government transition

A Bumpy Road to Peace and Democracy: Liberia’s Power-Sharing Government, 2003 – 2005

Author
Tyler McBrien
Country of Reform
Abstract

In 2003, after 14 years of civil war and as many failed treaties, representatives of Liberia’s government, rebel groups, and civil society came together in Accra, Ghana, to negotiate a peace agreement. They chose Gyude Bryant, a businessman unaffiliated with any of the factions, to head a transitional government made up of ministers from the incumbent political party, the two main rebel groups, and independents, including opposition politicians and civil society leaders. Bryant’s primary goals were to maintain peace and pave the way for elections by the end of 2005—an assignment that entailed disarming and demobilizing more than 100,000 combatants, creating the means to deal with crucial issues ranging from truth and reconciliation to governance reform, and addressing a long list of other tasks—all of it under the scrutiny of Liberia’s legislature as well as regional and international organizations. Although successful democratic elections in late 2005 marked the achievement of Bryant’s primary aims, his fractious government failed to reach many other objectives, including building capacity and ensuring that resources earmarked for development served their intended purposes. The difficulties led to a novel, temporary system of governance—shared with international partners—that targeted procurement, spending, and other aspects of financial management. This case offers insights useful for planning transitions in low-income, divided societies where prolonged conflict has gutted institutional capacity.

Tyler McBrien drafted this case study based on interviews conducted in Monrovia, Liberia in November 2019. Case published in January 2020.

This series highlights the governance challenges inherent in power sharing arrangements, profiles adaptations that eased those challenges, and offers ideas about adaptations. 

The United States Institute of Peace funded the development of this case study.

 

‘Reconciling The Impossible’: South Africa’s Government of National Unity, 1994-1996

Author
Leon Schreiber
Country of Reform
Abstract

In April 1994, after a decades-long struggle for democracy and more than three years of arduous peace negotiations, Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress formed a power-sharing government with its rivals: the National Party and the Inkatha Freedom Party. It was vital to overcome lingering distrust between the three groups, which had been locked in a violent conflict. Based on the outcome of an election and in accordance with an interim constitution adopted the year before, political leaders apportioned cabinet posts and appointed ministers from all three parties to the new government. They then tried to design practices conducive to governing well, and they introduced innovations that became models for other countries. When policy disputes arose, they set up ad hoc committees to find common ground, or they sought venues outside the cabinet to adjudicate the disagreements. Despite the National Party’s withdrawal from the power-sharing cabinet in mid 1996, South Africa’s Government of National Unity oversaw the creation of a historic new constitution, restructured the country’s legal system and public service, and implemented a raft of social programs aimed at undoing the injustices of apartheid.

 

Leon Schreiber drafted this case study based on interviews conducted in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa, in September and October 2016. Case published December 2016. 

This series highlights the governance challenges inherent in power sharing arrangements, profiles adaptations that eased these challenges, and offers ideas about adaptations.

The United States Institute of Peace funded the development of this case study.

 

Hakim Ben Hammouda

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12
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Robert Joyce
Name
Hakim Ben Hammouda
Interviewee's Position
Minister of Economy and Finance
Language
English
Town/City
Marsa
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract

In this interview, Dr. Hakim Ben Hammouda describes the process of formulating the economic priorities of Tunisia’s caretaker cabinet under Prime Minister Medhi Jomaa. Ben Hammouda explains the decision to go beyond the limited scope of macroeconomic stabilization outlined in the government’s roadmap agreement to include other economic reforms and fiscal measures designed to promote investment and long-term growth of the Tunisian economy. In the process of designing and implementing these measures, Ben Hammouda places high importance on the ability of the cabinet staff to negotiate with political stakeholders and to bring the conversation to the public arena. Although the technocratic team succeeded in introducing all their outlined economic reforms to parliament by the end of their one year in office, Ben Hammouda details the difficulty the independent cabinet faced in securing political support for their initiatives, especially when the time came for members of parliament to start campaigning for reelection. Reflecting on the successes of the Jomaa caretaker cabinet, Ben Hammouda points to the security committee that enabled safe and credible elections to occur as well as to the transition reports prepared for the newly elected government by each department that enabled continuity of state and, in some cases, continuity of certain reform efforts. 

Case: A Year of Calm: Tunisia’s Independent Government, 2014-2015

Profile

Dr. Hakim Ben Hammouda served as the Minister of Economy and Finance under interim Prime Minister Medhi Jomaa from January 2014 to February 2015. Prior to his appointment to the independent, technocratic cabinet established to ensure credible elections, Ben Hammouda worked as special adviser to the president of the African Development Bank. He also worked in various capacities for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNCEA) from 2001 to 2008, serving as chief economist to the commission in his last two years there. From 2008 to 2011 he held the position of director of the Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation at the World Trade Organization (WTO). He received his PhD in international economics from the University of Grenoble in France.

 

 

Full Audio File Size
84 MB
Full Audio Title
Hakim Ben Hammouda Interview

A Year of Calm: Tunisia's Independent Government, 2014–2015

Author
Robert Joyce
Country of Reform
Abstract

In August 2013, two and a half years after a citizen uprising ousted a long-ruling dictator, Tunisia was at a tipping point. Following the assassination of a secularist politician—the second such killing that year—opposition parties demanded the dissolution of the National Constituent Assembly and the resignation of the interim government, a coalition led by the Islamist Ennahda party. Work on a new constitution stopped amid dueling street protests between the two blocs. In October, four civil society organizations intervened and mediated political talks between the two sides. Under the terms of the resulting deal, the assembly agreed to resume its work and to appoint a new prime minister to run the government. They chose a compromise candidate, Mehdi Jomaa, an incumbent minister of industry with proven managerial experience and no known political allegiances. Jomaa and his cabinet of businesspeople, civil servants, professors, and judges led the country to peaceful, credible elections in October 2014. His government walked a narrow line as it tried to lead government operations without an electoral mandate and to bridge the interests of the civil society mediators, Ennahda, and the secular parties. By the time he left power, Jomaa was one of the country’s most popular leaders, and in 2015 the civil society leaders who had mediated the political talks won the Nobel Peace Prize for their role in crafting Tunisia’s distinctive effort to navigate tensions and avoid political violence.

Robert Joyce drafted this case based on interviews conducted in Tunis, Tunisia, in February 2016. Case published in March 2016.

Making Power Sharing Work: Kenya’s Grand Coalition Cabinet, 2008–2013

Author
Leon Schreiber
Country of Reform
Abstract

Following Kenya’s disputed 2007 presidential election, fighting broke out between supporters of incumbent president Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga. Triggered by the announcement that Kibaki had retained the presidency, the violence ultimately claimed more than 1,200 lives and displaced 350,000 people. A February 2008 power-sharing agreement between the two leaders helped restore order, but finding a way to govern together in a new unity cabinet posed a daunting challenge. Under the terms negotiated, the country would have both a president and a prime minister until either the dissolution of parliament, a formal withdrawal by either party from the agreement, or the passage of a referendum on a new constitution. The agreement further stipulated that each party would have half the ministerial portfolios. Leaders from the cabinet secretariat and the new prime minister’s office worked to forge policy consensus, coordinate, and encourage ministries to focus on implementation. The leaders introduced a new interagency committee system, teamed ministers of one party with deputy ministers from the other, clarified practices for preparing policy documents, and introduced performance contracts. Independent monitoring, an internationally mediated dialogue to help resolve disputes, and avenues for back- channel communication encouraged compromise between the two sides and eased tensions when discord threatened to derail the work of the executive. Despite the odds firmly stacked against it, Kenya’s Grand Coalition cabinet was largely able to govern according to a unified policy agenda. As a result, the coalition managed to implement some of the important reforms stipulated under the power-sharing deal, including the adoption of a new constitution. However, the level of political corruption remained high.

 

Leon Schreiber drafted this case based on interviews conducted in Nairobi, Kenya in September 2015. Case published March 2016.

This series highlights the governance challenges inherent in power sharing arrangements, profiles adaptations that eased these challenges, and offers ideas about adaptations.

Edmundo Perez Yoma

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Focus Area(s)
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16
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Robert Joyce
Name
Edmundo Perez Yoma
Interviewee's Position
Former Minister of the Interior
Language
English
Town/City
Santiago
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract

In this interview, Edmundo Jaime Pérez Yoma, the former Minister of Interior under the Bachelet Administration discusses the 2010 presidential transition process in Chile, specifically how they transitioned from one coalition to another, from President Bachelet’s left-wing coalition to President Piñera’s right-wing coalition. He argues that the main responsibility of an outgoing government to an incoming government is to make the transition as smooth as possible. He mentions that to accomplish this, he gave his team a list of instructions on how to effectively handle the transition. Some of the instructions included to not hire any more government officials and to communicate and schedule meetings with President Piñera’s appointed ministers. Moreover, Perez Yoma acknowledges that some ministers were very reluctant to work with the Piñera administration, given that they belonged to a different coalition. He claims that to address this issue he met with those ministers and told them that working with the Piñera administration was in their benefit because it would prevent the incoming officials from blaming them for lack of information. Perez Yoma mentions that the transition process went very smoothly until the February 27th earthquake. Once the earthquake struck, he argues, President Piñera and his administration became very proactive and wanted to manage the situation by themselves. In addition, they lost support from people, like the commander-in-chief of the army, who decided to follow Piñera’s orders because he already had a position secured in his administration. As a result, communication and cooperation between the two administrations worsened after the earthquake. He concludes by recommending to Ministers of Interiors facing a similar transition to the one he handled to prioritize the interests of the country over the interests of both the outgoing and the incoming government.

Case Study:  Transferring Power in a Crisis: Presidential Transition in Chile, 2010

Profile

Edmundo Jaime Pérez Yoma is a well-known politician from the Christian Democrat Party of Chile. He served as the Minster of Interior for President Michelle Bachelet’s first administration and helped ease the presidential transition process from President Bachelet to President Piñera. Prior to this position, he served, twice, as Minister of Defense during the administration of President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle. In addition to his political career, in the 1990s, he was president on the board of Petrox and Chilectra Metropolitana, oil and electricity companies, respectively.

Full Audio File Size
49 MB
Full Audio Title
Edmundo Perez Yoma Full Interview

Michael Sutcliffe

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4
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Daniel Scher
Name
Michael Sutcliffe
Interviewee's Position
City Manager
Interviewee's Organization
eThekwini municipality
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
South African
Place (Building/Street)
City Hall
Town/City
Durban
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract
Michael Sutcliffe discusses the process of transitioning local and provincial government with the end of apartheid in South Africa. He explains the process through which the different provinces were delineated and sub-national government was built by the African National Congress party. Sutcliffe discusses efforts to strengthen local democracy and the troubles of attempts to use boundary changes to solve service delivery problems. He also touches on the challenges of working with the Inkatha Freedom Party in KwaZulu-Natal province. Sutcliffe also discusses why he believes provincial level government is unnecessary and why the focus should be on national and municipal government.
 
Profile
At the time of this interview, Michael Sutcliffe was city manager of eThekwini municipality, which incorporated the city of Durban, South Africa. Sutcliffe also served as African National Congress member of the legislature of KwaZulu-Natal province from 1994 to 1999 and was chairman of the Municipal Demarcation Board.  Sutcliffe was an anti-apartheid activist and member of the United Democratic Front prior to the end of apartheid in South Africa. From 1982 to 1991, he was an associate professor at the University of Natal in town and regional planning. He earned a master’s from the University of Natal and a doctorate from Ohio State University. 
Full Audio File Size
43MB
Full Audio Title
Michael Sutcliffe Interview

Roelf Meyer

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8
Country of Reform
Interviewers
Itumeleng Makgetla
Name
Roelf Meyer
Interviewee's Position
Chairman
Interviewee's Organization
Civil Society Initiative, South Africa
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
South African
Town/City
Johannesburg
Country
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Abstract
Roelf Meyer discusses his role in the negotiations that transitioned South Africa to post-apartheid governance. He focuses on the process of negotiating the Government of National Unity and drafting the interim and final post-apartheid constitutions. He discusses how all parties involved dealt with existing national and provincial government structures in the transition and the difficulty of dealing with the disparity of wealth and resources between the provinces. Meyer explains how traditional leaders were incorporated peacefully into the new democratic system and touches on the difficulty dealing with so many negotiating parties, each with different goals and interests. He briefly describes holding South Africa’s first post-apartheid elections. Finally, Meyer discusses the mistakes he believes they made in the negotiation process and the problems that South Africa is still facing today.
 
Profile
Rolf Meyer entered South African politics in 1979 as a member of the National Party. In 1986 he was appointed deputy minister of police, and he later served as minister of defense. Meyer became the South African minister of constitutional affairs and of communication in 1992, placing him in a key position for the National Party in the negotiations that facilitated the transition from apartheid in South Africa. Meyer and his ANC counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, are largely credited with successfully putting the negotiations back on track after a series of failures. After the 1994 elections, Meyer was appointed minister of constitutional development and provincial affairs. In 1996, he resigned from that position to become secretary-general of the National Party, a position that he held until 1997, when he joined the United Democratic Movement and served as deputy president of the party until 2000. He retired from politics in 2000 and at the time of the interview he was a businessman, as well as chairman of the Civil Society Initiative of South Africa and director of FeverTree Consulting.
Full Audio File Size
62MB
Full Audio Title
Roelf Meyer Interview

Escaping Political Deadlock: Nepal’s Caretaker Cabinet 2013–2014

Author
Leon Schreiber
Country of Reform
Abstract

In early 2013, six years after the end of a devastating civil war that claimed 17,000 lives and displaced an estimated 100,000 people, the Himalayan nation of Nepal faced the prospect of renewed violence. A 2006 peace accord between an insurgent Maoist political movement and traditional political parties called for ending Nepal’s 239-year-old monarchy and creating a new democratic system. But disputes over power sharing led to the failure of four successive coalition governments and slowed the effort to negotiate and enact a new constitution. In May 2012, the deadlock resulted in the dissolution of the elected legislature, which had also been serving as a constituent assembly. It was crucial to hold fresh elections. But when political parties were unable to agree on the formation of a coalition government for steering the country toward that goal, leaders of the four main political blocs, including the Maoists, agreed to set up a caretaker government under Khil Raj Regmi, the sitting chief justice of the Supreme Court and head of the country’s judiciary. Regmi and his team of technocratic ministers strengthened cabinet decision-making procedures, agreed on a shared governance agenda, and worked closely with both the election commission of Nepal and political parties to plan elections for a new constituent assembly. Despite concerns about having the same person in charge of both the executive and judicial branches at the same time, the caretaker cabinet succeeded in holding credible elections that put Nepal back on track toward a new constitution.

Leon Schreiber drafted this case study based on interviews conducted in Kathmandu, Nepal, in February 2016.

This series focuses on cabinet management in unity governments. It profiles challenges and offers ideas for improving effectiveness. The cases provide food for thought only. Most are mixed successes and present significant unresolved problems.