Member of Parliament
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A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators. Members of parliament tend to form parliamentary parties with members of the same political party. The term Member of Parliament is often shortened in the media and in every day use to the initialism "MP".
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Westminster system
Australia
In Australia, the term "Member of Parliament" refers to Members of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Commonwealth parliament. Members may use "MP" after their names - previously "MHR" was used but this is not current. The members of the upper house of the Commonwealth parliament, the Senate, are known as the "Senators".
In New South Wales and Victoria, Members of the Legislative Assembly (lower house) use the post-nominal "MP", but Members of the Legislative Council (upper house) use "MLC".
Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, members of the Jatiyo Shongshod, or National Assembly, are elected every five years and are referred to in English as Members of Parliament. The assembly has 345 seats, including 45 reserved for women.
Canada
In Canada, the Parliament of Canada consists of the upper house, the Senate of Canada, and the lower house, the Canadian House of Commons, but only members of the lower house are referred to as Members of Parliament (French: député) in common usage (members of the Upper House are called Senators (Senateur). There are 105 seats in the Senate and 308 in the House of Commons.1
Each Province has its own unicameral legislature, members of which are variously known as Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) (Ontario), Member of the National Assembly (MNA) (Quebec), Member of the House of Assembly (MHA) (Newfoundland and Labrador), or Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) (all other Provinces and Territories).
India
In India, the term Member of Parliament refers to all the members of the Sansad, the Indian Parliament, whether in the chamber of the Lok Sabha or in that called the Rajya Sabha.
Members of the Lok Sabha are elected popularly by constituencies in each of the Indian states and Union territories, while members of the Rajya Sabha are elected indirectly by the State legislatures. Each state is allocated a fixed number of representatives in each chamber, with the state of Uttar Pradesh having the greatest number. The central government is formed by the party or coalition which has the greatest number of directly elected members in the Lok Sabha.
Ireland
In Ireland, the term Member of Parliament can refer to the members of the pre-1801 Irish House of Commons of the Parliament of Ireland. It can also refer to Irish members elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1801 to 1922.
Northern Ireland continues to elect MPs to the modern Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Following the formation of the independent Irish Free State in 1922, members of the lower house of the Oireachtas (parliament), Dáil Éireann (or "the Dáil") are termed Teachtaí Dála (Teachta Dála singular) or TDs. The upper house is called Seanad Éireann and its members are called Senators.
Kenya
The National Assembly of Kenya consists of 210 elected members and twelve who are nominated, all being called Members of Parliament.2
Malaysia
The Malaysian Parliament is modelled after the Parliament of the United Kingdom and consists of two houses, known as the Dewan Rakyat, which is the House of Representatives, and Dewan Negara, the Senate.
The members of the Dewan Rakyat are elected in general elections or by-elections, whereas the members of the Dewan Negara are either appointed by the king, in recognition of outstanding service to their country or chosen by the states. Each state appoints a number of senators proportional to its size.
Members of Parliament are styled Yang Berhormat ("Honourable") with the initials Y.B. appended prenominally. A prince who is a Member of Parliament is styled Yang Berhormat Mulia.
Malta
The Parliament of Malta consists of the President of Malta and the House of Representatives currently made up of 69 members (article 51 of the Constitution). Only these members of the House are referred to as "Members of Parliament" (article 52(1) of the Constitution). When appointed from outside the House, the Speaker is also considered a member of the House (although usually not referred to as "Member of Parliament") except when a vote on a bill amending the Constitution is taken (article 52(2) of the Constitution). The Constitution lists the qualifications and disqualifications from serving as a Member of Parliament.3
Privileges of Members of Parliament as well as their Code of Ethics are laid out in the House of Representatives (Privileges and Powers) Ordinance.4
Nauru
The Parliament of Nauru consists of 18 seats and is the legislative institution of the Republic of Nauru. The Parliament House is located in the Yaren District. Members of Parliament are entitled to use the prefix The Honourable.
New Zealand
New Zealand has a unicameral (or singe chamber) parliament, namely the New Zealand House of Representatives, although parliament technically consists of the House and the monarch. Member of Parliament is now the term for a member of the House of Representatives, which normally has 120 members, elected at a general election every three years. There are 69 constituency members, seven of whom are elected by the Māori who have chosen to vote in special Māori seats, while the remaining 51 members are elected by proportional representation from party lists.
Before 1951, New Zealand had a bicameral (or two-chamber) parliament, and there were two designations: Member of the House of Representatives, abbreviated MHR, the body which survives today, and Member of the Legislative Council, abbreviated MLC.
Pakistan
In Pakistan, Member of Parliament refers to a member of Parliament (National Assembly of Pakistan, Qaumi Assembly). The National Assembly is based in Islamabad.
The National Assembly of Pakistan is the country's sovereign legislative body. It embodies the will of the people to let themselves be governed under the democratic, multi-party Federal Parliamentary System. The National Assembly makes laws for the Federation in respect of the powers enumerated in the Federal Legislative list and also for subjects in the Concurrent List. Through its debates, adjournment motion, question hour and Standing Committees, the National Assembly keeps as check over the Executive and ensures that the government functions within the parameters set out in the Constitution and does not violate the fundamental rights of citizens. Only the National Assembly, through its Public Accounts Committee, scrutinizes public spending and exercises control of expenditure incurred by the government.
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a Federal State comprising four provinces of Balochistan, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Punjab and Sindh; Islamabad is the Federal Capital with Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). These federating units offer a lot of diversity and variety in terms of languages, levels of social and economic development, population density and climatic conditions.
The Members of the National Assembly are to be elected by direct and free vote in accordance with law.
CONSTITUTIONAL ROLE
Article 50 of the Constitution provides that the Parliament of Pakistan shall consist of President and the two Houses known as the National Assembly and the Senate. The National Assembly has an edge over the Senate by legislating exclusively on money matters. With exception to money bills, however, both the Houses work together to carryout the basic work of the Parliament, i.e. law making.
LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE
The Bill relating to the Federal Legislative List or Concurrent List can be originated in either House. If the House passed the Bill through majority vote, it shall be transmitted to the other House. If the other House passes it without amendment, it shall be presented to the President for assent.
If the Bill, transmitted to the other House, is not passed within ninety days or rejected or amended, it shall be considered in a joint sitting to be summoned by the President on the request of the House in which the Bill was originated. If the Bill is passed in the joint sitting, with or without amendments, by the votes of majority of the total members of the two Houses, it shall be presented to the President for assent.
If the Bill is presented to the President for assent, he shall assent to the Bill in not later than thirty days. If it is not a Money Bill, the President may return the Bill to the Majlis-e-Shoora with a message requesting that the Bill be reconsidered and that an amendment specified in the message be considered. The Majlis-e-Shoora shall reconsider the Bill in a joint sitting. If the Bill is passed again, with or without amendment, by vote of the majority of the members present and voting, it shall be presented to the President and the President shall not withhold assent there from.
Under the constitution, the Parliament may also legislate for two or more Provinces by consent and request made by those Provinces. If the Federal Government proclaims State of Emergency in any province, the power to legislate about that province is vested in the Parliament. But the Bills passed by the Parliament during the State of Emergency, shall cease to be in force after the expiration of six months from the date Emergency is lifted. Nevertheless, the steps already taken under these Acts shall remain valid.
In exercises of its constitutional role, the Parliament also has other very important duties to perform. The President, who is at the apex, is elected by members of both Houses of the Parliament and the Provincial Assemblies. The Prime Minister, who heads the Cabinet and is meant to aid and advise the President in his functions, belongs to the National Assembly. He enjoys the confidence of the majority of the members of the National Assembly. Members of the Cabinet are appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.
In the formation of the Cabinet the major portion (75%), goes to National Assembly while the rest (25%) are taken from the Senate.
There is a democratic procedure to remove the Prime Minister from his/her office if he/she loses confidence of the majority of the members of the National Assembly. In this respect a resolution for a vote of no-confidence is moved by not less then 20% of the total membership of the National Assembly. If the resolution is passed by majority of votes in the National Assembly, the Prime Minister immediately relinquished powers.
Similarly, for the removal or impeachment of the President, not less than one-half of the total membership of either House may give in writing its intentions to do so, to the Speaker National Assembly, or, as the case may be, to the Chairman Senate, for moving a resolution for the purpose. In a joint sitting of the two Houses, convened for the purpose, and after the deliberations, if the resolution is passed by the votes of not less than two thirds of the total membership of the Parliament, the President shall cease to hold office immediately on the passing of the resolution.
In case emergency is proclaimed, the Parliament holds the authority to extend the term of the National Assembly. The Parliament is also empowered to pass various resolutions on matters like extension in the term of the Chief Election Commissioner for one year. Under the Constitution, the Parliament may also, on the request of the Federal Government, by law, confer functions upon officers or authorities subordinate to the Federal Government.
FUNCTIONS
The most hectic session coincides with the passage of the Federal Budget in May/June, every year. The National Assembly enjoys exclusive powers to consider Money bills including the annual budget. The National Assembly also provides a minimum of three-fourth of the Cabinet strength and the member who enjoys the confidence of the majority in this august House is invited by the President to be the Prime Minister and form the Government. The Prime Minister is, therefore, a member of the National Assembly who enjoys the support of the majority of the members in the House. The cabinet is also collectively responsible to the Assembly alone.
ORDERS OF THE DAY
Details of the proceedings of the House on each day are set forth in the order in which they are to be taken up. The program is called order of the day. The Order of the Day is laid on the table of the House and circulated among the Honourable Members
Singapore
In Singapore, Members of Parliament refers to elected members of the Parliament of Singapore, the appointed Non-Constituency Members of Parliament from the opposition, as well as the Nominated Members of Parliament, who may be appointed from members of the public who have no connection to any political party in Singapore.
Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, Members of Parliament refers to elected members of the Parliament of Sri Lanka and National List Member of Parliament, who are nominated by the contending parties (and independent groups) in proportion to their share of the national vote. A government is formed by the party or group that has the support of the majority of MPs.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom contains members of three different parliaments:
- the Parliament of the United Kingdom, in which only members elected at irregular intervals to the (lower) House of Commons are referred to as Members of Parliament, abbreviated to MP(s)
- the European Parliament, in which members representing the whole of the UK are elected every five years and are called Members of the European Parliament (MEPs)
- the Scottish Parliament, in which members representing the whole of Scotland are elected every four years and are called Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs)
Between 1921 and 1973, Northern Ireland was governed by the Parliament of Northern Ireland, a devolved assembly whose members were known as Members of Parliament. The present Northern Ireland Assembly's members are known as Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA).
The National Assembly for Wales consists of sixty elected members, but it is not called a parliament, its members instead being referred to in English as Assembly Members (AMs) or in Welsh as Aelod y Cynulliad (AC).5
Members of the House of Commons are elected in general elections and by-elections to represent constituencies by the first-past-the-post system of election, and may remain Members until Parliament is dissolved, which must occur within five years of the last general election, as laid down in the Parliament Act 1911.
A candidate to become a Member of Parliament must be a British or Irish or Commonwealth citizen, must be over 18, and must not be a public official or officeholder, as set out in the schedule to the Electoral Administration Act 20066 (this was a reduction in the lower age limit, as candidates needed to be 21 until the law came into effect in 2006).
Members of Parliament are technically forbidden to resign their seats (though they are not forbidden from refusing to seek re-election). To leave the house between elections voluntarily, a Member of Parliament must accept a "paid office under the Crown". Two nominally paid offices under the Crown – the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds and the Manor of Northstead – exist to allow members to apply for a paid office under the Crown and thereby to achieve a resignation from the House. Accepting a salaried Ministerial office does not amount to a paid office under the Crown for these purposes.7
The basic salary of a member of the House of Commons was increased to £64,766 with effect from 1 April 2009.8 Some MPs (ministers, the Speaker, senior opposition leaders etc.) receive a supplementary salary for their specific responsibilities. As of 1 April 2008 these increments range from £14,039 for Select Committee Chairs to £130,959 for the Prime Minister. Members also receive expenses, including paying for buying and furnishing accommodation required when away from their main homes.9 The pension arrangements of UK MPs are equally generous. The Member will normally receive a pension of either 1/40th or 1/50th of their final pensionable salary for each year of pensionable service depending on the contribution rate they will have chosen. Members who make contributions of 10% of their salary gain an accrual rate of 1/40th.10 An MP who has served 26 years and retiring today could look forward to receiving an annual inflation-proof payout of £40,000 from their pension. According to a report in the Daily Mail, state contributions for British Members of Parliament are more than four times higher than the average paid out by companies for final-salary schemes, although they are not significantly more generous than most public sector pensions.11
Members of the House of Lords, however their membership comes about, are members of a legislative chamber which is part of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Although technically they are part of the parliament, they are never referred to in the United Kingdom as members of parliament but as peers, or more formally as Lords of Parliament. They sit either for life, in the case of the Lords Temporal, or so long as they continue to occupy their ecclesiastical positions in the case of the Lords Spiritual. Hereditary peers may no longer pass on a seat in the House of Lords to their heir automatically. The ninety-two who remain have been elected from among their own number, following the House of Lords Act 1999, and paradoxically are the only elected members of the Lords.12
Zimbabwe
In Zimbabwe, the title "Member of Parliament" is used by members of the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe. Members of the upper house of Parliament are instead referred to as Senators.
Other systems
Member of Parliament can be used to translate the term used to describe representatives in other parliamentary democracies that do not follow the Westminster system, who are usually referred to in a different fashion such as Deputé in France, Diputado, Deputado in Portugal and Brazil, Mitglied des Bundestages (MdB) in Germany. However, better translations are often possible.
Austria
In Austria, the term Member of Parliament refers to the members of the two chambers of the Parliament of Austria (Österreichisches Parlament). The members of the Nationalrat are called Abgeordnete zum Nationalrat. The members of the Bundesrat, elected by the provincial diets (Landtage) of the nine federal States of Austria, are known as Mitglieder des Bundesrats.
Bulgaria
In Bulgaria they are 240 MPs in regular parliament and 400 in the "Great Parliament". The "Great Parliament is elected when a new constitution is in order. In the modern Bulgarian history there have been seven "Great Parliaments," in 1879, 1881, 1886, 1893, 1911, 1946, and 1990.
Germany
In Germany, Member of Parliament refers to the elected members of the federal Bundestag Parliament at the Reichstag building in Berlin. In German a member is called Mitglied des deutschen Bundestages (MdB). The 16 federal States of Germany (Länder) are represented by the Bundesrat at the former Prussian House of Lords, whose members are representatives of the respective Länder's governments and not directly elected by the people. In accordance with article 38 of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, which is the German constitution, "[m]embers of the German Bundestag shall be elected in general, direct, free, equal, and secret elections. They shall be representatives of the whole people, not bound by orders or instructions, and responsible only to their conscience."
Israel
In Israel, the term Member of the Knesset (Hebrew: חבר הכנסת) refers to one of the 120 Members of the Knesset.
Italy
In the Republican Italian Parliament the current term is Deputato (that is deputy as appointed to act on people's behalf) and so the Lower House takes the name of Camera dei Deputati. Similarly to other countries, the Upper House is called Senato and its members are the Senatori. The Deputati are known by the title onorevole (honorable).
Lebanon
The Parliament of Lebanon is the Lebanese national legislature. It is elected to a four-year term by universal adult suffrage in multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's diverse Christian and Muslim denominations. Its major functions are to elect the President of the Republic, to approve the government (although appointed by the President, the Prime Minister, along with the Cabinet, must retain the confidence of a majority in the Parliament), and to approve laws and expenditure. The name of a deputy in Arabic is Naeb (نائب). The plural of Naeb is Nuwab (نواب).
Republic of Macedonia
In the Republic of Macedonia there are 120 Members of Parliament (Macedonian: Sobranie) which are called 'Pratenici' (singular Pratenik).
The Netherlands
The parliament of the Netherlands is known as the Staten-Generaal, literally States-General. It is bicameral, divided in two Kamers (Chambers). The Senate is known in Dutch as the Eerste Kamer (First Chamber) and its members as "senatoren", senators. The House of Representatives, known in Dutch as the Tweede Kamer (Second Chamber), is the most important one. The important debates take place here. Also, the Second Chamber can edit proposed laws with amendments and it can propose laws itself. The Senate doesn't have these capabilities. Its function is more a technical reviewing of laws. It can only pass a law or reject it. Both chambers are in The Hague which is the seat of parliament but not the official capital of the Netherlands, which is Amsterdam.
The 150 members of the House of Representatives are elected by general elections every 4 years (unless the government falls). The 75 members of the Senate are elected indirectly. The members of the 12 provincial parliaments elect the senators. The value of a vote of a member of a provincial parliament is relative to the population of the province. Provincial parliaments, the States-Provincial, are elected by general elections every four years.
Norway
In Norway, the term Members of Parliament refers to the elected members of the Norwegian parliament, Stortinget. These members are called stortingsrepresentanter. Norway has a two-chamber parliament, consisting of Odelstinget and Lagtinget. Odelstinget contains the majority of the parliament members (three fourths, or 127 of the total 169 members). Lagtinget contains the last fourth of the members, and is chosen by popular vote in the parliament at the beginning of each parliament period (the members of parliament are elected for four years at a time). The dividing of the parliament into chambers is only used when it is dealing with passing regular laws and in cases of prosecution by national court (riksrett). In other matters, such as passing the national budget or changing the constitution (the latter requiring a majority of two-thirds), the chambers are united.
Poland
Portugal
In Portugal a Member of the Portuguese Parliament is known as deputado, a person who is appointed after democratic election to act on people's behalf. The parliament takes the name of Assembleia da República.
Sweden
In Sweden, Members of Parliament refers to the elected members of the Parliament of Sweden (Swedish: Sveriges riksdag). In Swedish, an MP is usually referred to as a riksdagsledamot or a riksdagsman (the former is in more common use today, especially in official contexts, due its status as a unisex word, while the latter was used more often historically and literally refers to a male MP exclusively).
The parliament is a unicameral assembly with 349 members who are chosen every four years in general elections. To become an MP, a person must be entitled to vote (i.e. be a Swedish citizen, be at least 18 years old and be or have been resident in Sweden) and must be nominated by a political party.13
The salaries of the MPs are decided by the Riksdag Pay Committee (Riksdagens arvodesnämnd), a government agency under the parliament. Since 1 November 2007, the basic monthly pay of an MP is SEK52,900 (ca. US$8,300). The pay of the Speaker is SEK126,000 a month (ca. US$20,000), which is the same as that of the Prime Minister.14 The Deputy Speakers receive an increment of 30 % of the pay of a member. The chairs and deputy chairs of the parliamentary committees receive a similar increment of 20 % and 15 % respectively.15
According to a survey investigation by the sociologist Jenny Hansson,16 Swedish national parliamentarians have an average work week of 66 hours, including side responsibilities. Hansson's investigation further reports that the average Swedish national parliamentarian sleeps 6.5 hours per night.
Thailand
In the Kingdom of Thailand, Members of Parliament (สมาชิกสภาผู้แทนราษฎร or ส.ส.) refers to the elected members of the National Assembly of Thailand. Following the military coup d'état on 19 September 2006, all its 500 members are suspended from duty until the next election. The House of Representatives of Thailand was fully reconvened after the general elections under a new constitution. Under the 2007 Constitution there are 480 Members of Parliament, 400 elected from constituencies and the other 80 through party-lists.
Turkey
In the Republic of Turkey, the term member of parliament refers to the elected members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, or TGNA (Turkish: Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi), which has 550 members elected at a general election for a term of office of four years.
See also
Footnotes
- ^ Glossary of Parliamentary Terms for intermediate students Parliament of Canada
- ^ The National Assembly Parliament of the Republic of Kenya
- ^ http://docs.justice.gov.mt/lom/legislation/english/leg/vol_1/chapt0.pdf
- ^ http://docs.justice.gov.mt/lom/legislation/english/leg/vol_3/chapt113.pdf
- ^ UK Parliamentdead link
- ^ Electoral Administration Act 2006 Office of Public Sector Information
- ^ For more information, see the article Resignation from the British House of Commons
- ^ UK Parliamentdead link
- ^ Average MP's expenses cost taxpayer £118,000 The Guardian, 22 October 2004
- ^ UK Parliamentdead link
- ^ Merrick, Jane; Barrow, Becky (31 March 2006). "Taxpayers to pay millions to fund MP pensions". Daily Mail (London). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-381563/Taxpayers-pay-millions-fund-MP-pensions.html.
- ^ House of Lords Reform UK Parliament
- ^ "Members and parties". Parliament of Sweden. 3 October 2006. http://www.riksdagen.se/templates/R_Page____770.aspx. Retrieved 6 January 2008.
- ^ "Pay and economic benefits". Parliament of Sweden. 1 November 2007. http://www.samhallsguiden.riksdagen.se/templates/R_Page____774.aspx. Retrieved 6 January 2008.
- ^ "Members' pay". Parliament of Sweden. 13 July 2007. http://www.samhallsguiden.riksdagen.se/templates/R_Page____10934.aspx. Retrieved 6 January 2008.
- ^ Hansson, Jenny (2008 publisher=De Folkvaldas Livsvillkor, Umea Universtiy). "Sociologiska institutionen - Välkommen till oss!". http://www8.umu.se/soc/personal/Jenny%20Hanssons%20avhandlingsarbete.%20Presentation%20samt%20.pdf.