On Thursday, MP Andrej Hoivik of the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS) brought “Budnica” (The Wake-up Call), a book by Janez Janša, to the National Assembly. This is not the first time that a Member of Parliament has brought an object into the Chamber in order to draw attention to something, anything. However, it is probably the first time that the said object has provoked such a strong emotional reaction from the Speaker of the National Assembly.
Namely, the Speaker of the National Assembly was more than obviously disturbed by the sight of the book. She ordered the adjournment of the sitting, got the book confiscated by a security guard, and then said, or so it sounds on the recording, “I’m not going to let anybody f*ck with me …”.
In the past, MPs have brought many things to the National Assembly. An MP of the Left party (Levica) appeared on the podium wearing a “Bad Religion” T-shirt and a banned cross. Another Left party MP, Miha Kordiš, paraded around the National Assembly wearing a T-shirt with the photo of the Communist leader Josip Broz – Tito. At one point, even an unaffiliated deputy brought two six-packs of beer into the Chamber to “calm things down”.
But none of these incidents, from insults to religion, insults to the victims of communism, to insults to good taste, provoked the same reaction as Thursday’s simple book, which did not insult anyone. But perhaps it was not actually about the book. Perhaps it was about what the book represents?
“Janez Janša’s book “The Wake-up Call” is like holy water for the devil for the Freedom Movement (Gibanje Svoboda),” wrote MP Andrej Hoivik, when commenting on the Speaker of the National Assembly’s reaction.
Which part of the Rules of Procedure did MP Hoivik violate?
After the incident, the public began to question under which part of the Rules of Procedure Klakočar Zupančič had actually issued the reprimands in the first place. As political commentator Dr Žiga Turk wondered in an online post: “Is there a regulation that states what Members of Parliament are not allowed to have on their desks? Because otherwise, the rule is that it is allowed if it is not forbidden.”
The Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly state that: “It is prohibited to bring firearms, ammunition, explosives and other dangerous weapons and devices onto the premises of the National Assembly. Persons carrying weapons shall declare them on entry and surrender them to the security unit, which shall issue them with a certificate to that effect and return them to the persons on departure.”
The Rules also stipulate that “All large and superfluous personal items (e.g. coats, umbrellas and other items) shall be stored in the cloakroom and shall not be left unattended on the premises of the National Assembly or in rented premises.”
We have therefore sent relevant press questions to the Office of the Speaker of the National Assembly.
First, they came for the opposition’s turn to speak, and then for the book
Thursday’s incident is just one in a series of undemocratic excesses by the ruling Freedom Movement coalition. The Speaker of the National Assembly has no problem trampling on the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly to achieve her political objectives, such as the recognition of Palestine or the confiscation of a simple book. A few days ago, her colleague from the Freedom Movement parliamentary group even made it possible to vote on taking the floor from another SDS MP, Zvone Černač.
“Last week, they took away the floor from an MP who was speaking. This week, they are confiscating books. Are we going to see more physical removal of MPs next week? What is happening in Parliament is increasingly resembling a political circus, where the political majority abuses its power to silence dissenting voices,” wrote Dominik Štrakl, a member of the SDS Executive Committee, in response to the events in question.
S. K.
