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When the house is in session what types of authorities are given to a Minister who is not a member of either house of Parliament? Is he eligible to vote on any issue which is put to vote of the house?

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    This sounds rather country specific. I.e. some countries may not allow ministers who are not also members. Some may allow non-member ministers but not let them vote. Or vote only in committee. Or vote like members. Which country's rules? – Brythan Mar 02 '17 at 15:29
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    Welcome to Politics.SE! In order to get the answer you are looking for, consider editing your question to include some precisions: are you talking about a particular country, or in general? – SdaliM Mar 02 '17 at 15:31
  • I am pretty certain that there are no countries that allow ministers who are no members to vote in Parliament. While in theory there could be variation, in practice, almost every Parliamentary system follows a quite specific model. – ohwilleke Mar 02 '17 at 17:51
  • @ohwilleke but in some countries (mostly non occidental monarchies), ministers automatically become MP without being elected (v.g. Kuwait), as a way to ensure that the Parliament does not become too independent. – SJuan76 Mar 02 '17 at 19:44

1 Answers1

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No.

Only MPs can vote. The role of a minister who is not an MP is comparable to the role of a U.S. cabinet secretary who is not a member of Congress (i.e. all of them). The minister participates in cabinet meetings and runs a ministry, but does not have a vote in parliament or a seat on any committees.

In practice, however, a non-MP minister in a parliamentary system is very rare.

This isn't a huge deal, however, because in countries with parliamentary systems, except for rare "free votes" and "no confidence votes", the party or coalition that formed the government from whom the PM and the ministers were mostly drawn pretty much wins almost 100% of the time in all legislative votes.

ohwilleke
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