News

New Speaker of Parliament to be elected today

February 11, 2019 8:02 am

Acting Secretary General to Parliament, Viniana Namosimalua

A new speaker is expected to be elected in parliament today.

The Opposition members have confirmed they will again nominate Tanya Waqanika while the nominee from government is yet to be confirmed.

It has been confirmed that parliament will have to follow the secret ballot process to elect the new speaker of parliament.

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Secretary General to Parliament, Viniana Namosimalua says the process will allow both the opposition and the government to nominate names and vote for who they think can become the next Speaker.

Namosimalua clarifies that the constitution states that whenever there is a requirement to fill a vacancy, Parliament elects by simple majority vote.

This is the same process that was carried out when the late speaker Dr Jiko Luveni was appointed.

Meanwhile, Veena Bhatnagar is currently the Deputy Speaker of the house.