A caretaker govt – what can it do?26 Sep 2024 17:15
Not definitive but I think Yunus has tore up the manual
What a caretaker government can and cannot do
The important question always is about what a caretaker government can or cannot do. It is axiomatic that as a caretaker government, it “holds the fort” pending the general election and may not make any decision of import, policy or otherwise, or any decision with grave financial implications, that binds the successor government.
For example, in the Australian crisis of 1975, the Governor General in his official statement to the public on the formation of the interim government stated that the caretaker government could “make no appointments or dismissals and initiate no policies” until a general election is held.
A view point is held that the restrictions on a caretaker government during elections should not merely be limited to a prohibition against the use of government apparatus and facilities or the government’s publicity machine for electoral advantage.
The view point for an enlarged restriction is based on the rationale that once parliament is dissolved and a general election called, the incumbent government continues lawfully in office as a necessity but is obliged to seek the confidence of the people to continue to govern or be replaced. In short, the incumbent or caretaker government after dissolution would have the lawful authority to govern but not the political authority, since the exercise of dissolution and a general election is to determine that very question.
Hence, according to an expert study, a caretaker government should not:
> Make any new policy which binds a future government.
> Make new expenditure commitments other than of a routine kind.
> Make public appointments which bind a future government.
> Enter into significant government contracts.
The enumeration of the restrictions above which go beyond the non-use of government facilities during the general election conforms to the concept of a caretaker government.
It affirms the principle that a caretaker government is fundamentally engaged in a holding operation with the object of keeping the machinery of government functional, in a routine way, until the people elect the future government.
The concept of a caretaker government therefore serves a useful purpose in the constitutional functioning of a parliamentary democracy.
https://cariasean.org/news/a-caretaker-govt-what-can-it-do/
Sign In
Follow the stocks
