Thousands Protest in Prague Over Public Media Funding Bill
Several thousand demonstrators protested in Prague against a government plan to change public media funding.
At a glance
- Several thousand protesters in Prague opposed a Czech public media funding bill.
- The lower house approved fast-tracking the bill in a rare overnight vote.
- The plan would cut public media funding by about 15 percent.
Several thousand people took to the streets in Prague on Sunday to protest plans by the Czech government to change the funding system for public radio and television.
The demonstrators gathered in Prague’s Old Town Square and accused Prime Minister Andrej Babis and his coalition of threatening press freedom with the proposed reforms.
On Sunday, protesters demanded the withdrawal of legislation that would abolish household licence fees and replace them with state budget allocations for public media.
The bill was proposed by the governing coalition led by billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis, which includes two far-right parties. The Czech lower house approved fast-tracking the bill in a rare overnight vote on Saturday after coalition lawmakers rushed to open the issue, limiting the opposition’s ability to debate before the vote.
The bill must still be passed by the upper house before becoming law. The opposition has pledged to challenge it in the constitutional court.
The plan would cut funding for public media by about 15 percent, possibly as early as next year.
At the protest, demonstrators chanted We’ve had enough, This must not be allowed to pass, and 4:36, referencing the early morning hour when the draft was approved by parliament.
Babis has said the plan is not an attack on media independence but a matter of funding transparency. Critics warn the proposed change would allow the governing coalition to take control of the media. They compare it with actions by populist governments such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Babis and his coalition, whose agenda includes reducing support for Ukraine as it fights off a Russian invasion, have a record of attacks against the media.
Public media staffers announced they would go on strike on November 3. They are backed by labour unions, university rectors, churches, international media organisations and many others.
A rally is also planned at Prague’s Letna park on November 15, two days before the anniversary of the 1989 anti-communist Velvet Revolution that ended more than 40 years of totalitarian government.
Source: Al Jazeera.
Questions and answers
- Why are protesters in Prague protesting?
- They oppose a government plan to change public media funding and say it threatens press freedom.
- What did the Czech lower house do?
- It approved fast-tracking the bill in a rare overnight vote on Saturday after coalition lawmakers rushed to open the issue.
- What would the public media funding plan change?
- It would abolish household licence fees and replace them with state budget allocations, and cut funding by about 15 percent.
