Romani student interviews Czech presidential candidates, calls on youth to vote
Petr Banda, an undergraduate in economics, has created a campaign called "Be Heard" (Buď slyšet) aimed at first-time voters and young voters, both Roma and non-Roma. His interviews are being gradually published through the social media profiles of the IQ Roma servis organization, and he wants to familiarize youth with the candidates for President of the Czech Republic that way. In the interviews he asks, for example, what the candidates’ attitudes are toward inequality in the schools or how they would like to overcome polarization in society. The campaign continues the challenge he posed to youth in the autumn of 2022 to vote in local elections, explaining why their voice is so essential in a democratic society. In this campaign as well, the aim is to increase the civic engagement of Romani youth and their interest in what is happening in society. The first part of the campaign involves infographics about why one should vote, what the president actually does, and how to verify whether an allegation is based in fact.
The second part of the campaign comprises interviews with presidential candidates Marek Hilšer, Danuše Nerudová and Petr Pavel. Banda did his best to interview Andrej Babiš as well, but never got a response to his emails.
