What Is a Pro Tem Speaker? Kerala's Assembly Gets a Temporary Chair Explained

The facts

• 1A Pro Tem Speaker (from the Latin phrase meaning 'for the time being') is a temporary presiding officer appointed to run a state legislature only until a permanent Speaker is formally elected by the newly sworn-in members.
• 2G. Sudhakaran, who won his seat from the Ambalappuzha constituency in Kerala, was sworn in as Pro Tem Speaker on 20 May 2026 — a role typically given to the most senior member of the House.
• 3What made the appointment notable is that Sudhakaran won with the support of the UDF alliance after publicly breaking away from his former party, the CPI(M), which is a rare and high-profile act of political rebellion in Kerala.
• 4The Pro Tem Speaker's main duty is to administer the oath of office to newly elected Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs); once all members are sworn in, a permanent Speaker is elected and the Pro Tem role ends.
• 5This process follows a constitutional convention rooted in Article 180 of the Indian Constitution, which allows a temporary Speaker to be appointed whenever the Speaker's office is vacant — ensuring that democratic procedures never stall.