Thousands Protest in Prague Over Plan to Change Czech Public Media Funding
Several thousand people gathered in Prague's Old Town Square on October 25 to demand that the government withdraw legislation that would change how Czech public media are paid for. The bill would abolish household licence fees, the charges households pay to fund public radio and television, and replace them with allocations from the state budget. Al Jazeera reported that demonstrators chanted "4:36", a reference to the early morning hour when the draft bill was approved.
The vote was held overnight on Saturday, when the lower house of parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, agreed to fast-track the bill. Fast-tracking speeds a bill through the legislative process by shortening the usual steps. The bill was proposed by the governing coalition led by Prime Minister Andrej Babis, which includes two far-right parties.
Babis has said the funding plan is not an attack on media independence but a matter of funding transparency. Demonstrators, for their part, alleged that the prime minister's coalition and its proposed reforms pose a threat to press freedom. President Petr Pavel urged politicians on October 24 to calm tensions over the bill.
The bill must still pass the upper house, the Senate, before it can become law. The Czech opposition has pledged to challenge the legislation in the Constitutional Court, the body that rules on whether laws comply with the constitution. The plan would cut funding for public media by about 15 percent, possibly as early as next year.
Public media staff have announced a strike for November 3. A rally is also planned for November 15 at Letna park in Prague, two days before the anniversary of the 1989 Velvet Revolution.
The current dispute follows earlier protests. In April, unions representing public broadcasters issued a strike warning over the government's funding plans. On May 5, crowds packed the same square in Prague to protest the government's proposals to revamp and cut funding for Czech TV and Czech Radio, according to Reuters.
