June 23, 2019, was an important day for the Czech Republic. On this date, one of the biggest protests of the Republic’s history is formed (after the Velvet Revolution in 1989). More than 250.000 people were on the streets in Prague, wanting their country’s Prime Minister to resign. A fraud case about Agrofert, a conglomerate of Babiš (the PM), is the starting point of the protests. It ended up in the way that PM wanted and the protesters argue that the judiciary is not unbiased, free, and independent because of the democratic backsliding that the PM caused. Some events, information, and arguments should be known to understand the reasons behind the protest.
Even though Czech Republic had strong democratic roots in civil liberties and fair elections, the country suffered from different types of corruption through its existence. Problems started to occur in 1997 which can be called the starting point of the democratic problems of the Czech Republic. In October 1997, President Havel named the racism problem for the first time and in November, Klaus government left the chairs due to the blames of corruption[1]. The current problem of the Czech Democracy can be defined as “Party System Collapse” as defined by Lust & Waldner (2015, pg. 56)[2] because of the attitude of the Andrej Babiš, the current PM. The most easily observable example of this is the corruption scandals of the country. There are lots of examples of corruption scandals such as BAE Systems (2004)[3], Casa Aircrafts and Omnipol (2009)[4], Marek Dalik and the Topolanek Era (2006-2009)[5], Bribery in Connection with the EU Funds (2012)[6], Corruption Scandal of Former Prime Minister Petr Necas (2013)[7]…
Corruption was the most important indicator of the backsliding but it was not the only one. Significant human rights issues included violence against Romani communities, foreign nationals, and some NGO representatives that can be included in the backsliding problems of the country[8]. In addition to these, there are also significant migration problems, especially from the countries across the Mediterranean[9]. It is even arguable that the old president of the country, Miloš Zeman’s election campaign in 2018 was based on anti-immigration[10].
The most important case about backsliding is the corruption of its current government. Babiš had a huge economic and media power that helped him to came into power (there are different arguments about how he earned his fortune is legal or not). He has a conglomerate named Agrofert, which is funding the ANO party (which is a center-right, catch-all, populist party and the leading party of Czech Republic), allocating the EU subsidies, and related with conflicts of interest. In addition to the economic and media power of the Babiš, the mentioned crises of corruption and immigration were also effective in the elections. The populist leader used the “anti-corruption” idea well and his “business know-how” image was separating him from the others. People had enough with the 28 years of post-communism era have been corrupt so that is why they voted for an anti-establishment figure[11] So, it is arguable that he is elected as a populist technocrat, who was respected to the traditional-party systems because of the way he is elected and his corruption scandals afterward (this is the reason why the problem is defined as “Party System Collapse”). Freedom House (2019) gave the following statement in its country report about the Czech Republic: “The Czech Republic is a parliamentary democracy in which political rights and civil liberties are generally respected. However, in recent years, the country has experienced several corruption scandals and political disputes that hampered normal legislative activity. Illiberal rhetoric and the influence of powerful business entities in the political arena are increasingly visible” [12].
[1] BBC News. (2018, June 11). Czech Republic – timeline. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17220571
[2] Lust E., & Waldner, D. (2015, June 11). Unwelcome change: understanding, evaluating,
and extending theories of democratic backsliding. Retrieved from (https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PBAAD635.pdf
[3] Radio Prague International. (2007, February 21). Czech politicians under suspicion of corruption involving Gripen deal. Retrieved from https://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/czech-politicians-under-suspicion-of-corruption-involving-gripen-deal
[4] Kenety, B. (2012, July 12). Czech police seek to charge ex-Defense Minister over CASA deal: T. Retrieved from https://ceskapozice.lidovky.cz/tema/czech-police-seek-to-charge-ex-defense-minister-over-casa-deal.A120614_092155_pozice_70008
[5] Roque, S. (2016, February 3). Czech Republic: Ex-PM’s Aide Sentenced to 5 Years for Army Deal Graft. Retrieved from https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/4891-czech-republic-ex-pm-s-aide-sentenced-to-5-years-for-army-deal-graft
[6] U.S. Department of State (2012). Country reports on human rights practices for 2012. Retrieved from https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2012humanrightsreport/index.htm?year=2012&dlid=204278#wrapper.
[7] Bilefsky, D. (2014, February 12). Former Czech prime minister charged with bribery. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/13/world/europe/former-czech-prime-minister-charged-with-bribery.html
[8] U.S. Department of State (2019). Country reports on human rights practices: Czech Republic. Retrieved from https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/czech-republic/
[9] Frum, D. (2017, October 24). The toxic politics of migration in the Czech Republic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/10/czech-elections/543669/
[10] Ruzicka, J. (2020, February 18). Miloš Zeman’s victory in Czech presidential election is another setback for Western liberalism. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/milos-zemans-victory-in-czech-presidential-election-is-another-setback-for-western-liberalism-90653
[11] Culik, J. (2018, December 10). Czech far-right scores big in elections, but struggles to form a government. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/czech-far-right-scores-big-in-elections-but-struggles-to-form-a-government-86156
[12] Freedom House (n.d.). Czech Republic. Retrieved from https://freedomhouse.org/country/czech-republic
References
BBC News. (2018, June 11). Czech Republic – timeline. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17220571
Bilefsky, D. (2014, February 12). Former Czech prime minister charged with bribery. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/13/world/europe/former-czech-prime-minister-charged-with-bribery.html
Culik, J. (2018, December 10). Czech far-right scores big in elections, but struggles to form a government. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/czech-far-right-scores-big-in-elections-but-struggles-to-form-a-government-86156
Freedom House (n.d.). Czech Republic. Retrieved from https://freedomhouse.org/country/czech-republic
Frum, D. (2017, October 24). The toxic politics of migration in the Czech Republic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/10/czech-elections/543669/
Kenety, B. (2012, July 12). Czech police seek to charge ex-Defense Minister over CASA deal: T. Retrieved from https://ceskapozice.lidovky.cz/tema/czech-police-seek-to-charge-ex-defense-minister-over-casa-deal.A120614_092155_pozice_70008
Lust E., & Waldner, D. (2015, June 11). Unwelcome change: understanding, evaluating, and extending theories of democratic backsliding. Retrieved from (https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PBAAD635.pdf
Radio Prague International. (2007, February 21). Czech politicians under suspicion of corruption involving Gripen deal. Retrieved from https://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/czech-politicians-under-suspicion-of-corruption-involving-gripen-deal
Roque, S. (2016, February 3). Czech Republic: Ex-PM’s Aide Sentenced to 5 Years for Army Deal Graft. Retrieved from https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/4891-czech-republic-ex-pm-s-aide-sentenced-to-5-years-for-army-deal-graft
Ruzicka, J. (2020, February 18). Miloš Zeman’s victory in Czech presidential election is another setback for Western liberalism. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/milos-zemans-victory-in-czech-presidential-election-is-another-setback-for-western-liberalism-90653
U.S. Department of State (2012). Country reports on human rights practices for 2012. Retrieved from https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2012humanrightsreport/index.htm?year=2012&dlid=204278#wrapper
U.S. Department of State (2019). Country reports on human rights practices: Czech Republic. Retrieved from https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/czech-republic/
I find It very interesting that both the United States and the Czech Republic find themselves going through great political turmoil, during this pandemic time. I think a lot of it comes due to the fact that the social isolation brought onto the world because of covid is causing more tension among people. I also find it very interesting both of these countries have a populist leader. As you mention, the Czech president ran on an anti-immigrant stance. It seems like the protests are similar to what is happening with BLM in the US. Though the Czech protests aren’t racially motivated, they are still about human rights.