Supreme Court defines caretaker powers as warning to Sudani
The timing of this week’s Federal Supreme Court legal opinion defining the parameters of a caretaker government is an implicit warning to Sudani not to use the resources of the state to impact the government formation process.
On Monday, the court published a legal opinion in response to an inquiry submitted by President Rashid clarifying that the government is considered to be in caretaker status from the day of the elections and that parliament’s term expired on the same day.
The court set out the authorities of a caretaker cabinet as consisting of taking “non-deferrable decisions and measures necessary to ensure the regular and continuous functioning of state institutions and public services.” It further added that these decisions “do not include signing treaties or international agreements, concluding contracts with political, economic or social implications for the country, proposing draft laws, contracting loans, or making appointments to or dismissals from senior state positions, or restructuring ministries and departments.”