Other wise take part in the proceedings of the National Assembly, and of any committee thereof of which he may be named a member, but shall not by virtue of this Article be entitled to vote.
54. ‘Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly.—’ (1) The National Assembly shall, as soon as may be, choose two of its members to be respectively Speaker and Deputy Speaker thereof, and so often as the office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker becomes vacant, the Assembly shall choose another member to be Speaker or Deputy Speaker, as the case may be.
(2) A member holding office as Speaker or Deputy Speaker shall vacate his office if he ceases to be a member of the National Assembly, may at any time resign his office by writing under his hand addressed to the President, and may be removed from his office by a resolution of the Assembly passed by a majority of the total number of members thereof; but no resolution for the purpose of this clause shall he moved unless at least fourteen days’ notice has been given of the intention to move the resolution:
Provided that whenever the National Assembly is dissolved, the Speaker shall not, by virtue of the dissolution, vacate his office until immediately before the first meeting of the Assembly after the dissolution.
(3) While the office of Speaker is vacant, or the Speaker is acting as President, or is otherwise unable to perform the duties of his office, those duties shall be performed by the Deputy Speaker, or if the office of Deputy Speaker is also vacant, by such member of the Assembly as the President may appoint for the purpose; and during any absence of the Speaker from any sitting of the Assembly the Deputy Speaker, or if he also is absent. such person as may be determined by the rules of procedure of the Assembly, shall act as Speaker.
55. Rules of procedure, quorum, etc.— (1) Subject to the provisions of the Constitution—
(a) the procedure of the National Assembly shall be regulated by rules of procedure framed by the Assembly;
(b) a decision in the National Assembly shall be taken by a majority of the members present and voting but the person presiding shall not vote except when there is an equality of votes, in which case he shall have and exercise a casting vote;
(c) the National Assembly shall have power to act, notwithstanding any vacancy in the membership thereof, and any proceedings in the Assembly shall not be in valid only for the reason that some person who was not entitled to do so, sat or voted or otherwise took part in the proceedings.
(2) If at any time during a meeting of the National Assembly the attention of the person presiding is drawn to the fact that less than forty members are present, it shall be