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A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, [1] is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revolution, civil war, or some combination thereof.
Provisional governments generally come to power in connection with a grave crisis that has caused the previous government to suddenly and irreversibly collapse, such as economic collapse, civil war, defeat in a foreign war, revolution, or the death of a long-serving authoritarian ruler. Questions of democratic transition and state-building are often fundamental to the formation and policies of such governments.
Provisional governments maintain power until a new government can be appointed by a regular political process, which is generally an election. [2] They may be involved with defining the legal structure of subsequent regimes, guidelines related to human rights and political freedoms, the structure of the economy, government institutions, and international alignment. [3]
Provisional governments differ from caretaker governments, which are responsible for governing within an established parliamentary system and serve temporarily after an election, vote of no confidence or cabinet crisis, until a new government can be appointed. [3] Caretaker governments operate entirely within the existing constitutional framework and most countries tightly circumscribe their authority, in contrast to provisional governments, which often operate in the absence of any elected legislature and usually enjoy expansive, if temporary, powers.
In opinion of Yossi Shain and Juan J. Linz, provisional governments can be classified to four groups: [4]
The establishment of provisional governments is frequently tied to the implementation of transitional justice. [5] Provisional governments may be responsible for implementing transitional justice measures as part of the path to establishing a permanent government structure.
The early provisional governments were created to prepare for the return of royal rule. Irregularly convened assemblies during the English Revolution, such as Confederate Ireland (1641–49), were described as "provisional". The Continental Congress, a convention of delegates from 13 British colonies on the east coast of North America became the provisional government of the United States in 1776, during the American Revolutionary War. The government shed its provisional status in 1781, following ratification of the Articles of Confederation, and continued in existence as the Congress of the Confederation until it was supplanted by the United States Congress in 1789.
The practice of using "provisional government" as part of a formal name can be traced to Talleyrand's government in France in 1814. In 1843, American pioneers in the Oregon Country, in the Pacific Northwest region of North America established the Provisional Government of Oregon—as the U.S. federal government had not yet extended its jurisdiction over the region—which existed until March 1849. The numerous provisional governments during the Revolutions of 1848 gave the word its modern meaning: A liberal government established to prepare for elections.
Numerous provisional governments have been established since the 1850s.
As of 2024, eight African countries currently have provisional governments: South Sudan, Libya, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Niger and Gabon.
As of 2024 in the Americas, only Haiti has a provisional government.
As of 2024 in Asia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, the State of Palestine (detailed above), Syria, and Yemen currently have provisional governments. The Syrian provisional governments are opposition groups in rebellion against their internationally recognized government. Afghanistan's provisional government is unrecognized, but is de facto the country's sole governing body. Myanmar and Yemen have both ruling and opposition provisional governments.
Provisional governments were also established throughout Europe as occupied nations were liberated from Nazi occupation by the Allies.
As of 2024 in Europe, only Belarus and the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine have provisional governments. The former was established by the opposition in parallel with the government of the Republic of Belarus, while the latter exists as a Russian puppet government in opposition to the government of Ukraine.
The Politics of Yemen are in an uncertain state due to the Houthi takeover in Yemen. An armed group known as the Houthis or Ansar Allah seized control of the Northern Yemeni government and announced it would dissolve parliament, as well as install a "presidential council", "transitional national council", and "supreme revolutionary council" to govern the country for an interim period. However, the deposed president, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, has declared he is still in office and is working to establish a rival government in Aden.
The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA), renamed the Republic of Afghanistan in 1987, was the Afghan state during the one-party rule of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) from 1978 to 1992. It relied heavily on assistance from the Soviet Union for most of its existence, especially during the Soviet–Afghan War.
A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government is a state that is de jure independent but de facto completely dependent upon an outside power and subject to its orders. Puppet states have nominal sovereignty, except that a foreign power effectively exercises control through economic or military support. By leaving a local government in existence the outside power evades all responsibility, while at the same time successfully paralysing the local government they tolerate.
The abolition of monarchy is a legislative or revolutionary movement to abolish monarchical elements in government, usually hereditary.
Succession of states is a concept in international relations regarding a successor state that has become a sovereign state over a territory that was previously under the sovereignty of another state. The theory has its roots in 19th-century diplomacy. A successor state often acquires a new international legal personality, which is distinct from a continuing state, also known as a continuator or historical heir, which despite changes to its borders retains the same legal personality and possess all its existing rights and obligations.
The Russian Republic, referred to as the Russian Democratic Federal Republic in the 1918 Constitution, was a short-lived state which controlled, de jure, the territory of the former Russian Empire after its proclamation by the Russian Provisional Government on 1 September 1917 in a decree signed by Alexander Kerensky as Minister-Chairman and Alexander Zarudny as Minister of Justice.
A temporary capital or a provisional capital is a city or town chosen by a government as an interim base of operations due to some difficulty in retaining or establishing control of a different metropolitan area. The most common circumstances leading to this are either a civil war, where control of the capital is contested, or during an invasion, where the designated capital is taken or threatened.
This is a timeline of the main events of the Cold War, a state of political and military tension after World War II between powers in the Western Bloc and powers in the Eastern Bloc.
The time period of around 1985–1991 marked the final period of the Cold War. It was characterized by systemic reform within the Soviet Union, the easing of geopolitical tensions between the Soviet-led bloc and the United States-led bloc, the collapse of the Soviet Union's influence in Eastern Europe, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, were a revolutionary wave of liberal democracy movements that resulted in the collapse of most Marxist–Leninist governments in the Eastern Bloc and other parts of the world. This revolutionary wave is sometimes referred to as the Autumn of Nations, a play on the term Spring of Nations that is sometimes used to describe the Revolutions of 1848 in Europe. The Revolutions of 1989 contributed to the dissolution of the Soviet Union—one of the two global superpowers—and the abandonment of communist regimes in many parts of the world, some of which were violently overthrown. These events drastically altered the world's balance of power, marking the end of the Cold War and the beginning of the post-Cold War era.
An exclusive mandate is a government's assertion of its legitimate authority over a certain territory, part of which another government controls with stable, de facto sovereignty. It is also known as a claim to sole representation or an exclusive authority claim. The concept was particularly important during the Cold War period when a number of states were divided on ideological grounds.
Yemeni unification took place on 22 May 1990, when the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen was united with the Yemen Arab Republic, forming the Republic of Yemen.
The military dictatorship in Nigeria was a period when members of the Nigerian Armed Forces held power in Nigeria from 1966 to 1999 with an interregnum from 1979 to 1983. The military was able to rise to power often with the tacit support of the elite through coup d'états. Since the country became a republic in 1963, there has been a series of military coups.
The decolonisation of Asia was the gradual growth of independence movements in Asia, leading ultimately to the retreat of foreign powers and the creation of several nation-states in the region.
The Latvian Provisional Government was formed on November 18, 1918 by the People's Council of Latvia as the interim government of the newly-proclaimed Republic of Latvia during the Latvian War of Independence. The term encompasses three cabinets led by Kārlis Ulmanis, the leader of the Agrarian Union, who was chosen to be Prime Minister. The Ulmanis' government led the country until the formation of an elected cabinet after the elections to the Constitutional Assembly of Latvia in June 1920.
The Revolutions of 1917–1923 were a revolutionary wave that included political unrest and armed revolts around the world inspired by the success of the Russian Revolution and the disorder created by the aftermath of World War I. The uprisings were mainly socialist or anti-colonial in nature. Some socialist revolts failed to create lasting socialist states. The revolutions had lasting effects in shaping the future European political landscape, with for example the collapse of the German Empire and the dissolution of Austria-Hungary.
The Islamic Emirate has decided to appoint and announce a caretaker cabinet to undertake necessary governmental tasks.
With this declaration a Presidential Leadership Council shall be established to complete the implementation of the tasks of the transitional period. I irreversibly delegate to the Presidential Leadership Council my full powers in accordance with the constitution and the Gulf Initiative and its executive mechanism.