The Senate has amended its standing orders to restrict eligibility for the position of Senate President to returning members of the 10th National Assembly.
Under the new rule, only senators currently serving in the 10th Assembly who are re-elected into the 11th Senate will be qualified to contest for the Senate presidency and other principal offices.
The decision was reached after an extended closed-door session on Tuesday, where lawmakers agreed on fresh criteria designed to strengthen legislative experience and hierarchy. The revised guidelines stipulate that only senators with at least two terms in office can vie for principal positions.
Additionally, one of the required terms must be the immediate term before nomination, further limiting the pool of eligible candidates.
According to the amended Order 4, nominations for presiding officers will strictly follow the Senate’s ranking structure, prioritising former Senate Presidents, Deputy Senate Presidents, past principal officers, ranking senators, former House of Representatives members, and, where none of these apply, first-time senators.
