Women members of Tanzania’s parliament are calling for an apology after their fellow MP was required to leave the chamber on Tuesday due to her pants, which a male Speaker of parliament deemed to be too “tight.”
Condester Sichwale, a female minister for Tanzania’s ruling CCM party, was ordered to leave parliament after her male colleague, Hussein Amar, complained that her attire was inappropriate.
“Mr. Speaker, an example there is my sister seated on my right with a yellow shirt. Look at the trousers she has worn, Mr. Speaker!” Hussein Amar said, according to BBC.
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Sichwale, who was wearing a bright yellow top and black slacks was then asked to leave by Speaker Job Ndugai.
“Go dress up well, and then join us back later,” he said, adding that he had received other complaints about the way women members of the parliament dress.
Ndugai then requested that chamber orderlies refuse entry to anyone who was not dressed appropriately, BBC reported.
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Amar reportedly declined to answer what he found to be offensive about Sichwale’s attire but did tell BBC that parliamentary rules state that clothes should not be tight-fitting.
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Other women MPs including Jacqueline Ngonyani and Stella Manyanya pushed back on Amar’s claims, insisting that nothing was wrong with Sichwale’s attire and that she was treated unfairly.
Women on social media also came to Sichwale’s defense, calling out the move as misogyny.
It is not clear if Sichwale did receive an apology.