When Muhyiddin Yassin tendered his resignation, Istana Negara issued out a statement saying that he will remain as a “caretaker prime minister” until a new prime minister was found.
In a document sent out by the National Security Council on Telegram, the Attorney General’s Chambers said that there is no detailed explanation on the function and role of a caretaker government in the Constitution.
Based on the convention of democratic countries in the Commonwealth, a caretaker government only functions to govern a country before a new government is formed. With that said, it can only work to govern the administration of a country and it cannot make any decisions, make any policies or take any action that will create any financial implication and will burden the new government UNLESS it is done in the public interest.
Here’s what a caretaker government can do:
- Perform routine official tasks which includes making sure that the administration of the government is functioning,
- Hold official meetings regarding the administration of the government,
- Continue the execution of policies and programs that were part of the Budget such as the National Immunisation Programme (PICK), the National Recovery Plan and other aid programmes prior to the prime minister’s resignation,
- Make any agreements, contracts and letters of undertaking of whose policies have been approved by the parliament such as the current Budget,
- Hold and attend official events that were scheduled for a project or a government programme.
According to the above document and its specifics, a caretaker government functions to keep things functioning without implementing anything new while waiting for a new government.
This is something that we did not know before!
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