Lord Speaker (Ebenthal)

Lord Speaker of the House of Aristocrats
Incumbent vacant
Style	The Most Worthy
Appointer	The King
Term length	No term limits are imposed on the office
Inaugural holder	Eric de Pádua
Formation	21 November 2014

The Lord Speaker of the House of Aristocrats (Portuguese: Lorde Orador) is the presiding officer, chairman and highest authority of the House of Aristocrats, the upper chamber or the bicameral parliament of Ebenthal, the Grand Parlor. The Lord Speaker is appointed by the Sovereign. The office has no term lenght, as the Monarch is free to dismiss the officeholder at his sole discretion. The Lord Speaker presides over the House of Aristocrats's debates, determining which members may speak and which bill and amendments are selected for consideration. It is also responsible for maintaining order during debate, and may punish members who break the rules of the house. The Lord Speaker takes part in debate and vote, holding exclusively the power of a second vote to break ties. Aside from duties relating to presiding over the Aristocrats, the officeholder also performs administrative and procedural functions. In addition, they remain a constituency member of of the chamber.

Competences

Presiding office

The Lord Speaker's primary function is to preside over the House of Aristocrats. The Lord Speaker's powers are extensive. Most importantly, the Lord Speaker calls on members to speak; no member may make a speech without the Lord Speaker's prior permission. Members direct their speeches not to the whole House, but to the Lord Speaker. Members must refer to each other in the third person by the nobility titles or ministerial offices they hold; they may not directly address anyone other than the Lord Speaker. In order to remain neutral, the Lord Speaker generally refrains from making speeches, although there is nothing to prevent him or her from doing so.

During debate, the Lord Speaker is responsible for maintaining discipline and order, and rules on all points of order (objections made by members asserting that a rule of the house has been broken); the decisions may not be appealed. The Lord Speaker bases decisions on the rules of the house and on precedent; if necessary, they may consult with the Sovereign before issuing a ruling. In addition, the Lord Speaker has other powers that may be used to maintain orderly debate. Usually, the Lord Speaker attempts to end a disruption, or calls members to order. If members do not follow instructions, the Lord Speaker may punish them by demanding that they leave the house for the remainder of the day's sitting or muting them for the rest of the session, in case of [much more common] online sessions. For grave disobedience, the Lord Speaker may call for a vote to suspend the said member for a week for a first offence. In case of "grave disorder", the Lord Speaker may immediately adjourn the entire sitting

In addition to maintaining discipline, the Lord Speaker must ensure that debate proceeds smoothly. If they finds that a member is making irrelevant remarks, is tediously repetitive, or is otherwise attempting to delay proceedings, they may order the member to end the speech. Before a debate begins in which "many members have expressed a wish to speak" or in which allotted parliamentary time is short, the Lord Speaker may ask honorable members for (in reality demand) short speeches, under which they set a time limit. At the same time, however, the Lord Speaker is charged with protecting the interests of the minority by ensuring sufficient debate before a vote. Thus, the Lord Speaker may disallow a closure, which seeks to end debate and immediately put the question to a vote, if the Lord Speaker finds that the motion constitutes an abuse of the rules or breaches the rights of the minority.

Before the members of the House of Aristocrats, excluding the Lord Speaker, vote on any issue, the Lord Speaker "puts the question"; that is, they orally state the motion on which the members are to vote, and the members present say "yes" or "no". If this voice vote indicates a clear majority the result will usually be accepted, but if the acclamation is unclear or any member demands it, a division (vote in the aye and noe lobbies in which members names are taken) takes place. The Lord Speaker may overrule a request for a division and maintain the original ruling; this power, however, is used only rarely, usually when members make frivolous requests for a division to delay proceedings.

Casting votes

When the Yes and Nos are tied, the Lord Speaker must use the casting vote. The principle is always to vote in favour of further debate, or, where it has been previously decided to have no further debate or in some specific instances, to vote in favour of the status quo. For example, the Lord Speaker would vote against a closure motion, or the final passage of a bill, or an amendment.

Since the House of Aristocrats usually has a even number of voting members, tied votes are very common and Lord Speakers are often called upon to use the casting vote.

Other functions

According to parliamentary rules, the Lord Speaker is the highest authority of the House of Aristocrats and has final say over how its business is conducted, as well as other key choices, for example, which tabled amendments are selected for votes. In addition to the role of presiding officer, the Lord Speaker performs several other functions on the behalf of the House of Aristocrats. They represents the body in relations with the Sovereign and non-parliamentary bodies. On important occasions of state, the Lord Speaker presents Addresses to the Crown on behalf of the House. The Lord Speaker performs various procedural functions such as recalling the House from recess during a national emergency, or when otherwise requested by the Government. The Lord Speaker is also responsible for overseeing the administration of the House. He appoints needed staff, determines their salaries, and supervises the general administration.

Appointment

The Lord Speaker is appointed by the Sovereign at his own discretion from among the members of the House of Aristocrats. Following the formal appointment, the Lord Speaker shall take an oath of loyalty to the constitution and king and, from then on, should be addressed exclusively by his peers as "The Most Worthy Lord Speaker"; failing to do so will incur fines and sanctions. As the Lord Spekaer it appointed and sworn in, they shall appoint a Vice Lord Speaker at their own discration.

Although he can fulfill a ministerial role at the same time, the Lord Speaker cannot accumulate salaries, receiving whichever is higher, and cannot exercise a judicial role. Furthermore, members of the Royal Family are extraordinarily excluded from taking office in order to prevent absolute dynastic rule.

List of Lord Speakers

No.	Name	Portrait	Office		Party	Sovereign
I	Eric de Pádua, 1st Count of Dreimarien		21 November 2014	17 June 2015	Worker's Party	Arthur I
II	Vinicius Dias, 1st Marquis of Schönwallia		18 June 2015	12 January 2017	Conservative Party	Arthur I
III	Nilo Moreira, 1st Count of Versteckberg		13 January 2017	05 November 2017	Conservative Party	Arthur I
IV	Gabriel Silva, 1st Count of Ardo		05 November 2017	09 August 2019	Moderate Party	Arthur I
V	Thiago Walker, Duke of Grünewald		10 August 2019	30 December 2019	Conservative Party	Mateus I
			Only one appointed by King Mateus I
VI	Nícollas Reis, 1st Duke of Nëbensee		31 December 2019	29 June 2020	Moderate Party	Arthur II
VII	Jonathan Scherer, 1st Marquis of Rozandir		29 June 2020	8 March 2021	Conservative Party	Arthur II
			Last Lord of the unicameral College of Peers of the Realm
VIII	Lucas Lira, 1st Marquis of Telesia		15 March 2021	8 September 2021	Worker's Party	Arthur II
			First Lord Speaker of the House of Aristocrats
IX	Luísa Somme, 1st Duchess of Zerrenthin		8 September 2021	5 December 2022	Independent	Arthur II
X	Gabriela Amorim, 1st Duchess of Guterfolg		5 December 2022	17 September 2023	New Democrats	Arthur II
XI	Vacant		17 September 2023	present		Arthur II