Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698751627854.pdf (Malaysia)
Proposal for a Caretaker Government during the Election Period For Submission to the Parliamentary Select Committee for Electoral Reform 9 December 2011 Dr Mohd Faisal Syam Abdol Hazis Department of Politics and International Relations Universiti Malaysia Sarawak 1 Introduction In many representative democracies, elections are practically the only means whereby citizens can participate and hold political parties, candidates and the incumbent governments accountable for their promises and pelformance.
Elections are often the only opportunity that citizens have to reward or punish candidates on the basis of their integrity and performance.

However, the exploitation of government resources and machinery by the lUling party during the election period undermines the fairness of the election process, hence rendering the election process meaningless.

The distribution of new developments projects during the campaign period and the use of government resources (vehicles, government premises, officials, etc.)
are two main examples of the abuse of government resources by the lUling party in Malaysia during the election period.

In Sarawak, the lUling party had constantly politicized development projects by using them as a bait to entice voters (see Table 1).

Apart from that, it has also used government resources the opposition at a (vehicles, officials, premises, etc.)

disadvantage.
disadvantage.

This practice is not unique to Sarawak since the ruling party has adopted this strategy to win elections in other constituencies across the country.

in their campaign which put Table I: Development Projects and Financial Grants Promised or Accentuated b the BN Leaders in the Sarawak Elections, 1970-2006 Grand total of dev.
projects aod grants Issuance of fina ncial grants and other "goodies" to individuals and social organizations Ground-breaking ceremonies of new development projects Official openings of completed development projects Grand total cost of dev.

projects and grants (RM million) Pledges for various development projects Total Total Total Cost (RM million) Total 2 1 6 n.a.
12 5 7 11 3 14 17 11 11 19 15 24 1970 1974 1978 1979 1982 1983 1986 1987 1990 1991 1995 1996 1999 2001 2004 2006 Source: FaJsal S. Hazls (2009) "PolItIcs of Development 111 Sarawak" Akadenuka.

22.30 3.35 189.87 n.a.

644.28 40.45 620.54 190.22 2,024.40 445.63 180,663.07 38,738.98 168.42 4,414.04 641.50 6,615.64 1 1 88 n.a.

0 1 10 14 7 11 50 8 198 373 308 3,894 8 7 7 n.a.

34 30 8 48 9 33 42 41 31 504 20 163 0 0 1 n.a.

1 3 1 3 2 19 6 11 24 16 9 10 11 9 102 n.a.


47 39 26 76 21 77 115 71 264 912 352 4,091 22.36 3.36 200.08 n.a.

660.68 110.09 651.01 518.11 2,039.25 1,031.32 181,143.87 38,997.91 600.25 4,748.90 1,386.99 7,040.63 Cost (RM million} 0.03 0.02 0.06 n.a.

0 0.03 0.68 4.21 0.55 2.85 1.24 0.05 150.75 5.07 101.22 0.10 Cost (RM million) 0.03 n.a.

8.85 n.a.

16.40 15.27 28.99 271.18 2.91 367.01 465.82 162.35 127.35 158.24 427.12 146.94 Cost (RM million) 0 0 1.30 n.a.

n.a.
n.a.

54.35 0.80 52.50 11.40 215.82 13.75 96.53 153.73 171.55 217.15 278.95 To ensure that the lUling party does not exploit government resources and machinery to win elections, the concept of a neutral caretaker government has been adopted by many countries such as Bangladesh, Netherlands, New Zealand and Australia.

A caretaker government IUles temporarily.


A caretaker government is often set up following a war until stable democratic IUle can be restored, or installed, in which case it is often referred to as a provisional government.
In some countries 2 is a type of government that (including Australia and New Zealand) the term is used to describe the government that operates 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.
Caretaker governments are expected to handle daily issues and prepare budgets for discussion, but are not expected to announce/launch any new government policy, introduce a new government programme or introduce controversial bills.

Recommendations I.

The caretaker period begins at the time the Parliament or State Legislative Assembly is dissolved and continues until the election result is clear or, if there is a change of government, until the new government is appointed.

2.
2.

During the caretaker period, the business of government continues and ordinary matters of administration still need to be addressed.

However, the caretaker government should follow a code of conduct (see point no.4) which aims to ensure that their actions do not erode the integrity of the election process; does not bind an incoming government nor limit its freedom of action.

3.
3.

The code of conduct also aims to prevent controversies about the role of the public service distracting attention from the substantive issues of the election campaign.

4.

Below are some proposed elements to be included in a code of conduct that ought to be implemented by a caretaker government in Malaysia a.

Major policy decisions - Governments must avoid making major policy decisions during the caretaker period that are likely to influence voters.
Whether a particular policy decision qualifies as 'major' is a matter for judgment.

Relevant considerations include not only the significance of the decision in terms of policy and resources, but also whether the decision is a matter of contention between the Government and Opposition in the election campaign.

b.

Significant appointments - Governments must defer making significant appointments during the caretaker period.
When considering the advice it would give on whether an appointment qualifies as 'significant', the agency should consider not only the importance of the position, but also whether the proposed appointment would be likely to be controversial and an issue in the election campaign.

c. Major contracts or undertakings - Governments must avoid entering into major contracts or undertakings during the caretaker period.
When considering whether a contract or undertaking qualifies as 'major', agencies should consider the dollar value of the commitment and also whether the commitment involves a routine matter of administration or rather implements or entrenches a policy, program or administrative stmcture which is politically contentious.

A further consideration is whether the commitment requires ministerial approval.
d. Government resources - A caretaker government should not use its resources or the ruling party during the election campaign.
During the position to support 3 caretaker period, agency provIsIon of entitlements for Ministers and their staff should be assessed on a case-by-case basis, Agencies should not cover claims relating to the election campaign or a political event, as these costs are to be borne by the respective political party, 5, The Election Commission should make sure that caretaker governments adhere to the code of conduct, failing which the affected electoral contest should be declared null and void.
Conclusion The formation of a caretaker government aims to ensure that the lUling party does not use resources to cling on to poweI', Voters should be allowed to assess the government performance of their elected officials and governments objectively, On top of that, the ruling party should not exploit public funds to win electoral supp0l1 which eventually creates an the unlevel playing field for Parliamentary Select Committee for Electoral Reform accept the proposal to form a neutral caretaker government and also to adopt a code of conduct that incorporates (but does not limit itself to) the four key elements as proposed in this paper, the contesting parties, Hence, is strongly urged that it 4