A minority government is a default option for politicians; for citizens it’s a great one
Aminority government is being set up in Canada after Trudeau’s Liberal Party didn’t gain enough seats to form a majority. In Tunisia, too, elections were held, and the elected president, Kais Saied, must handle a parliament in which no party has won a majority of seats. In the UK and in Spain there are already minority governments in place.
In Sweden, Denmark and Ireland, minority governments are quite common. In Portugal, New Zealand, Belgium, Slovenia and Croatia there are minority governments, too.
Politicians like to say this is destabilizing and bad for the country. In fact, it is destabilizing – but it is actually good for the people.
The president of the Israel Democracy Institute, Yohanan Plenser, noted last week that a minority government also operated in Israel. It began serving with the support of less than 50% of the MKs, and others joined it gradually. It was led by Itzhak Shamir, when Shimon Peres secured a majority (65:55), but president Chaim Herzog preferred to allow a narrow government to work for a little over two years instead of going for early elections.
Today it is also technically possible. There are several coalitions that could be formed by former chief of staff Benny Gantz, in a coalition agreement with the left-wing factions and Avigdor Liberman’s party or with the ultra-Orthodox parties – and in any case with a confidence-and-supply agreement made with the (mostly Arab) Joint List. That would mean the latter would not be formally part of the government, but render it necessary votes, by either abstaining or supporting the government in motions of confidence and crucial budget votes.
Plenser states that, “of the existing options to set up a government, a minority government is the last one, but it is better than another round of elections.” He explains: “A government that enjoys a solid majority sometimes neglects to look outside the borders of that majority. A minority government would need to maintain an ongoing conversation with the different parts of society.”
Politicians always prefer a safe majority. They label it as
“stability” or “governance.” Given the economic, security, environmental and social challenges, why should they want a strong and active parliament to oversee them? That’s true for politicians everywhere. In 2017, Angela Merkel preferred setting up the least popular “grand coalition” with the Social Democrats to avoid a minority government and have to justify every decision of hers facing the Bundestag.
IF A MINORITY government is the default option for politicians, for citizens it is actually a great one. Every day, the majority is neither automatic nor self-evident. The government must work at convincing the public and its elected representatives of its policies. Members of Parliament then don’t vote out of allegiance to a political package deal (a coalition agreement), but out of a particular commitment to the will of their voters concerning every issue.
Also, overseeing the parliament becomes much more significant, since there is no certain majority to rely on.
On the other hand, the government must work hard and responsibly to generate a broad consensus on issues it brings to a vote. It is more constrained in its ability to advance measures that serve only narrow interest groups (what is labeled in academia as “client politics”).
How do minority governments work? Sometimes the Left is in minority, sometimes it is the Right. Sometimes they come with staggering economic growth or not. But they are always democratic. It’s important to note that a minority government does not take decisions as a minority – it only means that the coalition package deal is not predetermined. Every decision requires a majority in parliament.
It remains unclear whether a minority government really works out arithmetically under Gantz, who faces massive hurdles on the path to form a government (apart from him being free of any criminal allegations). In any case, it remains clear that a minority government is a blessing for democracy.
The writer has served as spokesperson and parliamentary adviser to MK Amir Peretz.