Lithuanian parliament weighs protest sign ban in chamber and gallery

Lithuania’s parliamentary board is due to consider rules that would ban signs and other displays in the chamber and visitors’ gallery, LRT reported. The proposal, registered by parliamentary Speaker Juozas Olekas, would also restrict visitors’ conduct during sessions.

The draft says MPs and others on the chamber floor could not bring in or display posters, banners or similar items. People in the gallery would have to remain quiet and would be barred from expressing approval or disapproval, interrupting proceedings, or displaying posters, banners, flags or other symbols.

Gallery visitors would also be prohibited from wearing clothing considered offensive or inappropriate, or clearly associated with an issue being debated. Except for accredited media, they could not take photographs or film using lighting equipment or flash. Visitors, tour groups, invited observers and other guests would have to sit in designated seats.

The proposed rules would also ban people in the gallery from holding phones, audiovisual equipment or other objects over the chamber floor, as well as from smoking, eating or drinking. Those who broke the rules could be removed from the gallery and barred from entering parliament for up to a year. Repeat violations could lead to an indefinite entry ban.

Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė, a Conservative lawmaker and deputy speaker, said she would oppose the proposal, arguing that it could restrict MPs’ freedom of mandate and expression. She also questioned the detailed restrictions on gallery visitors and said peaceful forms of expression in parliament should not be limited.

Those behind the proposal say it is intended to clarify the rules and maintain order.