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Anational unity government,government of national unity (GNU), ornational union government is a broadcoalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or othernational emergency. A unity government according to the principles ofconsensus democracy lacks opposition, or opposition parties are too small and negligible.
Following the disputed2014 presidential elections, a National Unity Government (NUG) between both run-off candidates was formed withAshraf Ghani asPresident of Afghanistan andAbdullah Abdullah in the new office of Chief Executive of Afghanistan.[1] This power-sharing agreement broke apart after the2019 Afghan presidential election, after which Ghani abolished the office of Chief Executive while Abdullah again refused to recognize Ghani's presidency and demanded the formation of a new government in northern Afghanistan. Both politicians lost power after theTalibanoverthrew the Afghan government in 2021.
During World War I, theConservative government of SirRobert Borden invited theLiberal opposition to join the government as a means of dealing with theConscription crisis of 1917. The Liberals, led by SirWilfrid Laurier refused; however, Borden was able to convince many individual Liberals to join what was called aUnion Government, which defeated the Laurier Liberals in the fall1917 election.
DuringWorld War II, theoppositionConservative Party ran under the nameNational Government in the1940 election as a means of promoting their platform of creating a wartime national government coalition (evocative of the previous war'sUnion government). The party was not successful in the election, which re-elected theLiberal government ofWilliam Lyon Mackenzie King, whose party continued to rule alone for the duration ofWorld War II.
TheDominion of Newfoundland (not to be part of Canada for another three decades) had a National Government duringWorld War I led byEdward Patrick Morris.
In modern Chinese history, theRepublic of China twice saw United Fronts forms to provide national unity in a time of civil conflict. TheFirst United Front (1923–1927) saw theNationalists (KMT) andCommunists (CCP) unite toend warlordism within the country, however since neither party was thecentrally recognised Government of China at the time the First United Front cannot be viewed as a true example of a national unity government.
Following the advent of theSecond Sino-Japanese War, the KMT, the now solely recognised central party of the country, once again opted to form theSecond United Front with the CCP – the two parties at this point had been engaged in anopen civil war since the collapse of the First United Front. This new front acted as a national unity government for the extent of the war and represented the solely recognised government for China at the time, though the overall level of cooperation between the two parties – past the cessation of hostility – was mostly nominal.[2]
Croatia formed anational unity government in 1991 under prime ministerFranjo Gregurić in response to the outbreak of theCroatian War of Independence. Even though the cabinet included ministers from minority parties, all heads ofministries were either from the majorityCroatian Democratic Union or soon defected to it.
Estonia had national unity governments during theEstonian War of Independence (Päts I–III Provisional cabinets) and after the1924 coup d'état attempt by theCommunist Party of Estonia (Jaakson cabinet).
A national unity government inGreece is often calledecumenical government:
There are five periods in Hungary when national unity governments emerged:
A national unity government, following the failure of government formation after the2020 general election, was suggested to deal with theCOVID-19 pandemic.[3][4][5][6] Instead, aFianna Fáil–Fine Gael–Green coalition was formed, creating the32nd government of Ireland.[7]
Israel has had several national unity governments, in which major rival parties formed a ruling coalition. Such coalitions were formed in the days leading up to theSix-Day War in 1967, in the late 1980s and amidst theCOVID-19 pandemic in2020. The36th government, formed in 2021, was a national unity government that has been frequently described as the most diverse governments in Israeli history, consisting of right-wing, centrist, left-wing and one ArabIslamist political party. Following theOctober 7 attack byHamas, theNational Unity party became part of anIsraeli war cabinet, joining the37th government.[8] The National Unity party left the war cabinet in June 2024, leading to the cabinet's dissolution.[9]
In therepublican era, the first two cabinets, led byAlcide De Gasperi, were supported by all three of the following parties, the pro-AmericanChristian Democrats and the pro-SovietItalian Communist Party andItalian Socialist Party.
Afterwards, the first government generally recognised as a national unity government was thethird Andreotti Cabinet, also known asnon-no confidence vote government, as theItalian Communist Party decided to not take part at the confidence vote. The communists voted in favour of the motion of confidence for thefollowing cabinet, still led byGiulio Andreotti.
During theEurozone crisis, the two main parties,The People of Freedom and theDemocratic Party, along with other minor political forces, supported theMonti cabinet, and eventually, after the2013 general election, formed agrand coalition in support of theLetta Cabinet, which, however, was opposed by a new major political force in parliament, the anti-establishmentFive Star Movement.
TheDraghi Cabinet, formed during theCOVID-19 pandemic and resultingeconomic crisis, has been described as a national unity government.[10] It comprises a mixture ofindependent experts as well as politicians from most of Italy's political parties: the Five Star Movement, Democratic Party,League,Forza Italia,Italia Viva, andFree and Equal.[11]
The following is a list of national unity orgrand coalition governments:
From 2008 to 2013, Kenya was governed byGovernment of National Unity between the rivalParty of National Unity ofMwai Kibaki and theOrange Democratic Movement ofRaila Odinga following the2007 presidential election and subsequentviolence. This was due to the ODM winning the majority of seats in theNational Assembly, but controversially losing the presidential election by a margin that has since been called into question for its validity.
SinceLebanon is a multireligious state andconsensus democracy, having a national unity government is more favorable in this country. Unlike other democracies, no group in Lebanon can govern alone.
Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, selected as Prime Minister of Libya by theLibyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) on 5 February 2021,[12] is required under the agreements made by the LPDF to nominate acabinet of ministers to theHouse of Representatives (HoR) by 26 February 2021, establishing theGovernment of National Unity (Libya).[13]
Luxembourg has had twoNational Union Governments.The first was formed in 1916, duringWorld War I (in which Luxembourg wasneutral, but occupied byGermany nonetheless). It was led byVictor Thorn and included all of the major factions in theChamber of Deputies, but lasted for only sixteen months.
The second National Union Government was formed in November 1945, in the aftermath ofWorld War II, which had devastated Luxembourg. It was led byPierre Dupong, who had beenprime minister in thegovernment in exile in the war, and included all four parties represented in the Chamber of Deputies. The government lasted until 1947, by which time, a normal coalition between two of the three largest parties had been arranged, thus maintaining theconfidence of the legislature.
In addition, Luxembourg had aLiberation Government between November 1944 and November 1945, also under Dupong. It served a similar emergency role to a national government, but included only the two largest parties, theCSV and theLSAP.
For the first time in Malaysian history, ahung parliament occurred when no political party managed to command a simple majority in theDewan Rakyat from the 15th general election (GE15). Upon theYang di-Pertuan Agong's call to form a unity government, bothPakatan Harapan andBarisan Nasional agreed to join forces, withAnwar Ibrahim elected as the Prime Minister whilePerikatan Nasional decided to be the opposition party.
After the2021 Myanmar coup, on 16 April 2021, the exiledCommittee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) announced the formation of a National Unity Government (Burmese:အမျိုးသား ညီညွတ်ရေး အစိုးရ), pursuant to the Federal Democracy Charter released on 31 March 2021. The National Unity Government re-introduced the position of Prime Minister, and consists of CRPH members and other ethnic leaders.
Following the devastatingApril 2015 Nepal earthquake, top political parties inNepal have decided to form a national unity government in order to handle the crisis and draft a constitution that's been long overdue. The major political parties and unified political fronts have agreed to settle the disputed issues of the constitution drafting process by 3 June and to form a national unity government.[14]
The Palestinian Unity Government of June 2014 was a national unity government of thePalestinian National Authority under Palestinian PresidentMahmoud Abbas formed on 2 June 2014 following theFatah-Hamas Reconciliation Agreement that had been signed on 23 April 2014. The ministers were nominally independent, but overwhelmingly seen as loyal to President Abbas and hisFatah movement or to smaller leftist factions, none of whom were believed to have close ties toHamas. However, the Unity Government was not approved by thePalestinian Legislative Council, leading to its legitimacy being questioned. The Unity Government dissolved on 17 June 2015 after President Abbas said it was unable to operate in theGaza Strip.
In the1989 Polish parliamentary election, Poland's first semi-free election since World War II, candidates backed by theSolidarity movement won all 161 seats up for free election. The ruling Communist-dominatedPatriotic Movement for National Rebirth—comprising the CommunistPolish United Workers' Party (PZPR), theUnited People's Party (ZSL), and theDemocratic Party (SD)—broke down soon after, as the ZSL and SD formed an alliance with Solidarity. This forced PresidentWojciech Jaruzelski to appoint theCabinet of Tadeusz Mazowiecki on 12 September 1989, Poland's first government since World War II with a non-Communist majority. It was a national unity government of Solidarity-endorsed ministers alongside the PZPR, ZSL, and SD, with the Communists still controlling theDefense andInterior ministries. The PZPR was dissolved on 29 January 1990 and its former ministers resigned on 6 July.
A national unity government (known as theSacred Union Government;Port.:Governo da União Sagrada) was in place during the first year ofPortuguese participation inWorld War I, led by theEvolutionist Party presidentAntónio José de Almeida from 15 March 1916 to 25 April 1917, and with the participation of theDemocratic Party ofAfonso Costa.
AfterRwandan genocide in 1994, theRwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), has ruled Rwanda using tactics which have been characterized asauthoritarian.[15][16] Elections are manipulated in various ways including banning opposition parties, arresting or assassinating critics, andelectoral fraud.[17]
Theinterim constitution negotiated by the multi-partynegotiations to end apartheid that started in 1990 allowed all parties that gained more than 5% of the vote[18] to participate in aGovernment of National Unity. The new government that was elected in the1994 general election therefore had members from many political parties in the cabinet. This government of national unity lasted until the1999 general election, although it was dominated by theAfrican National Congress (ANC) and a reported lack of shared decision-making prompted the second-largest party, theNational Party, to withdraw from the GNU in 1996.
In the2024 South African general election, support for the ruling ANC party significantly declined. The ANC remained the largest party but lost the parliamentary majority that it had held since the inaugural post-apartheid election in 1994, which requirednegotiations between parties on the formation of a government. On 14 June 2024, the ANC, theDemocratic Alliance (DA), theInkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and thePatriotic Alliance (PA), agreed to form a coalition which they referred to as a 'Government of National Unity' (GNU), led by the ANC'sCyril Ramaphosa who was re-electedPresident of South Africa with the support of the parties who then formed part of the GNU.[19][20] A further six parties subsequently joined the GNU to form agrand coalition of ten parties,[21] with jointly287 seats in the 400 seat parliament (72%). The additional parties which joined towards the end of June 2024 were the GOOD Party;Rise Mzansi;Al Jama-ah; thePan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC), theUnited Democratic Movement (UDM) and theFreedom Front Plus.[22] These members of the GNU signed a statement of intent with the African National Congress.[23]
Following the fall of theMahinda Rajapaksa regime, theUnited National Party who won the 2015 elections formed a National Unity Government with the main oppositionSri Lanka Freedom Party UnderMaithripala Sirisena andRanil Wickramasinghe.[24]
Sweden has only had one national unity government; TheHansson III Cabinet duringWorld War II. The government was made up of all parties in the parliament except theCommunist party which was considered to be pro-Soviet and hence unreliable. The government consisted of six ministers from theSocial Democratic party (including prime ministerPer Albin Hansson), three from theRight Wing party, three from theLiberal People's party, three from theFarmer's League and two nonpartisan politicians. The ultimate goal of this government's policy was to keep Sweden out of the war, which they also succeeded with. The Hansson government introducedcensorship of press, literature and culture, which was applied to both pro-nazi and pro-communist propaganda. The government also approved departures from the neutrality policy to keep Sweden out of the war.
First-past-the-post voting, the British electoral system, has long increased the likelihood of a single party gaining a majority ofMembers of Parliament, who have run most departments and the government legislation of the country since the early 20th century.
After the formation of clear political parties in the Lords and Commons, the first national unity government came in response to theNapoleonic Wars.William Pitt the Younger offered to replace Prime MinisterHenry Addington's government with a cabinet including all of the major parliamentary leaders such as himself,Charles James Fox, andLord Grenville. This proved impossible because of irreconcilable policy differences between the factions (including Fox's opposition to the war in general), Fox's intense animosity towards Pitt the Younger, and KingGeorge III's refusal to appoint a government including Fox. After the death of Pitt the Younger in 1806, King George finally acquiesced and allowed Grenville and Fox to form a new "Ministry of All the Talents."[25] This ministry had cross-party support, ranging from verysocially conservativeTories, and the broad range ofWhigs (among themCharles James Fox and theFoxites as well asGrenvillites), selected for their combined broad political support in both Houses of Parliament and known capabilities in a time of crisis. However, the ministry was frustrated in its attempts to make peace with theFirst French Empire, and despite one major legislative success (theSlave Trade Act 1807 banning theAtlantic slave trade in theBritish Empire), it fell apart in 1807 over the question ofCatholic Emancipation and was replaced following a general election by a Tory ministry led by theDuke of Portland.
The world wars and the long recovery to theGreat Depression would be the only further instances of National Governments. The next major government representing all parties came duringWorld War II after theNorway Debate, in which Prime MinisterNeville Chamberlain and his cabinet were condemned for their handling of the war and faced avote of no confidence in which members of his own party voted with the Opposition against him. The debate also revealed thatWinston Churchill, an early opponent ofNazi Germany andappeasement, would be the only Conservative minister under which both Labour and Conservative MPs would join a government. Churchill agreed to form a new government after Chamberlain resigned. The subsequentChurchill war ministry included Churchill asprime minister, Labour Party LeaderClement Attlee asdeputy prime minister, Conservative Party Leader Chamberlain asLord President of the Council, and Liberal leaderArchibald Sinclair asSecretary of State for Air.[26][27]
After10 years of rule by theLiberal Party, Prime MinisterH. H. Asquith agreed to form a new coalition ministry with theConservative Party in response toWorld War I in 1915. However, the government remained dominated by the Liberals with few Conservatives in important Cabinet posts. Asquith resigned as Conservatives refused to serve in his government in 1916, andDavid Lloyd George and Conservative Party LeaderBonar Law formed a new coalition government from Conservatives and a minority of Liberals opposed to Asquith's handling of the war, which was opposed by Asquith's Liberals. In the 1918 general election held after the end of the war,Coalition-endorsed candidates won a large majority. Thereaftera coalition that faced few opposition MPs underDavid Lloyd George lasted until 1922 when, at theCarlton Club meeting, Conservative backbenchers declared that the party would fight the forthcoming election with its own leader and programme.
During theGreat Depression the first of four consecutiveNational Governments was formed in 1931 byRamsay MacDonald (Labour/National Labour) succeeded byStanley Baldwin (Conservative) with their largest opponent and theLiberals. Most members of theLabour andLiberal Parties rejected the government, however, and moved to the opposition benches leaving MacDonald's supporters to rival mainstream party candidates in many cases asNational Labour/National Labour Organisation or in theLiberal National Party. Notably candidates styled in this way contested the1935 election; this long period of quasi-national government took in broader support and widened its selections of ministers in thewar years, and its fourth transmutation persisted until thegeneral election of 1945.
In 2019, the idea of a government of National Unity was proposed by politicians including Labour leaderJeremy Corbyn andLiberal Democrats leaderJo Swinson to stop ano-deal Brexit spearheaded by Prime MinisterBoris Johnson.[28]
TheBelfast Agreement, which sets out the workings of theNorthern Ireland Assembly, effectively enforces all-party governments inNorthern Ireland.[29][30] All governments formed since the foundation of theNorthern Ireland Executive in 1999 have contained ministers from the five main parties (Sinn Féin,Democratic Unionist Party,Ulster Unionist Party,Social Democratic and Labour Party andAlliance), with seats allocated using thed'Hondt method.[31][32][33]
In hopes of bridging partisan politics during theAmerican Civil War, RepublicanAbraham Lincoln ran for his second term under the newNational Union Party with DemocratAndrew Johnson as his running mate. The National Union Party allowed members to retain affiliations with other political parties.
Since the Civil War, there has never been a "national unity" government in the United States in the traditional sense. There have been several instances, however, during national disasters or wars, that the two parties have briefly "rallied around the President". Such instances include theattack on Pearl Harbor, theassassination of John F. Kennedy, and theSeptember 11 attacks, all of which not only had a worldwide effect, but preceded a massive spike in the approval rating of the sitting president.[34]
The 2008–2009 Zimbabwean political negotiations between the oppositionMovement for Democratic Change (led byMorgan Tsvangirai), its small splinter group, theMovement for Democratic Change – Mutambara (led byArthur Mutambara), and the rulingZimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (led byRobert Mugabe) created a framework for a power-sharing executive government between the two parties. These negotiations followed the2008 presidential election, in which Mugabe was controversially re-elected, as well as the 2008 parliamentary election, in which the MDC won a majority in theHouse of Assembly. The new national unity government, including Tsvangirai, was sworn in on 11 February 2009.
