Members who are not Ministers or Parliamentary Secretaries or persons who are not Members but who are qualified for election as Members may be elected as Speaker or Deputy Speaker. Parliament has a life of five years from its first sitting, but it can be dissolved earlier. A general election must be held within three months of a dissolution. To qualify for election to Parliament, a person must be a Singapore citizen, be 21 years of age or older, and meet certain requirements set out in the Constitution. Every citizen who is 21 years and above is entitled to vote.
Voting is secret and compulsory.
Parliamentary sittings normally commence at 12.30 pm. The general public can attend any Parliament sitting by obtaining an admission order on the day of the sitting. The proceedings may be conducted in English, Mandarin, Malay or Tamil. Simultaneous interpretation is provided so that members of the public can follow the debate in any of the four languages. The Constitution provides for a Presidential Council for Minority Rights, tasked to draw attention to any Bill or to any subsidiary legislation which, in its opinion, discriminates against any racial or religious community.