Bill: Proposed Parliamentary Standing Orders - 7th Parliament

[xXLordLyonXx]

Standing Orders for the Azalean Parliament - 7th Parliament​

1. Quorum
(a) More than 50% of all Parliamentary seats should be filled for Parliament to function.
(i) Seats with suspended Members still count as a filled seat.
(ii) Empty seats due to resignations or criminal expulsions will not be counted toward the total number of seats, unless a by election has been officially announced.
(b) Members wishing to take a leave of absence can make an official request to the Speaker
(i) A specific period must be agreed on with the Speaker, or the Member will be listed as having failed to vote.
(ii) Members on leave can appoint a proxy voter. Their votes will be counted alongside the selected proxy voter’s own vote.

2. Enforcement of Parliamentary Rules
(a) Failure to abide by Parliamentary rules can result in Suspension from Parliament at the Speaker’s discretion.
(i) Suspensions must be no longer than 24 hours per infraction.
(ii) Suspensions must be announced within 48 hours of an infraction.
(iii) Members will have their vote discounted if they are suspended at any point during the period that a vote is open.
(iv) Suspended Members may not participate in votes which overlap their suspension by any amount of time.
(v) Suspended Members may not take part in debates during their suspension period.

(b) If MPs believe the Speaker has behaved in a non-impartial manner through any suspension, Parliament may hold a vote of no-confidence in the Speaker
(i) This vote can be called by any Member, so long as it has the clearly stated support of two other Members prior to calling the vote.
(ii) Suspended Members are allowed to participate in votes of no-confidence against the Speaker.

3. Voting Procedures
(a) Votes shall be conducted by an electronic tally with the options: Aye, Nay, or Abstain
(b) Any ballot must remain open for 48 hours to ensure Members have ample chance to submit their vote.
(i) Bills may be put forward for royal assent as soon as 100% of votes are submitted, even if the 48 hours has not elapsed.

4. Motions and Resolutions
(a) Any Member may propose a motion or resolution by submitting it in writing to the Speaker.
(b) Motions will take effect as soon as a majority has been reached and do not require all members to submit a vote.
(i) Motions will not be recorded and any failure to vote cannot be used as justification for punishment or admonishment by any member of the house.

5. Sessions and Recesses
(a) The Speaker may recess Parliament for a total of no more than two weeks per term.
(b) During a recess, bills may be proposed, but not debated or called to vote.
(c) Any Member may call for a vote to end an existing recess, so long as they have the clearly stated support of two other Members prior to calling for the vote. The vote requires a majority in favor to end the recess.
(d) When a recess is called, voting will finish on all bills currently in voting. Debate will be paused until Parliament returns to session.
(e) The Speaker may end a recess at any time.