Rotation government

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A rotation government is one of the ways of forming of a government in a parliamentary state. It is a government that, during its term, will see the individual holding the post of Prime Minister switch (or "rotate"), whether within the same political bloc or as part of a grand coalition. Israel has seen by far the most experience with such a governing arrangement, however, the current Government of Ireland is under a rotation agreement, the first of its kind in Irish history.

Usually, this alternation is guided by constitutional convention; however, Israel has codified the rotation mechanism.

As of 2021, rotation governments have been formed in Ireland, Israel, Malaysia, and North Macedonia. A successful rotation only took place in Israel; in all other cases, either the rotation has not yet taken place or the government has collapsed before it could occur. A rotation government was considered after the 2005 German federal election.

Greek mythology[]

In the writings of Diodorus and the Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus, Oedipus's sons Eteocles and Polynices agreed to share the kingship of Thebes, switching each year. However, when Eteocles's first year as king ended, he refused to give up the kingship, exiling Polynices, who found allies in Argos to retake the city, recounted in the events of Seven Against Thebes.^[1]

Germany[]

After the 2005 German federal election, a rotation government between the CDU and the SPD was considered; under it, then-incumbent SPD Chancellor Gerhard Schröder would have continued to serve until 2007, at which point the CDU's Angela Merkel would take over for the remaining two years. However, this was rejected by the CDU, which opted for a grand coalition without rotation, with Merkel holding the Chancellery for the entire term.^[2]

Ireland[]

After the 2020 Irish general election a rotation government (coalition of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party) was agreed on 27 June 2020 between Micheál Martin (who will serve as Taoiseach until December 2022) and Leo Varadkar.^[3]

Israel[]

Israel was the first country to employ a rotation government (Hebrew: ממשלת רוטציה‎ memshelet rotatzia) in 1984, following the negotiations for the forming of a government after the inconclusive 1984 election. The 1984 rotation deal was non-binding; de jure, the rotation government was two successive governments, one formed in 1984 and headed by Alignment's Shimon Peres and another formed in 1986 and headed by Likud's Yitzhak Shamir, but whose membership and portfolio distribution were otherwise identical.^[4] In addition, since the 1984 rotation government was formally two "ordinary" governments, the prime minister could unilaterally dismiss ministers from the alternate prime minister's bloc: In fact, Shimon Peres forced the Likud finance minister, Yitzhak Moda'i, to resign, despite Shamir's objections.^[5]

In the 2015 Israeli legislative election, the Zionist Union originally floated the idea of forming an intra-party rotation government between its co-leaders Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni, in which Herzog would serve for the first two years and Livni for the second two,^[6] though Livni announced on 16 March 2015 that only Herzog would serve as prime minister of a Zionist Union-led government.^[7]

The idea of a rotation-based grand coalition again took hold during the 2019–2021 Israeli political crisis and the negotiations for the forming of the 35th Israeli government after the elections to the 23rd Knesset, but unlike in 1984, broad changes in the Basic Law: The Government were made to establish a legally-binding rotation, under a mechanism known as an "Alternation Government" (Hebrew: ממשלת חילופים‎ memshelet chilufim). Under these changes, the initial prime minister's term automatically expires when the rotation time comes and he swaps positions with the alternate prime minister, without the need of de jure forming a new government, and the alternate prime minister's status is legally entrenched - for example, the prime minister must obtain the approval of the alternate prime minister before removing ministers from the latter's bloc.

The first Alternation government was the 35th Israeli government, with the rotation being made between the Likud and Blue and White.^[8] The legal entrenchment of the rotation mechanism has attracted public and media criticism, arguing that this is changing the Israeli system of government due to ephemeral political concerns.^[9] The signing of the rotation deal aiming at changing basic laws led to the petitioning of the High Court against the agreement that led to changes in the agreement.^[10] The petition was rejected on the grounds that "it is not yet time" to petition against the agreement before the law is passed.^[11] Upon passing the law on second and third reading, the petitions were re-filed.^[12]

Despite the seemingly one-off nature of the 2020 amendments which legally entrenched rotation, the Thirty-sixth government of Israel, consisting of a Rainbow coalition formed to oust the long-serving Benjamin Netanyahu, was also formed as an Alternation government; Yamina's Naftali Bennett would serve as Prime Minister of Israel for two years starting in 2021, while Yesh Atid's Yair Lapid would serve as Prime Minister for two years starting right after Bennett's term expires in 2023.^[13]

Characteristics of an Alternation government the 2020 amendments[]

In an Alternation government as established under the 2020 amendments to Basic Law: The Government, the alternate prime minister is a member of the Knesset who is designated to serve as prime minister, and also one who served as the incumbent prime minister and then moved in turn to serve as the alternate prime minister. The incumbent prime minister and alternate prime minister are sworn in together.

In the following cases, the alternate prime minister will replace the incumbent prime minister:

• the termination of the incumbent prime minister's term.
• the resignation of the incumbent prime minister.
• the passing of the incumbent prime minister.
• the passing of 100 days, in which the incumbent prime minister has been incapacitated for health reasons only.
• the resignation of the incumbent prime minister from the Knesset.

The law stipulates that "the number of ministers identified as having an affinity for the prime minister will be equal to the number of ministers who are identified as having an affinity for the alternate prime minister; However, if the number of ministers shall not be equal, the government will establish a voting mechanism according to which the voting power of all the prime minister-affiliated ministers shall be equal to the voting power of all the alternate-prime minister-affiliated ministers, or rules on how decisions will be taken to ensure such a ratio." The alternate-prime minister shall be acting prime minister.^[9]

Some of the clauses in the Basic Law: The government dealing with the incumbent prime minister will also apply to the alternate prime minister, including Clause 18 (d), which stipulates that the prime minister's term expires upon his conviction in a final judgment on an offense in which he is infamous. The Basic Law stipulates that when the prime minister is convicted as aforesaid, the alternate prime minister will replace him, and when the alternate prime minister is convicted as aforesaid, the government will not be deemed to have resigned.

Malaysia[]

In the campaign for the 2018 Malaysian general election, the then-opposition Pakatan Harapan announced that, if a PH-led government would be formed, Mahathir Mohamad would initially serve as its Prime Minister and secure a pardon for jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, and that the premiership would be subsequently yielded to Anwar Ibrahim after his release.^[14][15] While Anwar Ibrahim was released from prison, the planned rotation has not happened due to the collapse of the Mahathir-formed government.

North Macedonia[]

In the campaign for the 2020 North Macedonian parliamentary election, the Democratic Union for Integration made its participation in any coalition contingent on the nominee for Prime Minister being an ethnic Albanian, which both the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia and VMRO-DPMNE have refused. On 18 August, the SDSM and DUI announced that they had reached a deal on a coalition government as well as a compromise on the issue of an ethnic Albanian Prime Minister. Under the deal, SDSM leader Zoran Zaev will be installed as Prime Minister, and will serve in that position until no later than 100 days from the next parliamentary elections. At that time, the BDI will propose an ethnic Albanian candidate for Prime Minister, and if both parties agree on the candidate, that candidate will serve out the remaining term until the elections.^[16][17]

References[]