EU Parliament applauds as MEP Janusz Korwin-Mikke is suspended for sexist comments

Far-right Polish MEP, Janusz Korwin-Mikke has been suspended for 10 days and will lose his daily subsistence allowance for 30 days over his comments that women are weaker and less intelligent than men, so they should earn less. Interrupting the female Spanish MEP, Iratxe García-Perez, Korwin-Mikke 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. Do you know how many women are in the first 100 of chess players. I tell you, no one.

The sexist comments caused an uproar and in less that a week, 935,000 people had signed a petition for the parliament to suspend Korwin-Mikke, who is well known for his racist and sexist views.

During a parliament plenary session in Strasbourg on Tuesday, president of the parliament, Antonio Tajani issued a statement apologizing to anyone who had been hurt or offended by the MEP’s outburst:

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. By offending all women, the MEP displayed contempt for our most fundamental values.

This drew a round of applause from the entire parliament. Korwin-Mikke will lose his daily subsistence allowance for 30 days, a total of €9,180 (£8,047) intended to cover his expenses while he attends parliament. He will also be suspended from all parliamentary work for 10 days and banned from representing the parliament for a year.

Watch the video below:

Applause at the EU parliament as an MEP Janusz Korwin-Mikke is suspended for saying women “are less intelligent, they must earn less”. pic.twitter.com/gHjAgE4reM

— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) March 14, 2017

Photo Credit: Getty Images/NurPhoto