Hyderabad: AIMIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi took the oath as the pro-tem speaker of the Telangana Legislative Assembly at Raj Bhawan, Hyderabad, on Saturday. Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan administered the oath. Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy was also present on the occasion.
On Friday, Governor Soundararajan appointed Akbaruddin Owaisi as the pro-tem speaker, ahead of the first session of the third Telangana State Legislative Assembly scheduled for Saturday.
Duties of pro-tem speaker
“Pro-tem” is a Latin phrase meaning “for the time being.” The pro-tem speaker serves temporarily.
As Akbaruddin Owaisi has been appointed as pro-tem speaker, his duties will be as follow:
- Administer the oath of office to the newly elected MLAs on the first sitting of the Assembly.
- Conduct the vote for the speaker of the Assembly.
Why Akbaruddin Owaisi appointed as pro-tem speaker?
While the Indian Constitution doesn’t explicitly mention the term ‘pro-tem speaker,’ Article 180 (1) states that when the speaker or deputy speaker positions are vacant, the duties should be performed by ‘such member of the Assembly as the Governor may appoint for the purpose.’
As usually the senior-most member of the Assembly is made the pro-tem speaker, Akbaruddin Owaisi was appointed for the post.
The AIMIM MLA has been elected to the Assembly for the sixth term, representing the Chandrayangutta Assembly constituency since 1999.
