The

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible gove ...

Kiribati Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),Kiribati
''The Wor ...

has a

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

, a function adapted from the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Westminster model. The position was established in 1979 by article 71 of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

, when the country became independent from the United Kingdom. It replaced the Speaker of the former House of Representatives existing since 1967, then known as Legislative Council in 1970 and House of Assembly since 1974. Article 71 states that the Speaker "shall be elected by the members of the Maneaba ouse of Assemblyfrom among persons who are not members of the Maneaba". His or her function is to "preside at each sitting of the Maneaba" (art.72). The website of the House of Assembly indicates that his "decision on a

point of order In parliamentary procedure, a point of order occurs when someone draws attention to a rules violation in a meeting of a deliberative assembly. Explanation and uses In '' Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'' (RONR), a point of order may be ra ...

is final. He is fully entitled to regulate the conduct of business in all matters not provided in the Rules of Procedure. He has the specific power to decide whether a bill or a motion pertains to money matters, which then requires a minister's signification. He may adjourn a sitting if there is no quorum after an objection is raised by a member"."The Speaker"
House of Assembly of Kiribati The Speaker is also a member of the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

, the purpose of which is to "perform the duties of the Beretitenti and other executive functions of Government when a

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or m ...

in the Beretitenti or the Government is supported in the Maneaba Ni Maungatabu."

Presidents of the Legislative council then House of Assembly of Gilbert and Ellice Islands

Reuben Uatioa Te Reuben Kiraua Uatioa (1924 – 1977) was a Gilbertese politician. After being elected to the House of Representatives in 1967, he became the first Chief Elected Member of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony and then Leader of Government Bu ...

was the Vice-President of the Legislative council and leader of the government business.

Speakers of the Legislature of Gilbert Islands

Speakers of the House of Assembly of Kiribati

Notes and references

Kiribati, House of Assembly Kiribati, House of Assembly {{politics-stub