The protest at the Letna plain in Prague | Gabriel Kuchta/Getty Images Czechs rally against Babiš on eve of Velvet Revolution celebrations Senior parliament official accuses protestors of ’deepening the divisions of society.’

PRAGUE — An estimated 200,000 protestors assembled in a park near the center of Prague on Saturday to demand that Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš divest himself of business interests and fire his justice minister or resign.

The protest was organized by the group A Million Moments for Democracy, which accuses the billionaire businessman of conflicts of interest regarding subsidies, tax relief and investment incentives for the conglomerate Agrofert. It also alleges Justice Minister Marie Benešová has worked to undermine the independence of the country’s justice system.

The protest was held nearly five months after a demonstration calling for the prime minister’s resignation drew some 300,000 people to the same location.

It comes a day before Sunday’s nationwide celebrations marking the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, when Czech dissidents led by the late Czech President Václav Havel overthrew a half-century of Communist rule.

Babiš appears for now to have withstood several legal challenges. In September, the Prague state prosecutor dropped a long-standing subsidy fraud case against Babiš, though the supreme state attorney could overturn that decision.

In addition, though a preliminary audit by the European Commission found Babiš had breached conflict-of-interest rules in connection with EU subsidies paid to Agrofert, Brussels has yet to act on that finding or release a final report.

This prompted a Czech senator, Lukáš Wagenknecht from the opposition Czech Pirate Party, to file a complaint with the EU’s General Court in October against the European Council for allowing Babiš to take part in the bloc's budget negotiations despite concerns his participation presents a conflict of interest. In 2018, Agrofert received an estimated €82 million in EU subsidies.

Babiš is no longer the formal owner of Agrofert, but watchdog groups including Transparency International have argued he is still “the founder and 100% end-user of benefits” of the two trusts overseeing the firm.

The prime minister maintains that he has given up his business interests and denies any wrongdoing.

Speaker of the Czech parliament, Radek Vondráček, a senior member of Babiš’ ANO movement, told Czech Television on Saturday that he was troubled by the timing of the protests.

“A Million Moments for Democracy are exploiting the anniversary of November 17,” he said. “They are deepening the divisions of society by choosing this time. It spoils the festivities when someone says he has the right to celebrate more than others do.”