Colombian Senator Antanas Mockus Moons Congressional Colleagues During Session

Incoming Colombian Senator Antanas Mockus turned his back to his congressional colleagues on Friday during a swearing-in session, lowered his pants, and mooned the assembly.

Photo: Antanas Mockus is a former mayor of Bogotá and was defeated by President Juan Manuel Santos in the second round of the 2010 presidential election. (Photo credit: Stephan Röhl)

The controversial left-leaning politician, who served as mayor of Bogotá in the 1990s and finished second in the nation’s 2010 presidential election that put President Juan Manuel Santos in power, said after the incident that he did it in an attempt to quiet the loud group who were talking over the farewell address given by outgoing Congress head Efraín Cepeda.

“How irritating it is that such a valuable group of individuals can’t listen to each other,” said Mockus, as reported by El Espectador. “I surely have lacked respect in the past, but the stark disrespect from all Congress was recorded by all of you.”

¿Por qué Antanas Mockus se bajó los pantalones frente a la presidencia del Senado? Aquí la respuesta https://t.co/XAc7eIqcBD pic.twitter.com/pO5ybY1k5m

— Capital (@CanalCapital) July 20, 2018

The session marked the beginning of the new legislative session and was held to swear in new congress members, including Mockus who is serving for the first time in a term that starts this month and runs through 2012.

After showing his butt to the Congress, Mockus, a member of the Green Alliance political party, was met with a range of everything from laughter to outrage and has been the subject of memes across social media throughout the weekend.

This is reportedly the second time the politician, who comes from academia, has pulled such a stunt. Though a much less high profile affair, he reportedly tried to silence a crowd of unruly college students in the early 1990s this way when they wouldn’t let him speak.