Czech parliament uproar: opposition shouts at Speaker Okamura

In the Czech Chamber of Deputies, during a session debating the abolition of fees for public television and radio, opposition deputies shouted at Speaker Tomio Okamura, whistled and banged on their desks. The session ground to a halt over whether opposition caucuses could take breaks.

“You are breaking the rules of the Chamber of Deputies,” ODS chairman Martin Kupka shouted at the lectern. “You are violating custom and the rules of procedure,” said Marian Jurečka, head of the People’s Party caucus. “You are making an incredible mess of this,” said Pirate Party leader Zdeněk Hřib, who said Okamura had not let deputies with priority speaking rights take the floor.

STAN leader Vít Rakušan, raising his voice, demanded that the votes held since the start of Okamura’s remarks be declared invalid: a deputy with priority speaking rights, who had a counterproposal, was not given the floor. “This is absolute comedy and a denial of all custom and democracy in the Chamber,” he said.

The dispute over breaks

Deputies at the lectern shouted at Okamura even with their microphones switched off, while opposition lawmakers in the chamber banged on their desks. “Go ahead and bang,” Okamura replied. Taking a break is common practice, but when the caucuses filed such requests, Boris Šťastný, head of the Motorists caucus, objected: in his words, the caucuses were taking breaks one after another in order to postpone the vote on abolishing the TV and radio fees.

The opposition caucuses wanted to take their breaks back to back, so that they would add up to many hours, more than eight in total. After objections, deputies did vote on whether the caucuses could take a break, and the governing majority blocked the breaks. Okamura defended himself against the criticism, and the word “shame” rang out in the chamber again and again.

“Complete nonsense,” Benda loses his composure

ODS caucus head Marek Benda then took the floor: “You changed the voting system in the middle of the session, which is complete nonsense, I have had enough of this,” said a visibly agitated Benda. Deputy Speaker Jan Skopeček of ODS addressed the public: the question, he said, is how parliamentary democracy will work in the country and how important laws will be passed.

Other deputies with priority speaking rights then took the floor. TOP 09 caucus head Jan Jakob proposed interrupting the session for twenty minutes so that politicians from all sides could meet. Okamura agreed: “I am declaring a twenty-minute break. I have water ready, maybe a little coffee, and I welcome you to my office.” Coalition deputies laughed, but the banging on desks started again. Later, the Chamber’s leadership extended the break several times, the last time until 6 p.m.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz