Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets across Slovakia to protest a proposed overhaul of the judiciary by Prime Minister Robert Fico, the European Union’s latest leader accused of eroding democratic standards and the rule of law, writes Bloomberg.

In power since October, Fico is coming under mounting pressure from the public, opposition and the EU to abolish or scale back the plans, which include a revamp of the penal code and scrapping a prosecutor’s office tasked with probing corruption and serious crime.

The capital was among the 24 major cities and towns where protests took place, the biggest number since they started Dec 7 in Bratislava.

Richard Sulík, head of the opposition Freedom and Solidarity party told the crowd braving rain at Bratislava’s jammed SNP square that the proposals look like they were drafted by the “mafia”.