Who is a Pro Tem or Pro Tempore Speaker in India?

Speaker Pro Tem

Pro tempore, abbreviated pro tem, is a Latin phrase which best translates to “for the time being” in English. Legislative bodies can have one or more pro tempore for the post of presiding officer. These positions ostensibly go to legislators experienced in floor debate who are familiar with the content and application of relevant rules and precedents and who have a reputation for fairness among their colleagues.

Second Proviso to Article 94 states that the office of the Speaker becomes vacant immediately before the first meeting of the new Lok Sabha.

Article 94 Proviso 2– “Provided further that, whenever the House of the People is dissolved, the Speaker shall not vacate his office until immediately before the first meeting of the House of the People after the dissolution”.

As soon as the new Government is formed, the Legislative Section prepares a list of the senior most Lok Sabha Members. The list is then submitted to the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs/Prime Minister for identifying a Member as Speaker pro tem and another three members as persons before any of whom the other Members may make or subscribe the oath/affirmation. Thereafter, the Minister submits a note to the President seeking his approval to the appointment of the Speaker pro tem and the other three Members and also seeking the convenience of the President to the date and time of the swearing in ceremony.

During the XIV Lok Sabha, the Member of Parliament proposed to be appointed as the Speaker pro tem was also to be subsequently proposed for election as Speaker. Under the circumstances, a question arose as to whether two Speakers pro tem are to be appointed in order to have a different Speaker pro tem in the Chair at the time of election of the Speaker. It was decided to have two pro tem Speakers.

  

After approval of the President, the Ministry informs the Speaker pro tem and other Members regarding their appointment. The President administers the oath to the Speaker pro tem in the Rashtrapati Bhawan. The other three Members appointed by the President to assist him in administering the oath/ affirmation are administered the oath/affirmation by the Speaker pro tem in the Lok Sabha. The Speaker pro tem then administers the oath / affirmation to the newly elected Members with the help of the three persons so appointed by the President.

Even in situations where both the speaker and the deputy speaker posts in the House may lie vacant, (death, resignation etc.), the tasks in the House could be undertaken under the pro tem Speaker. The first pro tem Speaker of Lok Sabha was Shri G.V. Mavalankar in the First Lok Sabha.