National unity government

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A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad

Following the disputed 2014 presidential elections, a National Unity Government (NUG) between both run-off candidates was formed with Ashraf Ghani as President of Afghanistan and Abdullah Abdullah in the new office of Chief Executive of Afghanistan.^[1] This power-sharing agreement broke apart after the 2019 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 the Taliban won the Afghanistan War and recaptured the country.

During World War I, the

In modern Chinese history, the Republic of China twice saw United Fronts forms to provide national unity in a time of civil conflict. The First United Front (1923–1927) saw the Nationalists (KMT) and Communists (CCP) unite to end warlordism within the country, however since neither party was the centrally 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 the Second Sino-Japanese War, the KMT, the now solely recognised central party of the country, once again opted to form the Second United Front with the CCP – the two parties at this point had been engaged in an open 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 a national unity government in 1991 under prime minister Franjo Gregurić in response to the outbreak of the Croatian War of Independence. Even though the cabinet included ministers from minority parties, all heads of ministries were either from the majority Croatian Democratic Union or soon defected to it.

A national unity government in Greece is often called ecumenical government:

• 1926 under Alexandros Zaimis
• 1944 under Georgios Papandreou
• 1974 under Konstantinos Karamanlis
• 1989 under Xenophon Zolotas
• 2011 under Lucas Papademos

There are five periods in Hungary when national unity governments emerged:

• 1917–1918, during World War I (Móric Esterházy and Sándor Wekerle cabinets)
• 1919–1920, cabinet of
  Kingdom of Hungary
• 1944–1945, during World War II, Government of National Unity (Ferenc Szálasi cabinet)
• 1944–1947, opposition government during World War II (Béla Miklós) and after following Zoltán Tildy and Ferenc Nagy cabinets)
• 1956, during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (third cabinet of Imre Nagy)

A national unity government, following the failure of government formation after the

In the

The following is a list of national unity or grand coalition governments:

• De Gasperi II Cabinet
  (14 July 1946 – 2 February 1947)
• De Gasperi III Cabinet
  (2 February 1947 – 1 June 1947)
• Andreotti III Cabinet
  (29 July 1976 – 11 March 1978)
• Andreotti IV Cabinet
  (11 March 1978 – 20 March 1979)
• Ciampi Cabinet
  (28 April 1993 – 10 May 1994) – Note: grand coalition support lasted only until 4 May 1993
• Monti Cabinet
  (16 November 2011 – 28 April 2013)
• Letta Cabinet
  (28 April 2013 – 22 February 2014) – Note: grand coalition support lasted only until 15 November 2013
• Draghi Cabinet
  (13 February 2021 – 22 October 2022)

From 2008 to 2013, Kenya was governed by

Since Lebanon is a multireligious state and consensus 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 the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) on 5 February 2021,^[11] is required under the agreements made by the LPDF to nominate a cabinet of ministers to the House of Representatives (HoR) by 26 February 2021, establishing the Government of National Unity (Libya).^[12]

In addition, Luxembourg had a

For the first time in Malaysian history, a hung parliament occurred when no political party managed to command a simple majority in the Dewan Rakyat from the 15th general election (GE15). Upon the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's call to form a unity government, both Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional agreed to join forces, with Anwar Ibrahim elected as the Prime Minister while Perikatan Nasional decided to be the opposition party.

After the

Following the devastating April 2015 Nepal earthquake, top political parties in Nepal 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.^[13]

The Palestinian Unity Government of June 2014 was a national unity government of the

A national unity government (known as the Sacred Union Government; Port.: Governo da União Sagrada) was in place during the first year of Portuguese participation in World War I, led by the Evolutionist Party president António José de Almeida from March 15, 1916 to April 25, 1917, and with the participation of the Democratic Party of Afonso Costa.

After

The interim constitution negotiated by the multi-party negotiations to end apartheid that started in 1990 allowed all parties that gained more than 5% of the vote ^[17] to participate in a Government of National Unity. The new government that was elected in the 1994 general election therefore had members from many political parties in the cabinet. This government of national unity lasted until the 1999 general election, although it was dominated by the African National Congress (ANC) and a reported lack of shared decision-making prompted the second-largest party, the National Party, to withdraw from the GNU in 1996.

In the

First-past-the-post voting, the British electoral system, has long increased the likelihood of a single party gaining a majority of Members 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 the

The world wars and the long recovery to the Great Depression would be the only further instances of National Governments. The next major government representing all parties came during World War II after the Norway Debate, in which Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and his cabinet were condemned for their handling of the war and faced a vote of no confidence in which members of his own party voted with the Opposition against him. The debate also revealed that Winston Churchill, an early opponent of Nazi Germany and appeasement, 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 subsequent Churchill war ministry included Churchill as prime minister, Labour Party Leader Clement Attlee as deputy prime minister, Conservative Party Leader Chamberlain as Lord President of the Council, and Liberal leader Archibald Sinclair as Secretary of State for Air.^[23][24]

After 10 years of rule by the Liberal Party, Prime Minister H. H. Asquith agreed to form a new coalition ministry with the Conservative Party in response to World 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, and David Lloyd George and Conservative Party Leader Bonar 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. Thereafter a coalition that faced few opposition MPs under David Lloyd George lasted until 1922 when, at the Carlton Club meeting, Conservative backbenchers declared that the party would fight the forthcoming election with its own leader and programme.

During the

In 2019, the idea of a government of National Unity was proposed by politicians including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Liberal Democrats leader Jo Swinson to stop a no-deal Brexit spearheaded by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.^[25]

The

In hopes of bridging partisan politics during the American Civil War, Republican Abraham Lincoln ran for his second term under the new National Union Party with Democrat Andrew 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 the attack on Pearl Harbor, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and the September 11 attacks, all of which not only had a worldwide effect, but preceded a massive spike in the approval rating of the sitting president.^[31]

• Big tent
• Cabinet of Franjo Gregurić in Croatia
• Grand coalition
• Government of National Unity (Hungary)
• Polish National Government
• Unity ticket