A caretaker government is a temporary ad hocgovernment that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed.[1][2] Depending on specific practice, it usually consists of either randomly selected or approved members of parliament or outgoing members until their dismissal.
Caretaker governments in representative democracies are usually limited in their function, serving only to maintain the status quo, rather than truly govern and propose new legislation. Unlike the government it is meant to temporarily replace, a caretaker government does not have a legitimate mandate (electoral approval) to exercise aforementioned functions.
Caretaker governments may be put in place when a government in a parliamentary system is defeated in a motion of no confidence, or in the case when the house to which the government is responsible is dissolved, to be in place for an interim period until an election is held and a new government is formed. In this sense, in some countries which use a Westminster system of government, the caretaker government is simply the incumbent government, which continues to operate in the interim period between the normal dissolution of parliament for the purpose of holding an election and the formation of a new government after the election results are known. Unlike in ordinary times, the caretaker government's activities are limited by custom and convention.
In systems where coalition governments are frequent a caretaker government may be installed temporarily while negotiations to form a new coalition take place. This usually occurs either immediately after an election in which there is no clear victor or if one coalition government collapses and a new one must be negotiated.[3] Caretaker governments are expected to handle daily issues and prepare budgets for discussion, but are not expected to produce a government platform or introduce controversial bills.
A caretaker government is often set up following a war until stable democratic rule can be restored, or installed, in which case it is often referred to as a provisional government.
Caretaker governments associated with elections
Many countries are administered by a caretaker government during election periods, such as:
Heads of caretaker governments are often referred to as a "caretaker" head, for example "caretaker prime minister".
Similarly, but chiefly in the United States, caretakers are individuals who fill seats in government temporarily without ambitions to continue to hold office on their own. This is particularly true with regard to United States senators who are appointed to office by the governor of their state following a vacancy created by the death or resignation of a sitting senator. Sometimes governors wish to run for the seat themselves in the next election but do not want to be accused of unfairness by arranging their own appointments in the interim. Also, sometimes they do not wish to be seen as taking sides within a group of party factions or prejudicing of a primary election by picking someone who is apt to become an active candidate for the position. At one time, widows of politicians were often selected as caretakers to succeed their late husbands; this custom is rarely exercised today, as it could be viewed by some as nepotism.
In Canada and most other English-speaking countries, the more widely accepted term in this context is interim, as in interim leader. In Italy, this kind of premier is the President of Government of Experts.
List of caretaker individuals
The following is a list of individuals who have been considered caretaker (or provisional or interim) heads of state or heads of government:
^"CARETAKER GOVERNMENT (noun) definition and synonyms - Macmillan Dictionary". www.macmillandictionary.com.
^"CARETAKER GOVERNMENT - meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary". dictionary.cambridge.org.
^Hasanuzzaman, Al Masud (2012). "Caretaker Government". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
^Sinha, Awanish; Lefton, Hartley; Iarusso, Amanda; Kanji, Adam (August 12, 2021). "What you need to know about the caretaker convention". www.mccarthy.ca. McCarthy Tétrault. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
^"Profile of Mr. Wasim Sajjad". Story of Pakistan. 1 June 2003. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
^Motlanthe: South Africa's safe hands BBC News, 25 September 2008
^Graham Slaughter (January 21, 2021). "Canada's top judge is now Governor General, but expert urges speedy replacement". CTVNEWS.
^"Government continues as acting government". 24 October 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
^"Italy's Mattarella dissolves parliament, election set for 25 September". euronews. 2022-07-21. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
April 29, 2023
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A caretaker government is a temporary ad hoc government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed 1 2 Depending on specific practice it usually consists of either randomly selected or approved members of parliament or outgoing members until their dismissal Caretaker governments in representative democracies are usually limited in their function serving only to maintain the status quo rather than truly govern and propose new legislation Unlike the government it is meant to temporarily replace a caretaker government does not have a legitimate mandate electoral approval to exercise aforementioned functions Contents 1 Definition 2 Caretaker governments associated with elections 3 Caretaker governments associated with wars or new regimes 4 Caretakers 4 1 List of caretaker individuals 4 1 1 Heads of state 4 1 2 Heads of government 4 1 2 1 19th century and earlier 4 1 2 2 20th century 4 1 2 3 21st century 5 See also 6 ReferencesDefinition EditCaretaker governments may be put in place when a government in a parliamentary system is defeated in a motion of no confidence or in the case when the house to which the government is responsible is dissolved to be in place for an interim period until an election is held and a new government is formed In this sense in some countries which use a Westminster system of government the caretaker government is simply the incumbent government which continues to operate in the interim period between the normal dissolution of parliament for the purpose of holding an election and the formation of a new government after the election results are known Unlike in ordinary times the caretaker government s activities are limited by custom and convention In systems where coalition governments are frequent a caretaker government may be installed temporarily while negotiations to form a new coalition take place This usually occurs either immediately after an election in which there is no clear victor or if one coalition government collapses and a new one must be negotiated 3 Caretaker governments are expected to handle daily issues and prepare budgets for discussion but are not expected to produce a government platform or introduce controversial bills A caretaker government is often set up following a war until stable democratic rule can be restored or installed in which case it is often referred to as a provisional government Caretaker governments associated with elections EditMany countries are administered by a caretaker government during election periods such as Caretaker government of Australia Caretaker government of Bangladesh Demissionary cabinet a Dutch caretaker cabinet Other countries that use similar mechanisms include Canada 4 Pakistan and New Zealand Caretaker governments associated with wars or new regimes EditMain article Provisional government As of January 2020 update Iraq is governed by a caretaker government Caretakers EditSee also Widow s succession This section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed October 2013 Learn how and when to remove this template message Heads of caretaker governments are often referred to as a caretaker head for example caretaker prime minister Similarly but chiefly in the United States caretakers are individuals who fill seats in government temporarily without ambitions to continue to hold office on their own This is particularly true with regard to United States senators who are appointed to office by the governor of their state following a vacancy created by the death or resignation of a sitting senator Sometimes governors wish to run for the seat themselves in the next election but do not want to be accused of unfairness by arranging their own appointments in the interim Also sometimes they do not wish to be seen as taking sides within a group of party factions or prejudicing of a primary election by picking someone who is apt to become an active candidate for the position At one time widows of politicians were often selected as caretakers to succeed their late husbands this custom is rarely exercised today as it could be viewed by some as nepotism In Canada and most other English speaking countries the more widely accepted term in this context is interim as in interim leader In Italy this kind of premier is the President of Government of Experts List of caretaker individuals Edit The following is a list of individuals who have been considered caretaker or provisional or interim heads of state or heads of government Heads of state Edit Pehr Evind Svinhufvud Regent of Finland in 1917 1918 Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Regent of Finland in 1918 1919 Jose Linhares Brazil October 1945 January 1946 Pascoal Ranieri Mazzilli Brazil August September 1961 Win Maung Burma Myanmar 1962 Varahagiri Venkatagiri India only first term May July 1969 Mohammad Hidayatullah India July August 1969 Alain Poher France especially second term April May 1974 Basappa Danappa Jatti India February July 1977 Emile Jonassaint Haiti June 1993 October 1994 Wasim Sajjad Pakistan December 1997 January 1998 5 Eduardo Duhalde Argentina January 2002 May 2003 Eduardo Rodriguez Bolivia June 2005 January 2006 Muhammad Mian Soomro Pakistan August 2008 September 2009 6 Kgalema Motlanthe South Africa September 2008 May 2009 7 Bronislaw Komorowski Poland only first term April July 2010 Jens Bohrnsen Germany 31 Mai June 2010 Horst Seehofer Germany February March 2012 Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre Guatemala September 2015 January 2016 Richard Wagner Canada January July 2021 8 Heads of government Edit 19th century and earlier Edit Arthur Wellesley 1st Duke of Wellington United Kingdom second term Nov Dec 1834 20th century Edit Jorge B Vargas as Chairman of the Philippine Executive Commission 1942 43 Winston Churchill United Kingdom May July 1945 Vincent Auriol France Nov Dec 1946 General Ne Win Burma Myanmar 1962 Gulzarilal Nanda India 1964 and 1966 Walter Scheel West Germany May 1974 Malcolm Fraser Australia first term only 1975 Mehdi Bazargan Iran 1979 Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani Iran Sep Oct 1981 Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi Pakistan Aug Nov 1990 Waldemar Pawlak Poland first term 1992 Moeenuddin Ahmad Qureshi Pakistan Jul Oct 1993 Balakh Sher Mazari Pakistan Apr May 1993 Jean Kambanda Rwanda April July 1994 Jozef Moravcik Slovakia March Dec 1994 Malik Meraj Khalid Pakistan Nov 1996 Feb 1997 Hashim Thaci Kosovo first term 1999 2000 21st century Edit Muhammad Mian Soomro Pakistan Nov 2007 March 2008 Madhav Kumar Nepal Nepal 2009 2010 Yves Leterme Belgium 2009 2011 Marin Raykov Bulgaria March May 2013 Mir Hazar Khan Khoso Pakistan March Jun 2013 Vassiliki Thanou Christophilou Greece Aug Sep 2015 Caretaker Cabinet of Vassiliki Thanou Christophilou Enda Kenny Ireland 2016 Mariano Rajoy Spain 2015 16 Emil Dimitriev North Macedonia 2016 17 Angela Merkel Germany third term Oct 2017 March 2018 9 Nasirul Mulk Pakistan Jun Aug 2018 Mahathir Mohamad Malaysia February 2020 Leo Varadkar Ireland 2020 Min Aung Hlaing Myanmar since February 2021 Stefan Lofven Sweden 2021 Stefan Yanev Bulgaria May Dec 2021 Muhyiddin Yassin Malaysia August 2021 Erna Solberg Norway Sep Oct 2021 Angela Merkel Germany fourth term Oct Dec 2021 Yair Lapid Israel 2022 Mario Draghi Italy Draghi Cabinet 2022 10 Ismail Sabri Yaakob Malaysia 2022 Malaysian general election Eduard Heger Slovakia Heger s Cabinet May 2021 Dec 2022 See also EditActing law in law a person acting in a position temporarily not serving in the position on a permanent basis Caretaker ministry disambiguation in British politics Demissionary cabinet in Dutch politics Lame duck politics Provisional government Rump cabinet in Dutch politicsReferences Edit CARETAKER GOVERNMENT noun definition and synonyms Macmillan Dictionary www macmillandictionary com CARETAKER GOVERNMENT meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary dictionary cambridge org Hasanuzzaman Al Masud 2012 Caretaker Government In Islam Sirajul Jamal Ahmed A eds Banglapedia National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh Second ed Asiatic Society of Bangladesh Sinha Awanish Lefton Hartley Iarusso Amanda Kanji Adam August 12 2021 What you need to know about the caretaker convention www mccarthy ca McCarthy Tetrault Retrieved May 16 2022 Profile of Mr Wasim Sajjad Story of Pakistan 1 June 2003 Retrieved 16 January 2013 Soomro takes over as Pak President Press Trust of India 18 August 2008 Retrieved 16 January 2013 permanent dead link Motlanthe South Africa s safe hands BBC News 25 September 2008 Graham Slaughter January 21 2021 Canada s top judge is now Governor General but expert urges speedy replacement CTVNEWS Government continues as acting government 24 October 2017 Retrieved 14 January 2018 Italy s Mattarella dissolves parliament election set for 25 September euronews 2022 07 21 Retrieved 2022 08 22 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Caretaker government amp oldid 1136048600, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
