Pirates and STAN distance themselves from Labour Minister's Instagram ad

The leaders of the Pirate Party and the Mayors and Independents (STAN) have distanced themselves from an ad that was shared by the Minister for Labour and Social Affairs, Marian Jurečka, on Instagram last week. The ad, which was supposed to promote the planned simplification of the social benefits system, portrayed a Roma man with a can of beer and the inscription "End the abuse of benefits".

The leader of the Pirates, Ivan Bartoš, called on Mr. Jurečka on Wednesday to keep his promise not to divide society and not to turn people against each other, adding that politics based on pitting some against others could score cheap populist points but harms the country in the long run. STAN leader and Interior Minister Vít Rakušan commented that a simpler benefits system is definitely a good thing but the advertisement was not the right way to go about it.