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Undersecretary (or under secretary ) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is also used in other organizational settings.

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67-437: In government, the position may be a junior government minister (e.g. a parliamentary secretary ) who assists a secretary of state . In other cases, the position may be a senior government official, frequently a career public servant , who typically acts as a senior administrator. The senior administrator may be considered a second-in-command to a politically appointed cabinet minister or other government official (e.g. in

134-527: A Government , a political party or alliance usually requires a simple majority in Parliament. Since Bangladesh's independence, the prime minister has concurrently held the position of Leader of the House . The Parliament of Barbados is the legislative branch of the government of Barbados. It is a bicameral body, composed of an appointed Senate and an elected House of Assembly. The Senate (upper house),

201-583: A Member of Parliament refers to a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka (since 1978), the National State Assembly (1972–78) and the House of Representatives of Ceylon (1947–72), the lower house of the Parliament of Ceylon . Members are elected in a general elections or appointed from the national lists allocated to parties (and independent groups) in proportion to their share of

268-506: A general election , usually held once every five years unless Parliament is dissolved sooner by the president on the advice of the prime minister . Under the Constitution of Bangladesh , an individual is required to be a citizen of Bangladesh and must have attained the age of 25 years in order to qualify for election to Parliament. The Parliament consists of 300 directly elected members from general seats elected by use of first past

335-427: A government department and members of the government's ministry, cabinet and perhaps of a committee of cabinet. Some ministers may be more senior than others, and some may hold the title ' assistant minister ' or ' deputy minister '. Some jurisdictions, with a large number of ministers, may designate ministers to be either in the inner or outer ministry or cabinet. In some jurisdictions—such as Hong Kong , Mexico ,

402-694: A legal fiction allows voluntary resignation between elections; as MPs are forbidden from holding an " office of profit under the Crown", an MP wishing to resign will apply for the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds or the Stewardship of the Manor of Northstead which are nominally such paid offices and thus result in the MP vacating their seat. (Accepting a salaried ministerial office does not amount to

469-646: A deputy secretary, or a director to the Government of India . In Italy , Undersecretary is a second-in-command to a politically appointed Minister. In particular, he/she is appointed with a President of the Republic Decree, on proposal of the Prime Minister, who previously agreed such proposal with the relevant Minister. In the Netherlands, a State Secretary ( Dutch : staatssecretaris )

536-577: A first-past-the-post basis in single-seat constituencies. The Parliament of Canada consists of the monarch , the Senate and the House of Commons . Only members of the House of Commons are referred to as members of Parliament ( French : député ); members of the Senate are called Senators (French: sénateur ). There are currently 105 seats in the Senate and 338 in the House of Commons. Members of Parliament are elected, while senators are appointed by

603-406: A general election for a three-year term. There are 72 electorate MPs, of which seven are elected only by Māori who have chosen to be registered on a separate Māori electoral roll. The remaining members are elected by proportional representation from published party lists . Since 1907, members of the House of Representatives have been referred to as 'Member of Parliament', abbreviated MP. From

670-409: A member of Parliament. 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 . The prime minister, deputy prime minister and Tuns who are members of Parliament are styled Yang Amat Berhormat ("Most Honourable"), abbreviated Y.A.B. The Parliament of Malta consists of

737-500: A minister must resign from the legislature. Normally the leader of the majority party becomes the prime minister , or an office of equivalent function, and selects the other ministers. In the Westminster system, these ministers continue to represent their constituency in parliament while being part of the government. Individuals who are not in parliament may be appointed as a minister, usually in order to bring special skills to

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804-487: A paid office under the Crown for these purposes.) The House of Lords is a legislative chamber that is part of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Although they are part of the parliament, its members are referred to as peers , more formally as Lords of Parliament , not MPs. Lords Temporal sit for life, Lords Spiritual while they occupy their ecclesiastical positions. Hereditary peers may no longer pass on

871-547: A seat in the House of Lords to their heir automatically. The 92 who remain have been elected from among their own number, following the House of Lords Act 1999 and are the only elected members of the Lords. Members of the National Assembly , the lower house of Parliament , are styled "members of Parliament", while members of the Senate , the upper house, are referred to as "senators". Member of Parliament can be

938-619: Is a democratic parliamentary system of government modelled after the politics of the United Kingdom . This term comes from the Palace of Westminster , the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . At the Commonwealth level, a "member of parliament" is a member of the House of Representatives , the lower house of the Commonwealth (federal) parliament . Members may use the postnominal "MP" after their names. "MHR" ("Member of

1005-506: Is a politician who heads a ministry , making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister ', ' premier ', ' chief minister ', ' chancellor ' or other title. In Commonwealth realm jurisdictions which use the Westminster system of government, ministers are usually required to be members of one of

1072-678: Is a member of either of the two chambers of the Parliament of Austria ( Österreichisches Parlament ). The members of the Nationalrat are called Abgeordnete zum Nationalrat . The members of the Bundesrat , elected by the provincial diets ( Landtage ) of the nine federal States of Austria , are known as Mitglieder des Bundesrats . In Bulgaria there are 240 members of Parliament ( Bulgarian : Народно събрание / Парламент ; transliteration Narodno sabranie / Parlament), which are called 'Deputati' (singular Deputat). Moreover, there are 240 MPs in

1139-695: Is a position created in 2008 to work closely with bureau secretaries and top civil servants to implement the Chief Executive 's policy blueprint and agenda in an executive-led government. The appointment of undersecretaries and political assistants is an extension of the Principal Officials Accountability System into today's Political Appointments System . In India , undersecretary is an officer level secretariat post in central ministries, tenanted by officers of various civil services, usually promoted officers from

1206-631: Is a senior official in a government department, junior to a departmental Secretary such as the Secretary of State and usually junior to a Deputy Secretary as well. An Undersecretary is typically a political appointee. They may head specific sub-departments or agencies such as the Defense Intelligence Agency , or be responsible for a specific area of policy within the department, e.g. the Undersecretary for Management within

1273-476: Is commonly used. In bicameral legislatures, members of the lower house ( legislative assembly or house of assembly ) also use the post-nominals "MLA" or "MHA" and members of the upper house ( legislative council ) use "MLC". MLCs are informally refer to as upper house MPs. The Parliament of the Bahamas is the bicameral national parliament of Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The parliament is formally made up by

1340-482: Is equal, then there is no election and the reserved seats are filled in accordance with the candidate lists prepared by parties. In the event there are more candidates than seat allocations, the 300 MPs elected from general seats vote through use of the single transferable vote system to determine the reserved seats. In reality, there has never been an election for reserved seats as parties have never nominated more candidates than they have been allocated. In order to form

1407-446: Is not subject to dissolution, and one third of the members retire every two years. Vacancies in both houses, whether because of death or resignation of a member, must be filled by using a bypoll within six months of the vacancy; the newly elected member then only serves the remainder of the term of the seat to which they are elected. The number of seats in both houses is regulated by the Constitution and parliamentary statutes . Since

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1474-551: Is the title of a junior member of the Cabinet of the Netherlands ; they are sometimes referred to as Undersecretaries. They take over part of the portfolio of a certain minister and fall under the responsibility of that minister, but are at the same time also separately responsible to the States General of the Netherlands . They do not attend the weekly Council of Ministers unless specifically invited. Some are allowed to use

1541-422: Is then known as a " minister without portfolio ". Member of Parliament A member of parliament ( MP ) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district . Members of parliament typically form parliamentary groups , sometimes called caucuses , with members of the same political party . Many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of

1608-479: The British political system. A Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State is a junior member of the government, always an MP or a peer from the governing party, who is appointed to assist a Secretary of State or other government minister. They rank between a Minister of State and a Parliamentary Private Secretary ; the rank is usually seen as a stepping-stone to higher political office. The title originated in

1675-596: The Department of State . Before 1972, "Undersecretary" (also spelled "Under Secretary") signified the senior deputy to a cabinet Secretary, especially of State and Treasury. The office of Under Secretary of State was replaced by the Deputy Secretary of State and the office of Under Secretary of the Treasury was replaced by the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury . Minister (government) A minister

1742-680: The Islamabad Capital Territory is represented by four senators. A member of the Senate of Pakistan (a senator) has a tenure of six years. Member of Parliament refers to elected members of the Parliament of Singapore , the appointed Non-constituency Member 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. In Sri Lanka ,

1809-722: The Philippines , the United Kingdom , and the United States —holders of an equivalent cabinet-level post are called secretaries (e.g., the Home Secretary in the United Kingdom, Secretary of State in the United States). Some holders of a cabinet-level post may have another title, such as ' Attorney-General ' or ' Postmaster-General '. The term 'minister' also is used in diplomacy, for a diplomat of

1876-520: The Senate parliamentarian in the United States. The term is aMembers of parliament typically form parliamentary groups , sometimes called caucuses , with members of the same political party .lso used to the characteristic of performing the duties of a member of a legislature, for example: "The two party leaders often disagreed on issues, but both were excellent parliamentarians and cooperated to get many good things done." The Westminster system

1943-420: The United Kingdom and Australia —ministers or their equivalents are selected from the legislature, and usually from the political party that controls a majority in the lower house of the legislature. In jurisdictions with strict separation of powers —such as Belgium , Mexico , Netherlands , Philippines , and the United States —ministers cannot be members of the legislature, and a legislator chosen to become

2010-663: The Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) and two houses, the Dewan Rakyat (the House of Representatives ) and Dewan Negara (the Senate ). The term "members of Parliament" only refers to members of the Dewan Rakyat . In Malay , a member of Parliament is called Ahli Parlimen , or less formally wakil rakyat (people's representative). Members of Parliament are elected from population-based single-seat constituencies using first-past-the-post voting . The prime minister must be

2077-444: The counties and 12 members are nominated representatives. Kenya also has 47 elected senators from 47 counties; who sit in the Senate parliament. The senators oversee the counties, which are run by governors- also democratically elected. There are also members of county assembly. They are elected from each ward, and seat in county assemblies to oversee and make laws for their respective counties. The Parliament of Malaysia consists of

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2144-545: The governor general on behalf of the sovereign at the direction of the prime minister . Retirement is mandatory for senators upon reaching the age of 75 years. Each province (and territory) has its own legislature, with each member usually known as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). In certain provinces, legislators carry other titles: Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in Ontario , Member of

2211-426: The lower house since upper house members often have a different title. The terms congressman / congresswoman or deputy are equivalent terms used in other jurisdictions. The term parliamentarian is also sometimes used for members of parliament, but this may also be used to refer to unelected government officials with specific roles in a parliament and other expert advisers on parliamentary procedure such as

2278-547: The second class , such as in the title Minister Plenipotentiary , ranking between an Ambassador and a Minister Resident . The term minister comes from Middle English , deriving from the Old French word ministre , originally minister in Latin , meaning "servant, attendant", which itself was derived from the word ' minus ' meaning "less". In jurisdictions that use the Westminster system of government—such as

2345-399: The 17th century. The title secretary of state in the government of England has also been in use since the early 17th century. In contrast, a Permanent Under-Secretary of State is the full title of a Permanent Secretary , a senior civil servant employed to head a government department and oversee the implementation of policy. In the United States executive branch , an undersecretary

2412-546: The 1860s until 1907 they were designated as 'Member of the House of Representatives', abbreviated 'MHR'. Between the first general election, in 1853 , and the 1860s, the designation was "Member of the General Assembly", abbreviated MGA. Before 1951, New Zealand had an upper house, the Legislative Council , whose members were appointed. A member of Parliament is a member of either of the two houses of

2479-704: The Dáil", and addressed as "Teachta" (Deputy), while a Member of the Seanad is known and addressed as Seanadóir (Senator). These titles are used much more commonly in English than the official Irish. A member of Parliament was the term used to refer to a member of the pre-1801 Irish House of Commons of the Parliament of Ireland . Irish members elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland were also called members of Parliament from 1801 to 1922. Northern Ireland continues to elect MPs to

2546-950: The Group 'B' (section officers) of the Central Secretariat Service , or the newly appointed officers of the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Foreign Service , or other Group 'A' services on deputation in the central government in early stages of their careers with a minimum of 7–8 years of service. Officers in this capacity further manage desk or section officers within a ministry or central regulatory body. Undersecretaries occupy gazetted civil service posts in India, unlike in some Western democracies, where they are political appointees. An undersecretary will typically report to

2613-408: The House of Representatives (Privileges and Powers) Ordinance. The Parliament of Nauru consists of 18 seats. Members of Parliament are entitled to use the prefix The Honourable . The New Zealand Parliament is made up of the monarch and the unicameral House of Representatives . A member of Parliament is a member of the House of Representatives, which has a minimum of 120 members, elected at

2680-574: The House of Representatives") was not used, which was affirmed by cabinet in 1901 and reaffirmed in 1951 and 1965. However, the prohibition of "MHR" does not appear to have been strictly enforced, as it was used most recently by Tony Abbott when he was in the parliament (1994–2019). A member of the upper house of the Commonwealth Parliament, the Senate , is known as a "Senator". In the Australian states and territories , "MP"

2747-611: The National Assembly (MNA) in Quebec ( French : député ) and Member of the House of Assembly (MHA) in Newfoundland and Labrador . The provincial upper houses were eliminated between 1876 ( Manitoba ) and 1968 (Quebec). In Gibraltar, members of parliament serve in the unicameral Gibraltar Parliament . There are 17 seats in the Parliament, to which candidates are elected by block voting . Each candidate represents

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2814-548: The Pakistani Parliament: the National Assembly of Pakistan and Senate of Pakistan . The National Assembly of Pakistan has a total of 342 members, of whom 272 are directly elected, and 70 seats are reserved for women and minorities. A member of the National Assembly of Pakistan (MNA) has a tenure of five years. On the other hand, there are 104 members of the Senate of Pakistan, in which all four provinces are represented by 23 senators regardless of population, while

2881-410: The Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Parliament of Jamaica is the legislative branch of the government of Jamaica. It is a bicameral body, composed of an appointed Senate and an elected House of Representatives. The Senate (upper house), the direct successor of a pre-Independence body known as the "Legislative Council"—comprises 21 senators appointed by the governor-general: thirteen on the advice of

2948-735: The Spanish Government, the Undersecretary is a political appointee charged with the daily representation of a ministry, the management of the common services and personnel. The position is equivalent to the British Permanent Secretary . The Undersecretary reports to the Minister, and is appointed by the King on the advice of the Council of Ministers . The title of Under-Secretary is used in two different contexts in

3015-555: The United States), or they may be considered a head or chief executive of a government department (e.g. a permanent secretary ). Some systems of government have both types of position, as in the United Kingdom where the title has been in use since the 17th century. In the Holy See , undersecretary is a title given to senior administrative officials working in the dicasteries of the Roman Curia . In Hong Kong , undersecretary

3082-417: The absence of an opposition leader in parliament (i.e. in the case of a landslide victory where one party takes all 30 seats in the House of Assembly, as occurred in 2018 and 2022) the president will then appoint the remaining two senators in the opposition's stead allowing for 9 independents instead. The House of Assembly (lower house) is made up of 30 members of Parliament, elected to five-year terms on

3149-486: The creation of legislation. Elections to Dáil Éireann are held at least every five years using the single transferable vote; while elections to Seanad Éireann are restricted to members of both houses, elected members of local authorities, and alumni of National University of Ireland colleges. Eleven senators are nominated directly by the Taoiseach . A Member of Dáil Éireann is known as a Teachta Dála (TD) or "Deputy to

3216-531: The day on which it first met." ( Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 ). A candidate to become an MP must be a British or Irish or Commonwealth citizen, be at least 18 years of age (reduced from 21 in 2006), and not be a public official or officeholder, as set out in the schedule to the Electoral Administration Act 2006 . Technically, MPs have no right to resign their seats (though they may refuse to seek re-election). However

3283-745: The direct successor of a pre-Independence body known as the "Legislative Council"—comprises 21 senators appointed by the president. The President appoints 12 Senators on the advice of the Prime Minister and two on the advice of the Leader of the Opposition.The remaining seven Senators are nominated by the President at their discretion (that is, the President is not bound by other political leaders' advice in these appointments) to represent various religious, social, economic, or other interests in Barbados. In

3350-400: The elected House of Representatives, which has 41 members elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies, and the Senate which has 31 members appointed by the president: 16 government senators appointed on the advice of the prime minister, 6 opposition senators appointed on the advice of the leader of the opposition and 9 independent senators appointed by

3417-628: The formation of the Irish Free State in 1922 and subsequently in the Republic of Ireland , the legislature of Ireland is known as the Oireachtas , and consists of the president; the upper house, Seanad Éireann (or Senate); and lower house, Dáil Éireann (Assembly, or House of Representatives). They are functionally similar to other bicameral parliaments, with the lower house being significantly more influential and having more power over

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3484-399: The government. In the United Kingdom, a government minister does not have to be a member of either House of Parliament. In practice, however, convention is that ministers must be members of either the House of Commons or House of Lords in order to be accountable to Parliament. From time to time, prime ministers appoint non-parliamentarians as ministers. This can be done by first appointing

3551-527: The greatest number of representatives in both houses. The person which secures the support of more than half the seats in the Lok Sabha forms the Government . To form the government, parties may form a coalition. The term of a member of the Rajya Sabha is six years, while Lok Sabha members are elected for a term of five years, unless the house is dissolved sooner. Rajya Sabha is a permanent house that

3618-473: The houses of Parliament or legislature , and are usually from the political party that controls a majority in the lower house of the legislature. In other jurisdictions—such as Belgium , Mexico , Netherlands , Philippines , Slovenia , and Nigeria —the holder of a cabinet-level post or other government official is not permitted to be a member of the legislature. Depending on the administrative arrangements in each jurisdiction, ministers are usually heads of

3685-547: The monarch (represented by the governor-general), an appointed Senate, and an elected House of Assembly. It currently sits at Nassau, the national capital. The structure, functions, and procedures of the parliament are based on the Westminster system. In Bangladesh , a member of parliament is an individual who serves in the unicameral Jatiya Sangsad or House of the Nation. Members of the Jatiya Sangsad are elected at

3752-416: The national vote at a general election. A candidate to become an MP must be a Sri Lankan citizen and can be a holder of dual-citizenship in any other country, be at least 18 years of age, and not be a public official or officeholder. The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago is the legislative branch of the government of Trinidad and Tobago. The Parliament is bicameral. It consists of

3819-550: The normal parliament and 400 in the "Great Parliament". The Great Parliament is elected when a new constitution is needed. There have been seven Great Parliaments in modern Bulgarian history , in 1879, 1881, 1886, 1893, 1911, 1946 and 1990. MPs in Bulgaria are called депутати ( deputies) . The member of parliament ( Khmer : សមាជិកសភា ) refers to the elected members of the National Assembly . There are 125 members of parliament in total. They are also alternatively called member of

3886-599: The person to the House of Lords. Various countries form ministries as Cabinets (see List of cabinets ). Other cabinets are usually included in Politics of .. -articles Specific ministers include: Some ministers may hold multiple portfolios and lead several ministries simultaneously, while multiple ministers with separate portfolios may oversee a single ministry, or may also share both ministerial and deputy-ministerial portfolios in different ministries. A cabinet minister can sometimes be in charge of no ministry at all, and

3953-484: The post who represent single-constituencies, while 50 seats are reserved exclusively for women and are allocated on a proportional basis . After an election, the Election Commission allocates reserved seats to parties based on the number of general seats they won. A party then presents a list of candidates, each requiring a presenter and a seconder. If the number of candidates presented and seats allocated

4020-522: The president of Malta and the House of Representatives of 69 members (article 51 of the Constitution), 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 Parliament. The Constitution lists the qualifications and disqualifications from serving as a member of Parliament. Privileges of members of Parliament and their Code of Ethics are laid out in

4087-461: The president to represent other sectors of civil society. The United Kingdom elects members of its parliament: and four devolved legislatures: MPs are elected in general elections and by-elections to represent constituencies , and may remain MPs until Parliament is dissolved. "If it has not been dissolved earlier, a Parliament dissolves at the beginning of the day that is the fifth anniversary of

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4154-407: The prime minister and eight on the advice of the leader of the opposition. The House of Representatives, the lower house, is made up of 63 (previously 60) members of Parliament, elected to five-year terms on a first-past-the-post basis in single-seat constituencies. The National Assembly of Kenya has a total of 349 seats; 205 members are elected from the constituencies , 47 women are elected from

4221-492: The state legislatures and 9 belongs to the union territories of Delhi , Puducherry , and Jammu and Kashmir , and are elected by using the single transferable vote method of proportional representation . The remaining 12 members are nominated by the president for their contributions to art, literature, science, and social services. Each state has a fixed number of representatives allocated in each chamber, in order of their respective populations. The state of Uttar Pradesh has

4288-580: The takeover of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in August 2021, a member of parliament (MP) was a member of the lower house of the bicameral National Assembly of Afghanistan : a member of the Wolesi Jirga (House of People) held one of the in total 250 seats in the lower house. The 102 members of the upper house Meshrano Jirga (House of Elders) were called Senators. A member of Parliament

4355-793: The term (often a translation) for representatives in parliamentary democracies that do not follow the Westminster system and who are usually referred to in a different fashion, such as deputé in France, deputato in Italy, deputat in Bulgaria, parlamentario or diputado in Spain and Spanish-speaking Latin America, deputado in Portugal and Brazil, and Mitglied des Bundestages (MdB) in Germany. However, better translations are often possible. Prior to

4422-406: The title "minister" in meetings with foreign colleagues who are responsible for the same topic area (who may be ministers). In Portugal the level of undersecretary is not a pro-forma echelon in the executive hierarchy. Such posts are created on an ad hoc basis as required. It is the lowest rung in the executive power. There is currently only one undersecretary of State in the present government. In

4489-500: The whole of Gibraltar as their constituency. A member of Parliament is a member of either of the two houses of the Indian Parliament : Lok Sabha (lower house) and Rajya Sabha (upper house). Lok Sabha has 543 seats, all of whom are directly elected by the citizens of India from each parliamentary constituency of states and union territories via first-past-the-post voting . Rajya Sabha can have 245 members, of which 238 members are indirectly elected. Of these 238 members, 229 belong to

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