leader of the opposition, and refused to apologise for the messages. He said that the Foreign Ministry would ignore the Presidential Office from now on.
“I think the situation should be calmed down, so I have no choice but to ignore the president, not only personally but also as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” Macinka told Czech Television’s ‘Questions from Vaclav Moravec’. “I have nothing to apologise to him for. The most sensible way to avoid escalating the situation is to ignore the Office of the President of the Republic,” he added.
Pavel recently stated that he would defend his mandate if he felt sufficient public support and his health did not betray him. PM Babis responded at the ANO election congress by saying that the government coalition should offer a joint candidate in the 2028 presidential election.
