Anti-government demonstration in Prague. Hundreds of people came, ex-prime minister Paroubek spoke
Tens of thousands of people came to earlier demonstrations called by Vrábel. The organizers expected a large number of participants even today, in addition to the stage near the statue of St. Wenceslas, they also have a large screen and a large sound system in the upper part of the square. Other people came during the speeches.
The people who originally filled the middle half of Wenceslas Square today have almost every Czech flag or at least a tricolor or a cap in the colors of the flag. A red flag with a hammer and sickle also flies over the heads of the demonstrators, and several people from the Communist Party came with KSČM flags. Together with the speakers, they are calling for the government to resign and chanting, they want peace.
Former Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek and MEP Kateřina Konečná (KSČM) were among the first speakers to criticize the government of Petr Fiala (ODS) today. They accused the government of supporting Ukraine at the expense of Czech citizens, whom it owes. According to Paroubek, the country wants to drag the government into war, the Final government called “purple abomination”. Neither Paroubek nor Konečná called on the demonstrators to support either of the candidates in the presidential election, but they said that they should not vote for Pavel.
Last September in October, Vrabel managed to gather tens of thousands of people on Wenceslas Square, who, just like today, demand the resignation of the five-coalition cabinet and a reversal of the country’s political direction. According to the media, the organizer himself has debt problems. At the beginning of January, the regional court in České Budějovice annulled his debt relief and declared bankruptcy on his property, stating that Vrabel is not doing his best to satisfy creditors in his insolvency proceedings. Vrabel said he sees the trial as a political process.