A constitutional provision for the appointment of up to 9 Nominated Members of Parliament NMPs was made in to ensure a wide representation of community views in Parliament. NMPs are appointed by the President of Singapore for a term of two and a half years on the recommendation of a Special Select Committee of Parliament chaired by the Speaker.
NMPs contribute independent and non-partisan views in Parliament. About Us Please click the links on the right to find out more on what Parliament is about.
These 20 days, divided into three supply periods, were initially intended to compensate Opposition parties for debating time lost after the major reorganization of supply proceedings -- and the abolition of the Committee of Supply -- in Theoretically, this means of surveillance is further reinforced by the fact that motions of non-confidence, challenging the continued viability of the government, may be raised eight times during the parliamentary year.
Because three such motions are allotted to each supply period, they are a potential and continued threat to the party in office. The Commons committee system also provides for the scrutiny of government activity by Members of Parliament.
Under Standing Order , the standing committees are endowed with wide surveillance powers, including the power to send for "persons, papers and records" and with certain exceptions wide powers to study and report on legislative, policy, and long-term expenditure plans and management issues related to departments within their mandates.
They are also specifically empowered to review Order in Council appointments. Legislative committees, if struck, would also be empowered to summon departmental officials and other expert witnesses, along with documents and records, in the course of their scrutiny of the legislation referred to them.
In both legislative and standing committees, Members are in a position to undertake the well-informed examination of legislation and other governmental activity. The most celebrated forum in which Members exercise their surveillance function is the daily Question Period.
In the few minutes immediately before Question Period, however, Members may attempt to chastise the government for action or inaction by making, under Standing Order 31, a statement of import to themselves and their riding. During the Question Period itself, Members may interrogate Ministers about alleged cases of mismanagement of public funds or any area of perceived government bungling.
It is hard to assess projected government spending, for example, if one lacks technical expertise, or is faced with complex departmental spending programs. House committees studying government estimates are empowered only to approve or suggest decreases in specific appropriations, not to shift government priorities. Such committees "work under the axe" -- they must report by 31 May of the fiscal year or their reports are simply deemed to have been made.
The last function of the Member of Parliament is that of "legitimation. Citizens of a democratic country like Canada respect its laws as the product of a political system they support and perceive as just. Because dissenters accept the generally perceived legitimate nature of the law-making process, they normally willingly acquiesce in of majority decisions out of respect for, and support of, the overall political system.
In legal matters, conventional wisdom posits that justice must not only be done but must also be seen to be done. Similarly, the exercise of government should take place in public. MPs play a valuable part in enhancing the perceived legitimacy of the policy process.
To the extent that Canadians perceive that their varied interests are truly represented in the House of Commons -- and duly considered by the government before it formulates legislation -- they are likely both to perceive the House of Commons as a legitimate forum for the making of public policy and to acknowledge the legitimacy of subsequent government legislation.
Another means by which the MP legitimizes the policy process is through voting. There are, however, occasions when parties "play politics" with sensitive public issues, thereby arousing public cynicism towards the policy process and its participants. The long tradition of strong partisan discipline in Canada may preclude serious discussion of important issues among political parties.
Government members may feel compelled to praise government action that Opposition parties feel compelled to denounce. When the positions taken by individual MPs on issues of concern are effectively staked out in advance by the dictates of party discipline, the credibility of MPs as seriously committed supporters or opponents of specific policies may be compromised.
Members of Parliament have many roles. In theory at least, they are to be constituency representatives and ombudsmen, orators and law-givers, policymakers and watchmen over the government and bureaucracy, loyal party members and sensitive family members. In reality, they are human beings who cannot hope to cover adequately all these bases.
As an ambitious, policy-oriented backbencher, Mark MacGuigan found that parliamentary demands were "considerable" and constituency cases "staggering. To be successful over the long run, Members of Parliament must find a balance between their personal, party, and parliamentary lives. This involves deciding which of their parliamentary roles to emphasize. A great many decide to focus on their representational role because acting as "ombudsman" in particular can offer not only political, but also the greatest personal satisfaction.
Other Members are attracted to politics to achieve certain policy and legislative goals. The reform of the procedures of the House over the past 30 years, and particularly over the past 10, has opened many more avenues by which they can exert an influence. Canadian Study of Parliament Group. Ottawa Conference. Bruce Doern and Cassandra Blais. Parliamentary Democracy in Canada. Issues for Reform. Methuen, Toronto, Franks, C. The Parliament of Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Jackson, Robert and Michael Atkinson.
The Canadian Legislative System. Macmillan, Toronto, Jackson, Robert and Doreen Jackson. Politics in Canada. Prentice-Hall Canada , MacGuigan, Mark. The Rajya Sabha is to consist of not more than members - members representing the States and Union Territories, and 12 members nominated by the President. Rajya Sabha is a permanent body and is not subject to dissolution.
However, one third of the members retire every second year, and are replaced by newly elected members. Each member is elected for a term of six years.
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