Column: Booing Politicians Is a Sign of a Free Society

This opinion column reflects on an incident in which politicians were booed outside the Czech Radio building, drawing a parallel with events in Russia. According to the author, jeering at politicians — or any other open display of emotion toward them — is a normal feature of a free society, whereas the suppression of genuine feelings is a hallmark of unfreedom.

United Russia's Congress as a Contrast

A telling example, the author writes, took place the very next day after the incident in Prague: the ruling United Russia party held its congress in Moscow, an event that looked, on the surface, like a Soviet-era Communist Party congress, and in substance resembled a Nazi party rally. The author notes that the hall almost certainly contained delegates unhappy with where Putin has taken the country — something hinted at by information that occasionally slips through Russian censorship. And yet the delegates rise, applaud, and offer toasts of praise — out of compulsion, since public dissent in Russia can carry severe consequences.

As an example, the author cites the recent case of politician Lev Shlosberg, who faces up to 11 years and one month in prison simply for reposting an anti-war statement — one he didn't even personally agree with.

Czechia as a Mirror of Society

Against this backdrop, the author urges readers to appreciate the freedom to openly express their attitude toward elected officials in Czechia — a freedom that is valuable, he argues, precisely because it makes clear "who is who." The state of Czech society, the columnist writes, has become obvious even to those citizens who long clung to illusions of unity and universal compromise. After the government of Andrej Babiš, Czechia fully joined the broader trend seen across the Western world — the intensification of a "cold civil war" within individual societies.

The episode outside the Czech Radio building, in the author's view, offered a vivid illustration of the current balance of power: since the event took place in Prague, supporters of the pro-freedom course clearly dominated, expressed through support for President Petr Pavel. Supporters of the "Russian path" were in the minority — but, the author notes, only because the event happened to take place in the capital. The central figure, Andrej Babiš, was not present himself; instead, according to the columnist, he sent a woman in his place, just as he once did during the "Stork's Nest" court case.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz