Czech government approves first step to scrapping TV and radio licence fees in 4.36am vote, sparking protests

by · EUobserver

The threat of Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš to media independence has sparked protests across the Czech Republic. (Source: EPA/MARTIN DIVISEK)

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By Markéta Boubínová, Lukáš Prchal, Zdislava Pokorná and Kateřina Frouzová,
Prague
,

First published in Deník N.

The lower house of Czech parliament became a nighttime battleground for the future of the country’s public service media at the weekend, when MPs pushed through the abolition of public service media licence fees in the bill’s first reading in the chamber on Saturday (24 October).

Czech MPs voted to pass a bill that lays the groundwork abolish TV and radio licence fees, thus moving the public media under the state budget.

The weekend vote was not yet a vote on the law’s final approval: the government coalition only needed to prevent the bill’s rejection which the opposition had sought.

The controversial vote was scheduled for 4.36am on Saturday – by no means a typical time for such a vote. Opposition parties had failed to postpone the vote, and also did not have enough numbers to reject the bill.

Out of 177 lawmakers present, 96 MPs voted in favour of the bill, while 81 opposition MPs voted to reject it. Prime minister Andrej Babiš did not take part in the vote.

MPs from the Czech Republic’s five opposition parties also failed to pass a proposal to return the bill for redrafting to the coalition formed by ANO (led by the PM) and the far-right parties Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and Motorists to Themselves.

The bill will now go to the parliament's media and culture committee. This will be followed by lengthy debate at the law's second reading, where amendments may be submitted. The proceedings will likely last several days.

4.36am vote planned at last-minute

Babiš’s governing majority only added the agenda item for ending licence fees on the Chamber of Deputies’ (lower house of parliament's) agenda on Friday morning. It even took by surprise the MPs of ANO, SPD and Motorists.

The coalition leadership formed by Babiš and foreign minister Petr Macinka (Motorists) had kept the plan secret all week, so that it would not become public and opposition parties could not prepare obstruction tactics.

Protesters had gathered outside the parliament through the night in the early hours of Saturday morning. Demonstrations carried on throughout the Czech Republic over the weekend.

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The threat of Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš to media independence has sparked protests across the Czech Republic. (Source: EPA/MARTIN DIVISEK)

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Author Bio

Markéta Boubínová is a journalist at Deník N. A journalist and historian, she studied in Prague, Berlin, Avignon and Washington. She has worked in the media since 2000, including in the foreign news departments of TV3, Prima and Nova. At Deník N, she primarily covers the European Union, Poland and Austria.

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Lukáš Prchal is a reporter of Deník N, sister publication of EUobserver, based in Prague. He received the 2018 Czech Journalism Award for best online journalism for work on a special project about disinformation. A year earlier, he was awarded the “Journalistic Quail” by the Czech Literary Fund, a prize for the best journalists under the age of 33. He primarily focuses on topics such as security, diplomacy, and politics.

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Kateřina Frouzová is a journalist at Czech Deník N. She joined the newsroom from Hospodářské noviny, where she had been covering campaigns, elections, government formations, cabinet shuffles, legislative preparations, Miloš Zeman’s journey to the Castle, and the Social Democrats\' fall from the Chamber of Deputies as a political reporter since 2016.

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