Parliament session to oust Prime Minister halted due to visual aids

Tuesday's extraordinary parliamentary session with another no-confidence motion planned against Prime Minister Robert Fico was interrupted shortly after it began. The reason was Opposition OĽaNO-NOVA leader Igor Matovič attempting to hold up pictures, a move deemed by Parliamentary Chairman Andrej Danko (Slovak National Party) as contrary to the Rules of Procedure. "I ask you to refrain from breaking the Rules of Procedure. You've brought prohibited visual materials into the chamber. Consider this as my call for you to carry the visual materials out of the room before your presentation. If you don't comply, I have the right to expel you from the chamber," Danko told Matovič. The latter argued by stating that the pictures he was holding in his hands represented an official addendum to the Opposition's proposal for Fico's dismissal. "I know you believe that you've banned this via the Rules of Procedure, but the latter allows any MP to attach any visual documents as an addendum to the official proposal. So, these [pictures] are part of an official addendum to the proposal on dismissing the prime minister; they aren't just visual materials. It's my right [to present them]," said Matovič. The official proposal for Fico's removal as published on Parliament's website contains the aforementioned 19 pictures. Nevertheless, Danko didn't appear to have agreed with Matovič's arguments, and he subsequently interrupted the session, later convening a new parliamentary meeting scheduled for Thursday (16-02). Meanwhile, Matovič was officially registered as non-attendant at the session, and will face a disciplinary motion.