Tony Blair being lined up to lead temporary Gaza administration – reports
How temporary administrations have worked in other countries
Temporary administrations have been established in several countries after periods of war – often with the help of the United Nations and superpowers like the US.
After deadly fighting between Indonesian militia and pro-independence groups in East Timor in 1999, Australia led a UN-authorised peacekeeping force called INTERFET to maintain order.
It also hoped to create the conditions to implement the results of that year’s referendum, which had voted overwhelmingly in favour of independence.
Later that year, the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) was established to set up a parliamentary framework, civil and social services, and to ensure continued humanitarian support.
The three-year arrangement was in place until 2002 when Xanana Gusmao became the first president of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste following another referendum.
A UN peacekeeping force was also deployed to Kosovo in 1999 after NATO had to intervene to drive out Serbian troops from the area, which has been historically populated largely by ethnic Albanians.
The Kosovo Force (KFOR) is still stationed there to manage flare-ups in violence – but was originally introduced to determine its political future.
At its peak, KFOR was staffed by 50,000 military personnel from 39 NATO and non-NATO countries and was split into five multinational brigades – each led by a different nation.
It was accompanied by a UN-led interim administration (UNMIK), which, after years of talks between international allies, helped establish a new political system.
In 2008, Kosovo finally declared independence, with KFOR and European Union-led monitors remaining in the region as a deterrent for further violence.
After the downfall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) was set up in Iraq as a transitional government.
It saw two American officials, an army lieutenant general followed by a diplomat, appointed as administrators – or de-facto leaders.
The CPA was divided into four geographical regions, with a leader for each, to help rebuild communities on the way to a new political system.
From 2004, it was replaced by various Iraqi-run interim authorities – the Iraqi Governing Council, the caretaker Iraqi Interim Government, and then the Iraqi Transitional Government.
In 2005, parliamentary elections took place and a constitution was written, before the country’s Muhasasa sectarian power-sharing system was established.
Although designed to give equal representation to Shia, Sunni and Kurd groups, it has led to political gridlock and corruption.
