Motion of no confidence
A motion or vote of no confidence is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly as to whether an officer is deemed fit to continue to occupy their office. The no-confidence vote is a defining constitutional element of a parliamentary system, in which the government's/executive's mandate rests upon the continued support of the majority in the legislature. Systems differ in whether such a motion may be directed against the prime minister, against the government, against individual cabinet ministers, against the cabinet as a whole, or some combination of the above.
A censure motion is different from a no-confidence motion. In a parliamentary system, a vote of no confidence leads to the resignation of the prime minister and cabinet, or, depending on the constitutional procedure at hand, a snap election to potentially replace the government.
A vote in favour of censure is a non-constitutionally-binding expression of disapproval; a motion of censure may be against an individual minister or a group of ministers. Depending on a country's constitution, a no-confidence motion may be directed against the entire cabinet. Depending on the applicable rules, a mover of a censure motion may need to state the reasons for the motion, but specific reasons may not be required for no-confidence motions. However, in some countries, especially those with uncodified constitutions, what constitutes a no-confidence vote sufficient to force the resignation of high officeholders may not be clear. Even if the government is not constitutionally bound to resign after losing a given vote, such a result may be taken as an ominous sign for the government and may prompt its resignation or the calling of a snap election.
In addition to explicit motions of confidence and no-confidence, some bills may be declared to be a confidence vote – that is, the vote on the bill is treated as a question of confidence in the government; a defeat of the bill expresses no confidence in the government and may cause the resignation of the prime minister and cabinet or the calling of an election.
Parliamentary systems
There are a number of variations in this procedure between parliaments. In some countries, a motion of no confidence can be directed at the government collectively or at any individual member, including the prime minister. Sometimes, motions of confidence or no confidence are proposed even though it is clear that the government does in fact have majority support simply to pressure ministers or put opposition parties in the potentially embarrassing situation of voting in support of the government.In many parliamentary democracies, there are limits to how often a confidence vote may be held, such as being allowed only once every three or six months. Thus, the timing of a motion of no confidence is a matter of political judgment. A motion of no confidence on a relatively trivial matter may then prove counterproductive if an issue suddenly arises that is seen to be a more credible justification for a motion of no confidence.
Sometimes, the government chooses to declare that one of its bills is a "vote of confidence" to prevent dissident members of its own party from voting against it. However, this is a political risk, especially when the Prime Minister's majority is not assured, such as if the ruling party/coalition is internally divided, or in minority government; if the bill fails, the Prime Minister is expected to resign or call snap elections. In Westminster systems, the government budget is always a vote of confidence; even a successful amendment to the budget may be considered a no-confidence vote.
It is not necessarily the case that a vote with the effect of a motion of no confidence be introduced as such. As stated above, certain pieces of legislation may be treated as confidence issues. In some cases, the motion may be an ordinary legislative or procedural matter of little substantive importance used for the purpose of testing the government's majority, such as the 1895 vote of no confidence in the Earl of Rosebery's government, which was technically a motion to reduce the salary of a minister by a nominal sum.
Australia
In the Australian Parliament, a motion of no confidence requires a majority of the members present in the House of Representatives to agree to it. The House of Representatives has 150 members and so requires 76 votes in favour of the motion when all members of the House are present. A straight vote of no confidence in the Australian government and a motion or amendment censuring a government have never been successful in the House of Representatives. However, governments have on eight occasions resigned or advised a dissolution after their defeat on other questions before the House. The last time that a government resigned after being defeated in the House came in October 1941, when the House rejected the budget of Arthur Fadden's minority government.Specific motions of no confidence or censure against the prime minister, ministers, the leader of the opposition, senators and leaders of political parties have been successful on some occasions. Motions of no confidence against the government may be passed in the Senate but have little or no impact in the House. However, the Senate's right to refuse supply helped spark the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis.
Bangladesh
In the Parliament of Bangladesh, there is no provision to hold motions of no confidence, as a result of Article 70 of the Constitution of Bangladesh, which prohibits members of Parliament from voting against their party and made the removal of a sitting government unattainable.Canada
In Canada, a vote of no confidence is a motion that the House of Commons or legislative assembly no longer has confidence in the incumbent government. A no-confidence motion may be directed against only the incumbent government, with confidence motions against the Official Opposition being inadmissible. Originating as a constitutional convention, it remains an uncodified practice which is not outlined in any standing orders for the House of Commons.In the House of Commons, a member of parliament may introduce a motion that explicitly states the House has no confidence in the incumbent government. In addition to explicit motions of no confidence, several other motions and bills are also considered implicit motions of confidence, and a vote of no confidence may be asserted automatically if such a bill fails to pass. Bills and motions that are considered implicit motions of confidence include appropriations or supply bills, motions concerning budgetary policy, and the Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne. The government may also declare any bill or motion to be a question of confidence. Although the failure to pass those bills and motions can serve as an implicit expression of a vote of no confidence, the opposition is not required to formally present this failure as a motion of no-confidence against the government.
If a vote of no confidence passes, the prime minister is required to either resign or request the governor-general to dissolve parliament and call a general election. The governor-general may refuse a request for dissolution if an election has recently been held or there is another leader who can likely gain the confidence of the House. If a dissolution request is refused, the prime minister must resign, and the governor-general invites the leader of another coalition/party to form a new government. Six motions of no confidence have been passed in the House of Commons: in 1926, 1963, 1974, 1979, 2005, and 2011. All successful votes of no confidence in the 20th century were the result of a loss of supply; votes of no confidence in 2005 and 2011 were the result of explicit confidence motions presented by the opposition.
In 1968, the standing orders respecting supply were amended to limit opposition to two confidence motions on a given opposition day in each of the three supply periods. This provision was repealed in June 1985.
In 1984, a proposal was made to consider the election of speaker to not be a matter of confidence. This was passed in 1985 and is now part of the standing orders.
The confidence convention is also present in the provincial legislatures of Canada, operating much like their federal counterpart. However, the decision to dissolve the legislature and call an election or to see if another coalition/party can form a government is left to the provincial lieutenant-governor.
Two Canadian territories, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, operate as a consensus government system in which the premier is chosen by the members of the nonpartisan legislature. If a vote of no confidence against the incumbent government passes, the premier and the cabinet are removed from office, and the legislature elects a new premier. In a consensus government, confidence motions may be directed against any individual ministers holding office as they are also nominated by members of the legislature.
Czech Republic
The Constitution of the Czech Republic provides for a government responsible to the Chamber of Deputies. Any new government, appointed after the demise of previous one, must—no more than 30 days after being appointed by the president of the republic—request a motion of confidence vote from the Chamber of Deputies. The motion of confidence is passed if more deputies vote for the government than against it. Otherwise, the government must resign and the president can appoint a new government. If this government also fails to gain confidence, then the President of the republic must appoint a prime minister proposed by the president of the Chamber of Deputies. If this government still fails to gain confidence of the Chamber, then the president of the republic may choose either to again appoint a prime minister of his choice or to order the dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies and set new elections.The government can at any time ask the Chamber of Deputies for a vote of confidence. The government can also connect voting on a government-sponsored bill with a request for a vote of confidence. If the bill fails to pass in Chamber of Deputies it is equivalent to a lost vote of confidence. In this case, the Chamber has to vote on the proposed bill within three months of its submission.
The Chamber of Deputies may itself start debate on a vote of no confidence in the government, but only if it has been submitted in writing by at least fifty Deputies. To adopt the resolution, an absolute majority of all Deputies have to vote against the government.