Did the Czech Civic Democratic Party, the government coalition's leading party, only allow a paid audience to attend a public debate with the Prime Minister, Petr Fiala, at a pre-election event in a Czech town? No, that's not true: No evidence supports this claim. The party's spokesman, Jakub Skyva, confirmed to Lead Stories that such events are open to all, there is no selection of guests, and the party, under no circumstances, uses paid extras. Fiala, who is also the leader of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), also faced critical questions during the event, as shown in the recording of the debate.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok on May 20, 2025. It shows Czech Prime Minister Fiala and Czech comedian Iva Pazderkova arriving at an event, while the crowd whistles and shouts "Shame" in Czech as translated by Lead Stories staff. The video has a text overlay in Czech, which says, translated by Lead Stories staff:
They don't let regular people in, only paid extras. Olomouc, Fiala Tour, 19.5.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon May 26 07:12:47 2025 UTC)
The video shows Czech Prime Minister Fiala arriving at a debate event in Olomouc, a Czech town in the eastern part of the country, with a moderator and Czech comedian Iva Pazderkova on May 19, 2025 (archived here). The event was part of Fiala's national debate tour before the general elections (archived here) scheduled for October 2025. Pazderkova and Fiala wear the same dress in the TikTok video, as shown in the full recording of the debate on the Civic Democratic Party, or ODS, website (archived here).
The Civic Democratic Party spokesman, Jakub Skyva (archived here), emailed Lead Stories on May 22, 2025, that everyone has free access to the debate, there is no selection of guests, and no ticket sales. ODS does not use any extras for such events under any circumstances, Skyva wrote. Skyva, who was also personally present at the debate in Olomouc, says that the TikTok video is likely authentic and shows Fiala, Pazderkova, and the security detail arrive at the room where the public debate took place. By the time the official recording of the event started (at about 5:30 pm), the hall was already full, but other participants could watch the broadcast on a screen in front of the hall. After the debate, all citizens (including those watching the debate outside) had the opportunity to meet the Prime Minister in person, Skyva said in the email.
The recording shows that during the debate, Fiala faces several critical questions from pro-Palestinian activists about the Czech Republic's support of Israel (23.00 and 44:31 time marks of the recording, for instance). At around the 49:00 time mark, he is asked by a woman why they could not take their banners to the room and whether he considers Israel's bombarding of civilians to be an "adequate defence" of itself. Fiala answers that there are probably some rules regarding the banners, since "we are in an enclosed space," he is not familiar with, and says that banners critical of the ruling coalition can be seen at all anti-government protests held at the town squares, and "nobody has a problem with it." He also reiterates that anyone can ask him any questions during the debate.
The debate in Olomouc was part of the Czech government coalition's pre-election roadshow (archived here), which consists of meetings with citizens in about 200 Czech towns ahead of the 2025 general elections. The schedule for May and June is on the ODS webpage (archived here), see below.
(Source: ODS website screenshot taken on Mon May 26 09:12:47 2025 UTC)
