The next Green MP

Jeanette has said Nandor has time to think it over, but in fact he may not have much time. Rod had been declared elected an MP, even though not yet sworn in. His death triggers a vacancy under paragraph (h) of section 55(1) of the Electoral Act.

This then triggers Section 134(1) which says the Speaker “must, without delay, publish a notice of the vacancy and its cause in the Gazette”. Further the Governor-General must under 134(2) “as soon as practicable after the date of a notice published in accordance with subsection (1), issue to the Chief Electoral Officer a warrant in form 7 directing the Chief Electoral Officer to proceed forthwith to supply the vacancy”.

Now one can argue we have no Speaker at the moment, but we will have shortly, and even without a Speaker, Section 135 mandates the GG shall act for the Speaker.

The bottom line is that a notice in the Gazette must appear today or tomorrow, and an instruction to the CEO to fill the vacancy must happen at the latest by Wednesday. It arguably might all happen today.

The CEO is then obliged to fill the vacancy using Section 137 which basically says look at who is next on the list, check with the party secretary they are still a member, and then ask the candidate if they are willing to be an MP. The candidate needs to signify his or her willingness to be an MP, or it goes to the next person on the list.

Now Section 137 doesn’t use the terms “must” and “without delay” as with the earlier sections, so there may be some latitude for the CEO to decide not to demand an answer within the hour. But I strongly suspect he would not delay beyond the end of the week. If Nandor is unwilling to signify yes, then he is obliged to ask the next person on the list.