Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1871.djvu/66

30 nating a regent during the minority. In the case of a vacancy of the throne, the two Chambers, deliberating together, nominate provisionally to the regency. They are then dissolved, and within two months the new Chambers must assemble, which provide definitively for the succession.

The power of making laws is vested in the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate, the members of both houses being chosen by the people. The sittings are public, and by the decision of the majority either Chamber may form itself into a private committee. No person can at the same time be a member of both Chambers, and no member can retain his seat after obtaining a salaried office under the Government, except on being re-elected. No member can be called to account for any votes or opinions he may have given in the performance of his duties. No member can be prosecuted or arrested during the session without the consent of the Chamber of which he is a member, except in the case of being taken in flagranti crimine. Each Chamber determines the manner of exercising its own powers, and every session nominates its president and vice-president, and forms its bureau. No petition can be presented personally, and every resolution is adopted by the absolute majority, except in some special cases, when two-thirds of the votes of the members are required for its acceptance; in the case of an equality of votes the proposition is thrown out. The Chambers meet annually in the month of November, and must sit for at least forty days; but the king has the power of convoking them on extraordinary occasions, and of dissolving them either simultaneously or separately. In the latter case a new election must take place within forty days, and a meeting of the Chambers within two months. An adjournment cannot be made for a period exceeding one month without the consent of the Chambers.

The Chamber of Representatives is composed of deputies chosen directly by all citizens paying a small amount of direct taxes. The number of deputies is fixed according to the population, and cannot exceed one member for every 40,000 inhabitants. In the year 1869 they amounted to 116, elected in 41 electoral districts. The members represent the nation generally, and not merely the province or division by which they are nominated. To be eligible as a member, it is necessary to be a Belgian by birth, or to have received the 'grande naturalisation;' to be in possession of the civil and political rights of the kingdom; to have attained the age of twenty-five years, and to be resident in Belgium. The members not residing in the town where the Chamber sits receive, during the session, an indemnity of 430 francs, or 17l. 5s., each per month. The members are elected for four years, one-half going out every two years, except in the case of a dissolution, when a general election