He did not see it coming, but the far-right Polish Member of the European Parliament (MEP), Janusz Korwin-Mikke, narrowly survived being kicked out of the house.
Antonio Tajani, President of the European Parliament has imposed unprecedented penalties on Korwin-Mikke for his reckless remarks saying, “Women must earn less than men because they are weaker, smaller and less intelligent.”
The Polish radical politician caused uproar for his sexist rant during a plenary in the parliament.
Korwin-Mikke will lose his daily allowance for 30 days (€9,180) that covers his expenses for attending parliament. He will also be suspended from all parliamentary sessions for 10 days and banned from representing the parliament for a year.
This is what he said: “Of course women must earn less than men because they are weaker, they are smaller, they are less intelligent, they must earn less, that’s all,” he said. “Do you know how many women are in the first 100 of chess players. I tell you, no one.”
Tajani apologised to those hurt or offended by the MEP’s statements.
“I will not tolerate such behaviour, in particular when it comes from someone who is expected to discharge his duties as a representative of the peoples of Europe with due dignity,” Tajani told members of the house. “By offending all women, the MEP displayed contempt for our most fundamental values.”
Meanwhile, an inquiry is undergoing in the house after a bitter exchange in the chamber in which Korwin-Mikke interrupted the female Spanish MEP, Iratxe García-Perez.
The rules of the house require MEPs prohibit defamatory, racist or xenophobic language or behaviour in parliamentary debates.
In less than a week about 935,000 people had signed a petition written in Polish calling on the parliament to suspend Korwin-Mikke, who is well known for his sexist and racist views, according to The Guardian.
More outrage on social media ensued, some in support, and others in disgust.
We picked some views on Facebook:
Stephen Strange: Just to be clear to everyone complaining this MEP has been denied his right to free speech, your own freedom stops at the point it restricts the freedom of others. For example, my right to wave my arms about wildly in the air would stop at the point someone else’s face begins. Making public statements about any group of people without evidence falls into the same category, infringing on the freedom of others.
Kate Thornton: I’m sorry, I just can’t like this enough times. Can we give the wonderful Spanish MEP that stood up to him an accolade of some sort, honorary baroness…?
Selwyn Craig: I can’t believe what I just heard him said, that is really sexist. Women are not weak, I can assure him of that. They take a lot of crap in a patriarchal society and they keep on moving ahead. His comments were absolutely disgusting. Suspension is simply not good enough he should be fired. What if he grew up in a home where his mom was a single parent? Would he still agree that his mother should earn less for her work because she might be smaller than her male counterparts who are doing the same job? Would he be OK with having to go without a lot of things because his mother is supposed to earn less. He shouldn’t even get me started about his comment that women are less intelligent. He seem like someone who does not even know what the word intelligent mean because he is acting devoid of it by those types of statements.
Jasminder Singh Sidhu: How is it that I can’t even get an entry-level job in Canada with a valid college degree, but this dude slipped through the cracks and landed himself a spot in the EU parliament. LOL
Linda Byce Oster Davey: Thank you – women already have to work twice as hard as men just because they are women, they must be twice as smart as men just because they are women and despite their smaller size I know one or two that could probably give him some trouble – yes, as Patrick Connors said – banned for life – I’m sure there is a women qualified for the job.
Korwin-Mikke will lose his daily allowance for 30 days (€9,180) that covers his expenses for attending parliament. He will also be suspended from all parliamentary sessions for 10 days and banned from representing the parliament for a year.
