New Rules of Procedure see far-right MPs expelled

Slovakia's new parliamentary Rules of Procedure were applied in practice for the first time during Tuesday's (31-01) parliamentary sitting, with MPs from the far-right Kotleba-People's Party Our Slovakia (ĽSNS) being ordered out of the chamber for wearing insignias promoting their political party. Initially, Parliamentary Vice-Chair Lucia Ďuriš Nicholsonová (Freedom and Solidarity/SaS), who led the parliamentary session, called on ĽSNS lawmakers to remove their insignias. As they did not do so, the session was interrupted for a short time. After consulting the matter with other members of Parliament's leadership, Ďuriš Nicholsonová expelled the ĽSNS legislators from the parliamentary chamber. They refused to leave, however. The parliamentary vice-chair reminded them of the fact that expulsion from the parliamentary chamber is considered to be an unexcused absence from parliamentary debates and that their salaries will be cut in the case of repeated absence. It was MP Miroslav Beblavý (Independent) who pointed to the ĽSNS legislators' insignia, suggesting that such displays contradict the current Rules of Procedure. Parliamentary Chairman Andrej Danko (Slovak National Party/SNS) expressed satisfaction that Ďuriš Nicholsonová made use of the provision, which might result in a cut in the ĽSNS lawmakers' salaries.