Overview
- Organizers said up to 90,000 people filled Prague’s central squares, while police offered no official estimate.
- President Petr Pavel has refused to appoint Filip Turek as environment minister, citing racist, homophobic and sexist posts linked to Turek’s Facebook page.
- Turek, a former MEP, is reported to be under investigation for domestic violence and rape and has faced scrutiny over alleged Nazi-related behavior, which he denies.
- Pavel released messages he described as blackmail from Macinka, who later called them standard political negotiation and said on television he would ignore the president.
- Opposition parties have called a confidence vote for next week as Pavel plans to meet Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, with more rallies set for February 15 and a pro‑Pavel petition surpassing 600,000 signatures.