The Turks and Caicos Islands Constitution Order 2006

The Speaker and Deputy Speaker

42.—(1) When the House of Assembly first meets after a general election, or after the office of Speaker has fallen vacant for any reason other than a dissolution of the House, and before it proceeds to the despatch of any other business, the House shall elect a person to be Speaker of the House.

(2) The Speaker shall be elected from among the elected or appointed members of the House of Assembly who are not members of the Cabinet or from among persons who are not members of the House, and shall be elected by a majority of the votes of the elected and appointed members of the House; but no person shall be elected as Speaker who is not qualified to be an appointed member or who would for any reason be disqualified from being an appointed member.

(3) When the House of Assembly first meets after a general election, and before it proceeds to the despatch of any other business except the election of a Speaker, it shall elect a member, from among the elected or appointed members of the House who are not members of the Cabinet, to be the Deputy Speaker, by a majority of the votes of the elected and appointed members of the House; and if the office of Deputy Speaker falls vacant for any reason other than a dissolution of the House, the House shall, as soon as convenient, elect another such member to that office.

(4) A person shall vacate the office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker—

(a) on dissolution of the House of Assembly;

(b) if he or she informs the House of Assembly, by writing under his or her hand addressed to the House and received by the Clerk of the House, that he or she resigns his or her office;

(c) (i) in any circumstances which, in the case of the Speaker, would cause him or her to vacate his or her seat if he or she were an appointed member; or

(ii) in the case of the Deputy Speaker, if he or she ceases to be a member of the House of Assembly;

(d) if on the date of his or her election as Speaker or Deputy Speaker he or she is a party to, or a partner in a firm or a director or manager of a company which is a party to, any contract with the Government, or if on any date after such election he or she or a firm in which he or she is a partner or a company of which he or she is a director or manager becomes a party to any such contract, or if he or she becomes a partner in a firm or a director or manager of a company which is a party to any such contract, and he or she does not, before the expiration of thirty days from the date in question, disclose to the House of Assembly or, if that is impracticable, to the Clerk of the House in writing, the nature of such contract and his or her interest, or the interest of such firm or company, in it and the House does not exempt him or her from vacating his or her office under this paragraph;

(e) if he or she becomes a member of the Cabinet; or

(f) on the passing, by the votes of two-thirds of the elected and appointed members, of a motion expressing no confidence in him or her as Speaker or Deputy Speaker, as the case may be.