India (Commonwealth Union)_ As the House of Representatives met on the opening day of the session, the newly-elected Speaker A.M. Shamseer made the announcement that the current session of the Kerala Assembly will feature an all-female panel of chairpersons, and this will be the first in the history of the state. The panel is made up of parliamentarians from the ruling front, including U.Prathibha from the CPI-M and C.K and Asha from the CPI, as well as K.K.Rema from the opposition.
The proceedings in the assembly are overseen and mediated by the speaker. However, when the speaker needs a break, the deputy speaker takes over, and if neither of them is present, a member of the panel assumes the position of speaker. Interestingly, Shamseer made the choice and declared it on the first day while sitting in the Speaker’s chair.Following M.V.Govindan’s resignation to become the new state secretary of the CPI-M, Speaker M.B.Rajesh was appointed as the state LSG and Excise Minister, opening the door for Shamseer to become the next speaker.
Members are appointed on the opening day of a new session and remain in office until the session concludes. Accordingly, there is a strong possibility that the continuing dispute between the Pinarayi Vijayan-led administration and Governor Arif Mohammed Khan may continue into the New Year, despite the nine-day duration of the current session. As a result, Vijayan will be able to prevent Khan from delivering the traditional governor’s speech to the Assembly during the first session of the new calendar year. Thus, the all-female panel will be allowed to preside when the state budget for the next fiscal year is presented in the New Year. So far, a total of 515 lawmakers have been proposed for membership in the panel since the founding of Kerala, but only 32 women legislators have reached the panel yet.
