Shoving match erupts among Czech MPs at Covid-19 state of emergency debate

A shoving match broke out in the lower house after independent MP Lubomír Volný grabbed the chairman’s mic after being cut off for speaking off subject during a debate on extending the Covid-19 state of emergency.

Despite warnings by presiding chairman MP Tomáš Hanzel (Social Democrats) to stick to the topic – whether to extend by 30 days the state of emergency – Volný continued to allege Hanzel’s party was corrupt.

After being cut off, Volný walked up to the chairman’s seat, grabbed Hanzel’s mic, and shoved other Social Democrat MPs who attempted to intervene. Speaker Radek Vondráček (ANO) later expelled Volný from the hall, who was escorted out by security officers.

The dispute began after Hanzel criticised Volný, a right-winger who objects to anti-coronavirus measures, for refusing to wear a facemask. In the past, Volný has offered to “take outside” a dispute with another MP. He was elected on the Freedom and Direct Democracy party ticket but left in 2019.