Prague, March 11 (CTK) – A Czech Facebook initiative called Million Moments for Democracy wants to collect one million signatures demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Andrej Babis (ANO) by early June and its organisers have already collected more than 159,000 of them since February 25.
“We consider it unacceptable for a prosecuted person registered as an StB (Communist secret police) agent to be the prime minister of our country 70 years after the Communist coup and 29 years after the Velvet Revolution. We won’t pretend that this is normal. We want Babis to give up his post!” the initiative writes in its appeal.
“Another reason for Babis to resign is the enormous difference between his promises to voters and reality,” one of the organisers, Barbora Dolezelova, told CTK.
On the Velvet Revolution last anniversary, marked on November 17, 2017, the initiative called on Babis to meet his promise, first of all that he would support and develop democracy. Dolezelova said the last few months showed that Babis wasted the chance to become a pro-democratic prime minister. This is why they started the campaign Million Moments for Resignation.
The signatories of the appeal include unsuccessful presidential candidate Marek Hilser, pop singer Richard Muller and actress Ana Geislerova.
The appeal does not challenge the result of the general election held last autumn, which means that the ANO movement that clearly won should have the post of prime minister. “We respect this. However, there is no reason for this person being a prosecuted man who was an StB agent,” the initiative says, adding that this showed contempt for the victims of the Communist regime.
Last Monday, rallies were organised in several Czech towns in protest against the election of a Communist (KSCM) MP who took part in crackdowns on anti-communist demonstrators as a communist riot policeman in 1989 to the head of a parliamentary body monitoring the GIBS security forces inspection. In reaction to a massive street protest in Prague and 40,000 signatures under a petition demanding Ondracek’s dismissal, political support for Ondracek weakened and he resigned from the post.
