In Pics | Thousands take to the streets in Prague for anti-government protest

Thousands of Czechs had taken to the streets in the capital city of Prague's central square on Sunday (April 16) to protest the incumbent government calling on the five-party coalition to resign over high inflation and energy prices. 

The protest named "Czechia against poverty" criticised the government of Prime Minister Petr Fiala for rising prices in the country of 10.5 million people where the inflation reached 15 per cent, in March.

Organised by a small non-parliamentary PRO party the protest also criticised Fiala's cabinet for soaring public deficits and for poor communication with voters, reported AFP. 

Addressing the crowd which filled half of Prague's Wenceslas Square, protest organiser and PRO leader Jindrich Rajchl, said, "Collect the last remnants of your honour, realize that you are not up to the job, and resign," reported the news website iDNES.cz. as per Reuters.

The recent protest comes after a similar protest back in March, which was also organised by the political party which has criticised the centre-right government for its management of the energy crisis which has hit most of Europe following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Additionally, they have also called for peace in Ukraine while denying being a pro-Russian party, reported Reuters. Rajchl has also reportedly said that his group was ready to further escalate the protests. 

Speaking to AFP, a Prague protester Ludek Sic said that the government, "should be replaced with real experts, the current ministers are no good and they are not able to handle the economic situation in this country."

Another protester named Renata Urbanova also said the government was "full of warmongers," adding that they are "making us suffer economically, energy is too expensive and so is food," as per AFP. 

Notably, the European Union and NATO member has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict not only has it provided weapons for the Ukrainian military but also welcomed around 500,000 refugees. However, some people at the rally demanded that the country leave NATO, reported Associated Press. 

Prime Minister Petr Fiala, who is currently on a trip to Asia, has sought to ease the burden on families and firms while also reining in high budget deficits.

Additionally, the country's inflation has been declining as it has gone from 17.5 per cent in January to 16.7 per cent in February and last month it was 15 per cent, reported AP.

However, recent polling from Kantar for Czech TV said that the five-party coalition is losing support to the main opposition party, ANO of former prime minister Andrej Babis who has a nine per cent lead over Fiala's party.