Thousands of protesters rallied across the Czech Republic Monday against the outgoing cabinet led by the second wealthiest Czech , Andrej Babis, a billionaire with a murky past.
"We've had enough," chanted a crowd of about 5,000 in Prague's central Wenceslas Square while other protesters gathered in other cities across the EU member country of 10.6 million people. "We want a decent government," they shouted.
Babis's ANO (YES) movement won a general election last October. securing 78 seats in the 200-member parliament after an anti-corruption campaign, but the food, chemicals and media tycoon has failed to put together a majority administration.
He came up with a minority government of ANO members and unaffiliated experts but failed to win parliamentary confidence in January and the cabinet resigned, although it will remain in office until a new team is named. Potential political partners have turned their backs on Babis, who is facing police charges over an EU subsidy fraud and allegations that he had served as a Communist secret police agent before the Iron Curtain fell in 1989.
"It is unacceptable to have a prosecuted man and a registered Communist secret police agent as prime minister," the organisers of the protest said on Facebook, calling on Babis to step down. "It's plain and simple - I'm here because I don't want a Communist agent for prime minister," young Prague construction worker Jaroslav Pospichal told AFP at the rally.
Babis's final attempt at forming a cabinet failed last week after the leftwing Social Democrats, who led the previous Czech government with ANO as a junior partner, snubbed him over personnel issues, raising the possibility of early elections.
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