Bhubaneswar: Historically, the pro-tem Speaker is usually the most senior member of the House, who administers the oath to newly elected members and oversees the proceedings until a permanent Speaker is elected.
Even the ‘pro-tem’ post is not mentioned in the Constitution, the ‘Handbook on the Working of Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs’, however, mentions the appointment and swearing-in of pro-tem Speaker.
Since the Speaker has to be elected by a simple majority in the House, until then, a pro-tem Speaker is chosen to perform the Speaker’s duties, including the oath-taking of MPs. The word ‘pro-tem’ means ‘for the time being’ or ‘temporarily’.
According to the Article 94 of the Constitution, whenever the Lok Sabha is dissolved, the Speaker shall not vacate his office until immediately before the first meeting of the Lok Sabha after the dissolution.
Article 93 of the Constitution says that the Lok Sabha shall choose two members of the House to be the Speaker and Deputy Speaker. As the office of a Speaker or Deputy Speaker becomes vacant, the House shall choose another member to be a Speaker or Deputy Speaker, as the case may be. The Speaker is the Presiding Officer of Lok Sabha and thus have some key duties related to the day-to-day proceedings of the House.
The Controversy
The appointment of Bhartruhari Mahtab as the pro-tem Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha has been met with criticism from opposition parties, who have argued that it deviates from the traditional practice of selecting the most senior member for the role. Mahtab, a seasoned parliamentarian from the BJP, was appointed to the position on June 20 by President Droupadi Murmu.
The Congress voiced its disapproval, highlighting that its party MP Kodikunnil Suresh is an eight-term Lok Sabha member. Mahtab, who won from the Cuttack parliamentary seat for the 7th time, has been appointed despite not being the senior-most member.
In Odisha, eight-time MLA Ranendra Pratap Swain was administered oath as the Pro-tem Speaker of the Assembly by Governor Raghubar Das. Later, senior BJP leader Surama Padhy was on June 20 elected unopposed as the Speaker of the Odisha Assembly.
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