Czech President Petr Pavel has urged politicians to calm tensions and abide by established parliamentary rules, saying he is concerned about the heated situation in the Chamber of Deputies over the public media funding bill.
The president called on politicians to return to rational debate, restore basic respect between the coalition and opposition, and uphold democratic standards and dignity, adding that he believed the public expected the same.
The ruling coalition and opposition have been trading insults and accusations in the wake of a stormy parliamentary session during which the ruling parties pushed through a controversial bill to abolish license fees for public media and replace them with state funds. The bill was approved in its first reading.
Prime Minister Andrej Babiš later compared the demonstration outside the Chamber of Deputies to the attack on the US Capitol. He also urged the opposition to stop stirring up unrest and aggression, noting that the opposition Civic Democrats had also sought to abolish public media license fees in 2009.
The opposition parties are accusing the ruling coalition of undermining democracy and seeking to take control of the state.