Parliament simplifies House speaker election rules

Parliament on Thursday gave the nod to new rules for the election of the House President, making the procedure more straightforward.

The new rules will first apply this June, when the House reconstitutes after the legislative elections.

Right after the new MPs are sworn in, the procedure will take place for electing the House President from among the members of the body.

The candidates will be nominated by MPs not standing for the office.

A vote will take place, with the winner being the candidate securing an absolute majority – meaning 29 out of the 56 MPs.

If no candidate secures an absolute majority, a second round of voting will be held between the two candidates that secured the most votes in the first round. Here, a simple majority will decide the issue – meaning the candidate receiving more votes than the other.

In the event of a tie, a runoff vote will take place among the top two candidates – with the winner being the one securing a simple majority.

If again the voting results in a tie, a simple drawing of lots will take place to decide the matter.

In each round of voting, only affirmative votes will be counted. An affirmative vote is a formal ‘yes’ signifying support for a candidate. Negative votes or abstentions will not be counted.

The new method aims to simplify the currently convoluted procedure for electing the House president.

The current rules have been in place since 1985. They provide for up to four rounds of voting.

Also on Thursday, parliament approved other changes aiming to boost transparency.

For example, during the initial discussion of a bill, the session of the parliamentary committee may be broadcast live – subject to approval by a majority of the MPs serving on that committee and with the consent of the House President. This will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

Moreover, from now on MPs’ questions to government ministers that remain unanswered beyond the allotted time will be posted on the parliament’s official website.

Ministers have 30 days in which to formally reply to an MP’s question.