No beer for Czech legislators while session in progress

Who would have thought that MPs could be in a state of advanced inebriation when voting in parliament? Apparently, some must have proven very tired and emotional indeed or the speaker of the lower house of the Czech parliament would not have banned the sale of alcohol at restaurants and cafes on the premises of the country’s legislature during plenary meetings in early March 2014.

The decree ends a long tradition of allowing politicians to enjoy cheap beer, wine or spirits during working hours. However, Czech lawmakers will still be allowed to bring their own alcohol supplies to the legislature premises.

In many pubs, beer costs less than a soft drink in the Czech Republic, where beer consumption per person is the highest in the world. Thanks to tax exemptions, a shot of hard liquor is sold for less than a dollar in parliament, Czech media point out. The same drink costs at least twice as much at regular bars.

Following the ban, alcoholic drinks can be bought only when the parliament isn’t in session, meaning lawmakers can have cheap drinks there only when they aren’t voting on bills.

Czech MPs are not the only ones to occasionally have one over the eight. The country’s president Miloš Zeman during the Czech crown jewels display ceremony last year appeared to have been seriously under the influence too. When shown staggering about (at www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVypemGlcCE ) a spokeswoman was compelled to say that the president had been taken ill