(1) | There shall be a Cabinet of
Ministers, with the Prime Minister at its head, to aid and advise the
President in the exercise of his functions. |
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(2) | The National Assembly shall
meet on the twenty-first day following the day on which a general
election to the Assembly is held, unless sooner summoned by the
President. |
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(3) | After the election of the
Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, the National Assembly shall, to the
exclusion of any other business, proceed to elect without debate one of
its Muslim members to be the Prime Minister. |
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(4) | The Prime Minister shall be elected by the votes of the majority of the total membership of the National Assembly:
Provided that, if no member secures such majority in the first
poll, a second poll shall be held between the members who secure the two
highest numbers of votes in the first poll and the member who secures a
majority of votes of the members present and voting shall be declared
to have been elected as Prime Minister:
Provided further that, if the number of votes secured by two or
more members securing the highest number of votes is equal, further poll
shall be held between them until one of them secures a majority of
votes of the members present and voting.
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(5) | The member elected under
clause (4) shall be called upon by the President to assume the office of
Prime Minister and he shall, before entering upon the office, make
before the President oath in the form set out in the Third Schedule:
Provided that there shall be no restriction on the number of terms for the office of the Prime Minister.
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(6) | The Cabinet, together with the Ministers of State, shall be collectively responsible to the Senate and the National Assembly. |
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(7) | The Prime Minister shall hold
office during the pleasure of the President, but the President shall not
exercise his powers under this clause unless he is satisfied that the
Prime Minister does not command the confidence of the majority of the
members of the National Assembly, in which case he shall summon the
National Assembly and require the Prime Minister to obtain a vote of
confidence from the Assembly. |
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(8) | The Prime Minister may, by writing under his hand addressed to the President, resign his office. |
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(9) | A Minister who for any period
of six consecutive months is not a member of the National Assembly
shall, at the expiration of that period, cease to be a Minister and
shall not before the dissolution of that Assembly be again appointed a
Minister unless he is elected a member of that Assembly:
Provided that nothing in this clause shall apply to a Minister who is a member of the Senate.
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(10) | Nothing in this Article shall
be construed as disqualifying the Prime Minister or any other Minister
or a Minister of State for continuing in office during any period during
which the National Assembly stands dissolved, or as preventing the
appointment of any person as Prime Minister or other Minister or a
Minister of State during any such period.] |
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