Duration of parliamentary houses: upper house continues with staggered retirements, lower house fixed term subject to emergency extension. The Council of States is a continuing body not subject to dissolution, with approximately one-third of members retiring every second year under parliamentary law, ensuring staggered renewal. The House of the People has a prescribed maximum tenure from its first meeting and may be dissolved earlier; during a Proclamation of Emergency Parliament may extend that tenure by law for specified limited periods, subject to a cap preventing extension beyond a brief interval after the emergency ends.