A Politician Was Kicked Out of a Meeting for Sucking on a Cough Drop

A Japanese politician was kicked out of a meeting on Friday because she spoke with a cough drop in her mouth.

"I have not been well for the past several days and decided to take cough drops so that I would not trouble others with my coughing. It's regrettable that I've been forced to leave the room without being given the opportunity to explain myself," Kumamoto Municipal Assemblywoman Yuka Ogata said after other members voted to kick her out, according to The Japan Times.

Other members suspended deliberation for eight hours despite the fact that there is no ban on eating and drinking inside the chamber.

"It's unacceptable for a responsible adult to ask questions with [cough] drops in their mouth. She needs to admit her fault," Kumamoto Mayor Kazufumi Onishi said, The Telegraph reported. The mayor, along with several other members of the assembly, said Ogata violated a clause protecting the assembly's integrity.

"A lot of the people have misunderstood this as an issue related to my behavior, which is how it has been reported in the media. This is part of a struggle between me and other councilors, most of whom are older men, to make the council more relevant to the everyday lives of ordinary people," Ogata told The Guardian, saying that the move was part of a crusade to stop her efforts in making the council more family-friendly.

Ogata had faced criticism from her colleagues before. An assembly session was delayed by 40 minutes in November 2017 when the assemblywoman brought her child into the chamber. Even though no rule bans members from bringing a baby into the chamber, officials argued that Ogata broke the assembly rules which state that visitors and observers are not allowed to be on the chamber floor.

"I wanted the assembly to be a place where women who are raising children can also do a great job," she told local media.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, meanwhile, became the first world leader to bring a baby to the United Nations General Assembly last week. Many praised Ardern's decision to bring her 3-month-old into the hall.

"Prime Minister Ardern is showing that no one is better qualified to represent her country than a working mother. Just 5 percent of the world's leaders are women, so we need to make them as welcome here as possible," U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said, according to Reuters.