New Delhi:
The election of the Speaker and appointment of a pro-tem Speaker will be the first job ahead of newly-elected parliamentarians after the Lok Sabha results are declared tomorrow.
Lok Sabha Secretary General P Sreedharan told mediapersons today that the pro-tem Speaker, who administers the oath of office to the newly-elected members, is recommended by the parliamentary affairs ministry and is appointed by the President.
He said President Pranab Mukherjee will administer oath to the pro-tem Speaker who, in turn, will administer oath to the newly-elected members of Parliament.
As per norms, the pro-tem Speaker is usually the longest-serving member of the Lower House or one of its very senior members.
In the outgoing House, Congress leader Manikrao Gavit, who was into his ninth Lok Sabha term, was appointed the pro-tem Speaker.
CPI(M) leader Basudeb Acharia will be the longest-serving member in the 16th Lok Sabha, if he is re-elected. Mr Acharia was also into his ninth term in the outgoing Lok Sabha.
Union minister Kamal Nath was into his eighth term in the 15th Lok Sabha.
Officials said the dates for convening the Parliament session will be decided by the new government.
They said the process of oath-taking takes about two days and the Lower House then elects its Speaker. The President then addresses a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament.
However, if there is hung verdict, the President may ask the new government to prove its majority in the Lower House within a stipulated date and then address the joint sitting.
The term of the 15th Lok Sabha will end on May 31 as its first sitting was held on June 1, 2009. However, the President might dissolve it earlier.
Unlike the appointment of the pro-tem Speaker, the process of electing the Speaker can witness a contest between the ruling party and the opposition.