User:Eolais/Sandbox/Humble Questions

Humble Questions (also known as Leader's Questions and Lord Councillor's Questions) is a constitutional convention in Eroea, it is where the entire Cabinet assemble in the House of Councillors to take questions on the program for government. Traditionally, all questions are directed at the Lord Councillor unless they are absent or yield their time to a frontbench minister. The convention is formally titled Humble Addresses by Loyal Opposition Councillors to His Imperial Majesty's Chief Councillors and Parliamentary Lords, however, due to the tediousness of this name, it is rarely referred to as such. Humble Questions is considered one of the most important parliamentary institutions due to its influence over government matters.

Procedure
Humble Questions takes place every Friday at either 10:30 or 16:00, depending on the ability of the Lord Councillor. If the time needs to be changed, a motion is normally proposed during the Business Statement to change the time, which is read by the Custodian of the House or the First Minister each Wednesday afternoon. If the Lord Councillor is unable to attend the scheduled time for Humble Questions, the next senior Cabinet official takes their place; by convention this is the Deputy Lord Councillor or First Minister. If both offices are vacant or either officeholders are preoccupied, Humble Questions is taken up by the Custodian of the House or the Minister for the Interior. By convention, if this occurs, the Shadow First Minister also cedes their time during Humble Questions to either the Shadow Custodian or Shadow Minister of the Interior.

The Shadow First Minister is automatically granted 5 questions to ask the Lord Councillor or their representative, these questions are preset and submitted to the Office for Parliamentary Administration (OPA) prior to Humble Questions. The Shadow First Minister then has the option of asking a further 2 questions, which are not predetermined. All other councillors must submit questions to the OPA prior to the debate. The questions are presented to the government and during a Cabinet meeting, the respondent to each question is chosen; universally, it is almost always the Lord Councillor. These questions are ordered randomly and once all questions have been answered, the leader of the next largest party is afforded 3 questions. After that, 15-45 minutes of questions that have not been submitted to the OPA are taken. This period allows for yielding of the floor and has a more dynamic debate around it, however, the Lord Councillor can leave once they feel they have sufficed the needs of the House. Normally, a Cabinet minister is left to answer remaining questions.

The Imperial Steward always begins Humble Questions with the following:"The Chair now requests that His Excellency, the Lord Councillor, make a statement to the House on their business engagements prior to this sitting"The Lord Councillor then arises and often makes remarks about recent cultural and political events, along with any other miscellaneous statements they wish to make. They then give a short summary of specific engagements and then give a vague statement on their actions over the previous week:"Your Grace, myself and the other members of His Imperial Majesty's Cabinet have made various engagements on matters of governance over the past week and we are happy to accept questions from honourable councillors on these matters."After this statement has been read, the Steward calls on the Shadow First Minister to make their introductory statement and opening question. During this period, the Chair must approve any attempts to yield speaking time to other members (by convention, yielding cannot be controlled by the Chair in normal circumstances) and thus, this portion of Humble Questions is a direct stand off between the Lord Councillor and Shadow First Minister. Once the Lord Councillor has made a response to the question, the Shadow First Minister cannot give a counter argument, that must wait for another parliamentary sitting. Once the Shadow First Minister has made their 5-7 questions, other members who submitted their questions prior to the debate are called upon. Likewise, once a response is given, no counter argument can be given. This entire period usually lasts for approximately for an hour and a half. If the period does for some reason last longer, a motion to adjourn the House can be tabled. If such a motion passes, all the tabled questions that go unanswered are moved to the next Humble Questions session, where they are given precedence over the Shadow First Minister's questions; this protocol is rarely employed.

The Lord Councillor may agree to stay on for another