Lithuanian prime minister found in breach of ethics over noisemaker incident in parliament

Lithuania’s Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė has been found in violation of the state’s political code of conduct after using a traditional noisemaker during a parliamentary session, the Seimas Ethics Guardians ruled on Wednesday, LRT reports.

The ethics watchdog determined that Šimonytė breached the principle of respect for individuals and the state, as outlined in Article 4 of the Code of Conduct for State Politicians, by creating disruptive noise while lawmaker Remigijus Žemaitaitis of the “Nemuno aušra” party was speaking.

During the December session, Šimonytė used a tarškynė, a folk instrument, while shouting “mulkis mulkis” (a colloquial phrase implying nonsense), according to the committee’s findings. Six of the commission’s members voted in favour of the decision.

The Seimas Speaker Juozas Olekas twice called for order during the disruption but did not directly address Šimonytė. In her defence, the prime minister stated the noisemaker was used humorously to illustrate Žemaitaitis’s remarks, noting that interjections and reactions are not uncommon in parliamentary debates.