Daily news summary
Opposition parties want vote of no-confidence in Babiš government
The centre-right opposition parties in the lower house have said they want to call a vote of no- confidence in the Babiš government, despite the fact that they lack the votes needed to bring down the administration.
In a debate on Czech Television Miroslav Kalousek from TOP 09 said the growing scandal surrounding the prime minister regarding his alleged conflict of interest required a move from the opposition, albeit only a moral one.
In the past few days both the prime minister’s coalition partner, the Social Democrats, and the Communist Party, which supports the minority coalition government, have said they will continue to back the Babiš minority government.
Speaking to journalists in Slovakia, Prime Minister Babiš dismissed the demonstrations against him, saying there would be no change of government in Prague because of street protesters.
Czechs divided over anti-Babiš protests
A flash poll conducted by the Median agency on the anti-Babiš protests that have been taking place in Prague and other big cities in recent weeks, suggests that while a third of respondents support them, a fifth of those polled disagree with them.
Ninety percent of respondents said they had registered the protests, 59 percent said they were not particularly interested in them, while 25 percent said they followed them with interest. Six percent of respondents said they had taken part in the demonstrations at least once.
Thirty-four percent of respondents said they approve of the protests, 26 percent of those polled said the demonstrations were legitimate but they did not agree with the sentiments voiced there, 22 percent found them unjustified and 18 percent had no opinion on the matter.
Babiš’s ANO party would win general elections
Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’ ANO party would still win general elections in the country, despite a slight drop in support, according to a poll for Czech Television conducted by the Kantar agency.
According to the May survey ANO would gain 27.5 percent of the vote, down by 2.5 percent on the previous month, the Pirate Party would come second with 17.5 percent of the vote, the centre-right Civic Democrats third, with 12.5 percent.
The only other parties which would cross the 5 percent margin needed to win seats in the lower house are the Freedom and Direct Democracy Party, the Mayors and Independents, the Communist Party and the Social Democrats.
Prague Museum Night attracts close to 150,000 visitors
Prague Museum Night attracted close to 150,000 visitors, within the framework of a festival that has a 15-year-long tradition, according to the ctk news agency. The most popular institution was the newly-renovated National Museum at the top end of Wenceslas Square which attracted 11,500 visitors.
Over 70 galleries, museums and other cultural institutions opened their doors to the public between 7pm and 1 am on Saturday night.
Prague Museum Night was the culmination of the annual Festival of Museum Nights.In the course of the last three weeks over 500 museums and cultural institutions in 158 towns and cities opened their doors to the public.
New train and bus schedules come into force
A new intercity train and bus schedule comes into force on June 9, with changes to routes as well as arrivals and departures. Rail and bus operators are introducing a number of new connections in view of accommodating locals and tourists in the course of the summer.
The changes also affect a number of international trains. One of the novelties is a direct RegioJet connection from Prague to Bratislava, Czech Railways is offering new connections to the Tatra Mountains and the Baltic Sea resorts.
Passengers are advised to check out their train and bus connections online before setting off.
Climber Adam Ondra second in overall rankings after Vail
Czech climber Adam Ondra placed fifth in the Bouldering World Cup in Vail which dashed his hopes of retaining the lead position in the overall rankings. The Czech hopeful for the Tokyo Olympics was narrowly beaten by Japan’s Tomoa Narasaki who placed second in the final race. Narasaki is now first in the overall rankings with 340 points, Ondra second with 335.
The Vail World Cup not only marks the end of the bouldering season, but is also the final opportunity for athletes to gain points to be the 2019 Overall Bouldering Champions.
Weather forecast
Monday should bring clear to partly cloudy skies with likely heat storms in the afternoon hours and day temperatures between 28 and 32 degrees Celsius.
