Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the
term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often
have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its
members, such as senators. Members of parliament tend to form parliamentary parties with members of the
same political
party. The term Member of Parliament is often shortened in the media
and in every day use to the initialism "MP".Contents [hide]1Westminster system1.1Australi1.2Bangladesh1.3Canada1.4India1.5Ireland1.6Kenya[edit]Westminster system
Main article: Westminster
system[edit]Australia
In Australia, the term "Member
of Parliament" refers to Members of the House of Representatives,
the lower house of the Commonwealth parliament. Members may use "MP" after their
names - previously "MHR" was used but this is not current. The members of the
upper house of the Commonwealth parliament, the Senate, are known as "Senators".
In New South Wales and Victoria, Members of the Legislative
Assembly (lower house) use the post-nominal "MP", but Members of the Legislative
Council (upper house) use "MLC".[edit]Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, members of the
Jatiyo Shangshad, or National Assembly, are
elected every five years and are referred to in English as Members of
Parliament. The assembly has 345 seats, including 45 reserved for women.[edit]Canada
In Canada, the Parliament of
Canada consists of the upper house, the Senate of Canada, and
the lower house, the Canadian House of Commons, but only
members of the lower house are referred to as Members of Parliament (French: député) in common usage. There are 105 seats in the
Senate and 308 in the House of Commons.[1][edit]India
In India, the term Member of
Parliament refers to all the members of the Sansad, the Indian Parliament, whether in
the chamber of the Lok Sabha or
in that called the Rajya
Sabha.
Members of the Lok Sabha are elected popularly by constituencies in each of
the Indian states and Union territories, while members of the Rajya Sabha are elected
indirectly by the State legislatures. Each state is allocated a fixed number of
representatives in each chamber, with the state of Uttar Pradesh having the greatest number. The
central government is formed by the party or coalition which has the greatest
number of directly elected members in the Lok Sabha.[edit]Ireland
In Ireland, the term Member of
Parliament can refer to the members of the pre-1801 Irish House
of Commons of the Parliament of Ireland. It can also refer
to Irish members elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland from 1801 to 1922.Northern
Ireland continues to elect MPs to the modern Parliament of the United
Kingdom.
Following the formation of the Irish Free State in (1922) , independent from
the United Kingdom, members of the lower house of the Republic of Ireland (1949)
, Dáil Éireann
(or "the Dáil") are termed Teachtaí Dála (Teachta Dála singular) or TDs. The upper
house is called Seanad Éireann. Its members are called
Seanadóirí or Senators.
See also: Member of Parliament
(pre-Union Ireland)[edit]Kenya
The National Assembly of Kenya consists
of 210 elected members and twelve who are nominated, all being called Members of
Parliament.[2][edit]Malaysia
Main article: Parliament of
Malaysia
The Malaysian Parliament is modeled after
the Parliament of the United
Kingdom and consists of two houses, known as the Dewan Rakyat, which is the House of
Representatives, and Dewan Negara, the Senate.
The members of the Dewan Rakyat are elected in general elections or
by-elections, whereas the
members of the Dewan Negara are either appointed by the king, in recognition of outstanding service to
their country or chosen by the states. Each state appoints a number of senators
proportional to its size.
Members of Parliament are styled Yang Berhormat ("Honourable") with
the initials Y.B. appended prenominally. A prince who is a Member of Parliament is styled Yang
Berhormat Mulia.[edit]Malta
The Parliament of Malta consists of the
President of Malta and the House of Representatives currently made up of 69
members (article 51 of the Constitution). Only these members of the House are
referred to as "Members of Parliament" (article 52(1) of the Constitution). When
appointed from outside the House, the Speaker is also considered a member of the
House (although usually not referred to as "Member of Parliament") except when a
vote on a bill amending the Constitution is taken (article 52(2) of the
Constitution). The Constitution lists the qualifications and disqualifications
from serving as a Member of Parliament[3].
Privileges of Members of Parliament as well as their Code of Ethics are laid
out in the House of Representatives (Privileges and Powers) Ordinance[4].[edit]Nauru
The Parliament of Nauru consists of 18 seats
and is the legislative institution of the Republic of Nauru. The Parliament House is located in the
Yaren district. Members of Parliament are
entitled to use the prefix The Honourable.[edit]New Zealand
Main articles: New Zealand
Parliament and New Zealand electionsNew Zealand has a unicameral (or
singe chamber) parliament, namely the New Zealand House of
Representatives, although parliament technically consists of the House and
the monarch. Member of Parliament is
now the term for a member of the House of Representatives, which normally has
120 members, elected at a general election every three years. There are
69 constituency members, seven of whom are
elected by the Māori who have chosen
to vote in special Māori
seats, while the remaining 51 members are elected by proportional representation from party
lists.
Before 1951, New Zealand had a bicameral (or two-chamber) parliament, and there
were two designations: Member of the House of Representatives, abbreviated MHR,
the body which survives today, and Member of the Legislative Council,
abbreviated MLC.[edit]Pakistan
In Pakistan, Member of
Parliament refers to a member of Parliament (National Assembly of Pakistan,
Qaumi Assembly). The National Assembly is based in Islamabad.[edit]Singapore
In Singapore, Members of
Parliament refers to elected members of the Parliament
of Singapore, the appointed Non-Constituency Members of
Parliament from the opposition, as well as the Nominated Members of Parliament,
who may be appointed from members of the public who have no connection to any
political party in Singapore.
See also: Cabinet of
Singapore and Members of the Singapore
Parliament[edit]Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, Members of
Parliament refers to elected members of the Parliament
of Sri Lanka and National List Member of
Parliament, who are nominated by the contending parties (and independent
groups) in proportion to their share of the national vote. A government is
formed by the party or group that has the support of the majority of MPs.
See also: Cabinet of Sri
Lanka and Parliament of Sri Lanka[edit]United Kingdom
See also: List
of United Kingdom MPs, List of Parliaments of
the United Kingdom, MPs elected in the UK
general election, 2010, Number of Westminster MPs, and Salaries of Members of the
UK Parliament
The United Kingdom
contains members of three different parliaments:
- the Parliament of the United Kingdom, in which only members elected at irregular intervals to the (lower) House of Commons are referred to as Members of Parliament, abbreviated to MP(s)
- the European Parliament, in which members representing the whole of the UK are elected every five years and are called Members of the European Parliament (MEPs)
- the Scottish Parliament, in which members representing the whole of Scotland are elected every four years and are called Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs)