President of the House of Councillors (Vishwamitra)

President of the House of Councillors पार्षद सभा अध्यक्ष
Last in office Jayden Dagsa 1st Duke of Karad 11 March – 27 April 2022
House of Councillors President's Office
Style	His/Her Excellency (formally) Mr. President (informally)
Status	Presiding and chief administrative officer
Member of	House of Councillors
Reports to	Rashtradhyaksh Parliament of Vishwamitra
Appointer	Members of the House of Councillors
Constituting instrument	Bicameral Legislature Act, 2021
Formation	1 January 2022
First holder	Chris Ramsay
Abolished	27 April 2022

The President of the House of Councillors (Hindi: पार्षद सभा अध्यक्ष, IAST: Pārshad Sabhā Adhyakṣa) was the presiding officer and the second highest authority of the House of Councillors, the former upper house of the Parliament of Vishwamitra. The President was chosen from among the sitting members of the House of Councillors and was necessarily required to be a non-partisan member of the house. The President was elected for a tenure co-terminus with his tenure as a Member of the House, however they were able to choose to resign from their position before the completion of their tenure by addressing a letter of resignation to the Speaker pro tempore. The President of the House of Councillors was accorded a status and rank equivalent to the Deputy Prime Minister. The counterpart of the President was the Speaker of the House of the People who is the presiding officer of the House of the People.

Election

The members of the House of Councillors elect the President among themselves. The President was required to be a non-partisan member of the house and could be either an elected or nominated member. They should be someone who understands the House functions and it should be someone accepted among the ruling and opposition parties. The President was elected for a tenure co-terminus with his tenure as a Member of the House.

The qualification to be the President of the House of Councillors:

• must be a member of the House of Councillors.
• must be not less than 14 years of age.
• must be non-partisan or an independent politician/member.
• must must not hold any other office of profit or be a member of the council of ministers.

History of office

Upon the creation of the upper house, the House of Councillors, the position of the President was also created as the presiding officer of the house who was to be elected by the members of the house. The creation of the House of Councillors also ensured the abolition of the Privy Council, which was the highest advisory body to the Rashtradhyaksh. The last serving president of the privy council Chris Ramsay was deemed fit to serve as the inaugural President of the newly-created House of Councillors and soon accepted the offer to serve on the position. Ramsay, who did not contest an election to be a member, was nominated by the Rashtradhyaksh as one of the three nominated members of the house along with former Prime Minister Phillip Joseph Pillin and Matthew Griffin, the Chief of the Air Force.

On 3 January 2022, the first sitting of the house took place which was presided over by the Rashtradhyaksh himself in which Chris Ramsay was unanimously elected by the members as the first President. His nomination was proposed by Michal Nowacki, Senior Minister and the Leader of the House and seconded by his deputy, Charles Burgardt. The leader of the opposition Sander Koff also supported the nomination. Thereupon, Chris Ramsay became the first presiding officer of the house. However, on 31 January 2022, he decided to tender his resignation from all posts and positions within the nation in addition to relinquishing his citizenship without providing any reason. Following his resignation, the presidency felt vacant and was filled on an interim basis by the Speaker pro tempore of the Parliament, the Rashtradhyaksh.

In March 2022, the nominations to elect a new president were open and Jayden Dagsa, a former Minister of Culture became the sole candidate to announce his nomination and was hence unopposed elected as the president. Sander Koff, yet another potential candidate expressed his desire to become the president however failed to make his nomination due to him not being at least 14 years old. Jayden Dagsa would then become the last presiding officer until the abolition of the upper house on 27 April 2022. He would be appointed as the President of the re-created Privy Council the next day, that is on 28 April 2022.

List of presidents

No.	Portrait	President	Seat	Term of office			Political party
1		Chris Ramsay (born 2004)	Nominated	3 January 2022	31 January 2022	7001280000000000000♠28 days	Independent
			Chris Ramsay was elected as the first President of the House of Councillors on 3 January 2022 by the members of the house. His nomination was put forwarded by the leader of the house, Michal Nowacki and seconded by the leader of the opposition Sander Koff. Prior to his becoming the president of the house, he had served as the President of the Privy Council between May 2021 until the abolition of the council. He resigned from the position of the president of the house and subsequently relinquished his membership in the house on 31 January 2022.
The Rashtradhyaksh served in his capacity as Speaker pro tempore between 31 January and 11 March 2022.
2		Jayden Dagsa Duke of Karad (born 2008)	Nominated	11 March 2022	27 April 2022	7001470000000000000♠47 days	Independent
			Jayden Dagsa was elected as the second President of the House of Councillors on 11 March 2022 after the position was vacant for more than a month following the resignation of Chris Ramsay. He was elected unopposed to office and also became the last person to occupy the office prior to its abolition on 27 April 2022. Following the abolition of the house, he was nominated to the re-established Privy Council and also became its first President post re-creation.

See also

• Parliament of Vishwamitra
• House of Councillors (Vishwamitra)
• Speaker of the Lok Sabha