Officers
The presiding officer of the Senate, known as the President of the Senate, is elected by the Senate at the beginning of each parliamentary term. The President of the Senate is assisted by three Vice-Presidents, who are also elected at the beginning of each parliamentary term. The President of the Senate is customarily a member of a majority party with a great deal of political experience, while the First Vice-President is a member of the other language group.
The current President of the Belgian Senate is Sabine de Bethune of the Christian Democratic and Flemish party (CD&V).
The President of the Senate presides over the plenary assembly of the Senate, guides and controls debates in the assembly, and is responsible for ensuring the democratic functioning of the Senate, for the maintenance of order and security in the assembly and for enforcing the Rules of the Senate. To this end, they have extensive powers. They also represent the Senate at both the national (to the other institutions) and the international level. Additionally, they chair the Bureau, which determines the order of business, supervises the administrative services of the Senate, and leads the Senate's activities.
The President of the Senate, together with the President of the Chamber of Representatives, ranks immediately behind the King in the order of precedence. The elder of the two takes the second place in the order of precedence. The Presidents of the Senate and the Chamber rank above the Prime Minister.
The Bureau of the Senate is composed of the President, the three Vice-Presidents, the floor leaders of the fractions that are represented in the standing committees and the Quaestors. Currently, the only fraction whose floor leader is not a member of the Bureau is the Ecolo Fraction, which has only two members. The Bureau leads the day-to-day activities of the Senate and convenes at least once a week in order to manage the work of the Senate. The Bureau determines the legislative agenda and the order of business in the plenary assembly and the committees, decides upon the lists of speakers, and manages the internal affairs of the Senate. A member of the Federal Government is usually invited to attend the discussions about the legislative agenda. The Bureau also assists the President in the conduct of parliamentary business. In addition, the Bureau also appoints and dismisses the staff of the Senate on the advice of the College of Quaestors.
The Senate has a College of Quaestors, which consists of three Senators who are in charge of Senate housekeeping. These Senators, who are known as Quaestors, are responsible for the financial management of the Senate, they have to make sure that the necessary equipment and facilities are available and they advise the Bureau on matters relating to the administration of the services of the Senate, such as human resources and logistics. The Quaestors are also members of the Bureau. The Colleges of Quaestors of the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives meet regularly to settle common problems concerning the library, buildings, security, catering, etc.
The Senate is also served by a number of civil servants. The Senate's chief administrative officer is the Clerk (or Secretary-General) of the Senate, who is appointed by the assembly and heads the Senate's legislative and administrative services.
Read more about this topic: Senate (Belgium)
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