Matovic's Poster in Parliament Triggers Verbal Shootout between Fico & Kollar
Bratislava, September 23 (TASR) – Finance Minister and leader of the coalition OLaNO party Igor Matovic in Parliament on Thursday displayed a poster while Smer-SD head Robert Fico was taking the floor in regards to the opposition’s attempt to oust the interior minister, with the poster stating “a killer on a street corner preaches about morality”.
The poster provoked the ire of some opposition MPs, who asked Parliamentary Chair Boris Kollar (We Are Family) to take action and expel Matovic from the chamber.
Kollar, however, explained to the disgruntled MPs that Parliament’s Rules of Procedure stipulate that MPs are only forbidden from bringing visual aids with them into the chamber. “The minister didn’t bring anything with him; he made the poster in the chamber, which is why he didn’t violate the rules,” stated Kollar.
Fico responded with an attack on both Matovic and Kollar, who have both been accused of plagiarising their diploma theses. “What else can you expect from plagiarists, neither of them have any education, not anything”, he said, to which Kollar replied “what else can you expect from the mafia”.
“Thank you very much. It’s better to be a mafioso than a plagiarist, but that’s a matter for another time,” countered Fico, adding that it’s embarrassing to interpret the Rules of Procedure in the manner that Kollar did.
Fico claimed that next time, Smer-SD MPs will bring a “100-metre canvas” into the chamber to paint on. “We’ll most definitely amend these rules, you can believe that,” replied Kollar.
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure stipulate that MPs are not allowed to bring banners, posters, leaflets, any other visual aids or weapons with them into the chamber.