Saeima deputy Aleksejs Rosļikovs (“For Stability!”) was expelled from the parliamentary session hall on Thursday by a majority vote of MPs.
During a debate on the declaration “On Eliminating the Consequences of Russification,” Rosļikovs used the Russian language at the Saeima podium, which constitutes a violation of parliamentary rules.
Raising his voice, Rosļikovs stated that Russian-speaking citizens had also stood at the barricades alongside Latvians. He posed rhetorical questions about what might be imposed on Russian speakers next – “separate reservations, a law prohibiting Russian names for children because they sound Russian?”
Rosļikovs claimed that various laws and decisions by the state had “bombarded our families,” referring to Russian-speaking families.
He emphasized that a large portion of Latvia’s population is Russian-speaking, with many speaking Russian at home every day, while also contributing to the country’s development. According to him, the country cannot develop without them.
At the end of his address, Rosļikovs shouted in Russian: “We are the majority! Russian is our language!” This outburst prompted a vote to expel him from the current session and remove him from the chamber.
Following Rosļikovs’ expulsion, a ten-minute recess was announced, and the deputy was required to leave the Saeima session hall.
As previously reported, after nearly two years of work, the Saeima recently passed final amendments to its Rules of Procedure, which, among other things, reinforce the obligation for MPs to use the official state language during communication.