Temporary Authority Must Be Governed by Its Exit

A crisis interrupts ordinary authority. An elected body cannot operate, a senior office becomes vacant, conflict makes the existing arrangement untenable or an institution needs temporary leadership while a permanent process is completed. A caretaker, trustee, acting or interim authority is appointed so that essential work can continue.

Temporary leadership is often praised for restoring order. Yet order alone does not prove legitimacy. An interim authority may inherit exceptional powers, weak opposition, urgent needs and institutions too damaged to challenge it. The same arrangement that creates a bridge out of crisis can become a new centre of unaccountable permanence.

Temporary authority must be governed by its exit. Values-based leadership defines the purpose, boundaries, participation, evidence, review and handover before urgency turns an exceptional mandate into ordinary power. The success of an interim leader is not measured by how indispensable that leader becomes, but by whether legitimate institutions and affected people can govern without that temporary authority when the mandate ends.

At 19:24 East Africa Time on 16 October, the Associated Press reported that Ethiopia's federal government had established a six-month caretaker administration for Tigray following renewed fighting. According to the Prime Minister's office, the administration is expected to restore public services, support displaced people and prepare for a regional election. The report also described former fighters registering for a civilian reintegration programme and warned that…