Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has avoided a potentially ugly internal brawl, ensuring a Liberal will take over as Senate president.
Special Minister of State Scott Ryan and senators Dean Smith, David Fawcett and Ian MacDonald have nominated to replace Stephen Parry, who was forced to resign after discovering he is a dual-citizen.
With an annual salary of almost $350,000, the Senate presidency is one of the most senior, prestigious and highly paid roles in Federal Parliament.
But the nomination process threatened to spark a feud between the Liberals and Nationals with both parties arguing one of their members should fill the role.
The Nationals had been strongly backing veteran Senator John Williams, but following today's news, he said: "It was very long odds to get the job but I'm not going to die in a ditch over it."
Liberals had argued that, by convention, the position should always be held by one of their senators.
It is understood the Nationals had asked for a joint partyroom meeting to nominate the next president, but the Prime Minister insisted it would be decided by Liberal members only.
The Government's nominee will still need to be endorsed by the Senate, and will face a challenge from Tasmanian Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson.
