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Senate (Fiji)The Senate of Fiji is the upper chamber of Parliament. It is the less powerful of the two chambers; it may not initiate legislation, but may amend or veto it. The Senate's powers over financial bills are more restricted: it may veto them in their entirety, but may not amend them. The House of Representatives may override a Senatorial veto by passing the bill a second time in the parliamentary session immediately following the one in which it was rejected by the Senate, after a minimum period of six months. Amendments to the Constitution are excepted: the veto of the Senate is absolute. Following the passage of a bill by the House of Representatives, the Senate has 21 days (7 days in the case of a bill classified as "urgent") to approve, amend, or reject it; if at the expiry of that period the Senate has done nothing about it, it is deemed to have passed the bill. The Senate has 32 members. Formally, they are appointed by the President, but the President is constitionally reqired to accept the nominees of the following institutions: 14 are chosen by the Bose Levu Vakaturaga (Great Council of Chiefs), 9 by the Prime Minister, 8 by the Leader of the Opposition, and 1 by the Rotuman Islands Council. From among their own members, the Senators elect a President and Vice-President, whose roles are similar to those of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, respectively. As of January 2005, the President of the Senate is Taito Waqavakatoga; the Vice-President is Ahmed Ali. The built-in near-majority of Fijian chiefs in the Senate gives them an effective veto over contentious social legislation, as well as constitutional amendments, provided they vote as a block, as they will almost certainly be joined by enough other senators to muster a majority. Senators, like their fellow-parliamentarians from the House of Representatives, may be appointed to the Cabinet - the executive arm of government. As of 12 March 2004, the Fijian Senate comprises the following persons: Nominated by the Bose Levu Vakaturaga Nominated by the Prime Minister Nominated by the Leader of the Opposition Nominated by the Rotuman Islands Council Fiji, Senate
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