No Chance For Agreement On Caretaker Cabinet In Hungary - Járai

In an interview with InfoRádió, however, he stressed that there is a need for highly skilled experts who can control the state apparatus, as the minority Socialist cabinet is incapable of putting the economy back on a growth track.

“The control of the state apparatus demands a mass of highly skilled professionals, but it's not enough to call them experts, they really need to be experts," Járai said.

At the same time he does not believe the government will agree with the opposition on the composition of a caretaker government of experts that would implement the necessary changes in the economy, e.g. cut taxes, reduce red tape and lower government spending.

The current “external coalition" will in some form survive until the general elections in 2010, Járai said, noting that this will not allow to carry out the measures that would put the economy back on a growth track.

The former head of the NBH emphasised that the only normal solution for the years to come would be a caretaker / technocrat government supported by a grand coalition. As the governing parties do their utmost not to be out of power, this option is logically unrealistic, he added. Moreover, the former coalition of the Socialist Party (MSZP) and the Free Democrats (SZDSZ) would never admit that they had made mistakes over the past years, Járai noted.
 
What is a caretaker government really?

Ever since Hungary has a minority government (May 2008), analysts, economists and politicians wondered whether it should be replaced by a caretaker / technocrat government or not.

Constitutional lawyer István Lövétei told InfoRádió that there is no legal obstacle to set up a caretaker “expert" government. He stressed, however, that a caretaker cabinet is not a constitutional but a political concept.

He explained that the name of the body does not mean that it comprises exclusively experts, while a regular government is not made up of experts.

The metaphorical name indicates that this kind of cabinet is not a political one, i.e. it is not brought to life as a majority in parliament forms a government. Members of the latter come from the party or parties winning the elections, while members of a caretaker government are not top officials of any party.

They are elected to power by parliamentary parties that regard them as the guarantee for the implementation of their jointly developed programme.

The only requisite to set up such a cabinet is that the parties agree on a common programme and find the people to put the planned measures into practice.

Once this is done, the formation of the government may take place as stipulated in the Constitution. In practice this means that since there is a Prime Minister, he may be ousted only via a no-confidence motion, i.e. only when Parliament revokes his mandate and appoints a new PM. His replacement is also possible if the PM resigns on his own accord.

In the latter case, the President of the Republic will nominate someone for his place, who will need to be appointed by the Parliament, Lövétei added."
 
Source: Portfolio Online Financial Journal