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Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a
Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
-based
parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of th ...
. This article uses the term ''
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...
'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''the administration'' or ''the cabinet'' rather than ''the state''. In some countries the title of "Official Opposition" is conferred upon the largest
political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
sitting in opposition in the legislature, with said party's leader being accorded the title " Leader of the Opposition". In first-past-the-post assemblies, where the tendency to gravitate into two major
parties A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...
or party groupings operates strongly, ''government'' and ''opposition'' roles can go to the two main groupings serially in alternation. The more proportional a representative system, the greater the likelihood of multiple political parties appearing in the parliamentary debating chamber. Such systems can foster multiple "opposition" parties which may have little in common and minimal desire to form a united bloc opposed to the government of the day. Some well-organised democracies, dominated long-term by a single faction, reduce their parliamentary opposition to tokenism.
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
exemplifies a case of a numerically weak opposition;
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
under the ''apartheid'' regime maintained a long-term imbalance in the parliament. In some cases, tame "opposition" parties are created by the governing groups in order to create an impression of democratic debate. Some legislatures offer opposition parties particular powers. In
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, and
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
20 days each year are set aside as " Opposition Days" or "Supply Days", during which the opposition gets to set the agenda. Canada also has a Question Period, during which the opposition (and the Parliament generally) can ask questions of government ministers.


See also

*
Loyal opposition Loyal opposition in terms of politics, refers to specific political concepts that are related to the opposition parties of a particular political system. In many Westminster-style parliamentary systems of government, the loyal opposition indicate ...
*
Opposition Party (Hungary) The Opposition Party was a political party that came to prominence during the 1848–49 revolution in Hungary. History During the Hungarian Reform Era, several opposition circles appeared. Among the first was the National Circle from which ...
*
Official Opposition (Canada) Majesty's Loyal Opposition (french: L'Opposition Loyale de Sa Majesté), or simply the Official Opposition (french: L'Opposition officielle, links=no), is usually the largest parliamentary opposition party in the House of Commons, either on its ...
*
Official Opposition (India) Official Opposition designates the political party which has secured the second largest number of seats in either upper or lower houses. To get formal recognition in either upper or lower houses, the concerned party must have at least 10% of ...
* Official Opposition (New Zealand) * His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition (United Kingdom) *
Opposition (Australia) In Australian parliamentary practice, the Opposition consists of the second largest party or coalition of parties in the Australian House of Representatives, with its leader being given the title " Leader of the Opposition". The Opposition serves ...
* Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (South Africa) * Opposition (Malaysia) *
Opposition (Croatia) In Croatia, the Opposition ( hr, Oporba) comprises all political parties represented in the Croatian Parliament that are not part of the Government which is supported by the parliamentary majority. The Leader of the Opposition ( hr, Šef oporbe) ...
* Opposition Front Bench (Ireland) *
Pro-democracy camp (Hong Kong) The pro-democracy camp, also known as the pan-democracy camp, is a political alignment in Hong Kong that supports increased democracy, namely the universal suffrage of the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council as given by the Basic L ...
&
Localist groups (Hong Kong) Localist groups, or localist and self-determination groups, are the various groups with localist ideologies in Hong Kong. It emerged from post-80s social movements in the late 2000s which centred on the preservation of the city's autonomy ...
(Opposition camp in Hong Kong) *
Ruling party The ruling party or governing party in a democratic parliamentary or presidential system is the political party or coalition holding a majority of elected positions in a parliament, in the case of parliamentary systems, or holding the executive ...
* Shadow cabinet * The Establishment * Minority leader * His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition (Gibraltar) *
Anti-Administration party The Anti-Administration Party was an informal political faction in the United States led by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson that opposed policies of then Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in the first term of US President George ...


References

{{Reflist Legislatures Westminster system