The House of Keys will today be asked to consider the introduction of a bill which could change the system used for electing the Isle of Man’s chief minister. South Douglas MHK Bill Malarkey hopes to amend the 1990 Council of Ministers Act and the 1995 Representation of the People Act so the position would no longer be filled by Tynwald.
He wants to bring forward a private member’s bill which could see the process carried out by ‘universal suffrage’, or a national election, by the time of the next general election to the House of Keys, in 2011. Onchan MHK Peter Karran also wants to bring forward a private member’s bill, to amend the definition of the territorial sea surrounding the Island.
In his words, he wants the seaward limit to be “in every direction the median line between the Island’s coast and that of the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland”. The sitting gets under way at 10am and, among other items on the order paper, are 14 questions for oral answer and eight for written reply.
The Legislative Council is also sitting this morning, from 10.30am. There are two questions from Eddie Lowey, MLC, who wants to know the number of apartments in Douglas rented by the DHSS in the past two years, and whether the new ticketing system on the buses is working properly.
Members also have three bills to consider, including the Gambling Supervision Bill, which is down for second reading. Here.
