Grand coalition
A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government.
Causes of a grand coalition
Occasionally circumstances arise in which normally opposing parties may find it desirable to form a government together. For example, in a national crisis such as a war or depression, people may feel a need for national unity and stability that overcomes ordinary ideological differences. This is especially true when there is broad agreement about the best policy to deal with the crisis. In this case, a grand coalition may occur even when one party has enough seats to govern alone. An example would be the British national governments during World War I and before and during World War II.Another possibility is that the major parties may find they have more in common ideologically with each other than with the smaller parties. This is often a result of a cordon sanitaire, where the mainstream parties of the left and right form a coalition to keep parties of the far left or far right out of government. One such example is Austria, which had grand coalitions from 1945 to 1966 to this effect. It is also possible that so many parties are represented in parliament that no other coalition is stable. This is often done out of political necessity, to prevent an early election. For example, in Israel, the fragmentation and intransigence of some of the smaller parties has made it easier to maintain a coherent platform with a grand coalition than with a narrow one.
Selected cases
Africa
Tunisia
made an alliance with the parties of opposing political ideologies, and governed Tunisia between 2011 and 2021.After the party won the Constituent Assembly election in 2011, an alliance was established with the second-placed party and the third-placed party, forming the Troika alliance.
In the 2014 parliamentary election, the party came in second place, but it formed alliance with Nidaa Tounes which was in first place, despite the tensions in the electoral campaign.
In the 2019 parliamentary election, the party returned to first place and allied with the Heart of Tunisia party, until the 2021 political crisis.
South Africa
The 2024 elections in the Republic of South Africa resulted in the African National Congress, which had been in power since 1994, losing its majority having received less than 41% of the national vote. The ANC formed a grand coalition with the Democratic Alliance and nine other parties. Together the parties had 72% of seats in the South African Parliament. All parties who were prepared to sign a statement of intent, which contained the main principles for what it called the Government of National Unity, were included.Asia
India
In the Indian state of Maharashtra, the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance was formed between the Indian National Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Shiv Sena after the 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election. While the Congress and the NCP reflect centre to centre-left policies and have a secular ideology, the Shiv Sena reflects right-wing policies and has a Hindu-nationalist ideology. The alliance formed the government in Maharashtra after a political crisis. The government lasted for 2.5 years, after which in 2022 a rebellion occurred in Shiv Sena regarding the alliance and another political crisis followed. After the government collapsed, the Shiv Sena split into two factions; the relatively moderate and secular group Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray and the Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena, the Hindu nationalist group led by Eknath Shinde. The alliance still exists between the Congress, the NCP and the SS, though they sit in the opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.Israel
has had several grand coalition governments. The first was the wartime government of Levi Eshkol, formed in 1967 and which lasted until 1970. Subsequent grand coalitions were formed in the 1980s and at several points in the 21st century.Several of Israel's grand coalitions were rotation governments, in which the premiership alternated between center-left and center-right leaders. The first was from 1984 to 1988, led by Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Shamir. In 2021, a rotation grand coalition government, the Bennett-Lapid government, succeeded another rotation grand coalition in the form of the Netanyahu-Gantz government.
Japan
Following the 1993 Japanese general elections, the historically hegemonic Liberal Democratic Party was narrowly placed into the opposition in the lower house for the first time in its history. The former opposition, consisting of parties ranging from the Japan Socialist Party to the neoconservative Japan Renewal Party, united around Morihiro Hosokawa as their choice for prime minister. After having passed electoral reform legislation, which was the coalition's raison d'être, the bickering between ideological factions led to the grand coalition falling apart less than a year later. Soon afterwards, in 1994, the JSP negotiated with the LDP to form a grand coalition government. This lasted until January 1996, and the JSP collapsed after losing much of its political support.Malaysia
The Pakatan Harapan coalition and the Barisan Nasional coalition formed the first grand coalition government in Malaysia in 2022, after the country's 15th general election. No major coalition secured enough seats in these elections to secure a simple majority in parliament. Thus, the country had a hung parliament for the first time in its history. A few days after the election, the Conference of Rulers decreed that party leaders must work together to form a government. Pakatan Harapan's Prime Minister candidate, Anwar Ibrahim, was sworn in as the country's 10th Prime Minister after securing the support of Barisan Nasional, its longstanding opponent, together with other parties that make up the Borneo Bloc: Gabungan Parti Sarawak, Gabungan Rakyat Sabah and Warisan. This coalition government is commonly referred to as a Unity Government, even in official communication by the government itself, but this is not a commonly accepted use of the term. A Unity Government is typically defined as a broad coalition government that lacks opposition. In Malaysia's case, the Perikatan Nasional coalition serves as the biggest group in the opposition bloc.Mongolia
Following the election, the ruling Mongolian People's Party had been reduced from Supermajority to simple majority for the first time in 8 years. Although The Mongolian People's Party could have formed a government of their own, the party leaders of Mongolian People's Party, Democratic Party and HUN Party met and signed a memorandum to cooperate, thus a Grand Coalition in Mongolia is formed for the first time in its history.Turkey
Turkey's first grand coalition was formed after the 1961 general election, with members of Republican People's Party and Justice Party. At the same time, the grand coalition was also Turkey's first coalition government.Europe
Austria
In post-war Austria, a "grand coalition" between the Social Democratic Party of Austria and the conservative Austrian People's Party has been standard since World War II. Of the 31 governments which have taken office since 1945, 20 have been grand coalitions, including eleven consecutively from 1945 to 1966. Grand coalitions again governed from 1987 to 2000 and 2007 to 2017. Grand coalitions have also been common at the state level: as of July 2020, grand coalitions governed Carinthia, Styria, Lower Austria, and Upper Austria; in the last two of these, grand coalitions are compulsory under the constitution.Croatia
The Third Government of the Republic of Croatia or The Government of National Unity was the Croatian Government cabinet led by Prime Minister Franjo Gregurić. It was announced on 17 July 1991 in response to the escalation of the Croatian War of Independence. It was the 3rd cabinet of Croatia since the first multi-party elections, and its term ended on 12 August 1992 after the first parliamentary election under the 1990 Croatian Constitution. During the term of this cabinet Croatia gained internationally diplomatic recognition and became a member of the United Nations.The government was dominated by the right-wing Croatian Democratic Union and it contained the Social Democratic Party of Croatia, Croatian Social Liberal Party, Croatian People's Party, Croatian Christian Democratic Party, Socialist Party of Croatia, Social Democrats of Croatia and the Croatian Democratic Party
Czech Republic
After the Velvet Revolution, there was a government of socialists with Prime Minister Miloš Zeman supported by the right-wing ODS, known as the opposition agreement.Denmark
After the 2022 Danish general election a grand coalition was formed between the centre-left Social Democrats, the centre-right Venstre and the centrist Moderates, presided over by the social democrat Mette Frederiksen.European Union
In the European Parliament, the two main pan-European party groups are the European People's Party and the Socialists & Democrats. Until 2019, they held a majority in the European Parliament and worked together in a grand coalition. However, advances by green, liberal and right-wing populist parties across Europe in the 2019 European Parliament election led to the EPP-S&D coalition losing their majority, making Renew Europe support necessary to give Ursula von der Leyen and her commission a majority in the European Parliament.Estonia
was a grand coalition between the Reform Party and the Centre Party.Kallas dismissed the Centre ministers from her cabinet in June 2022, leaving it in a minority.
Germany
In post-war Germany, "grand coalition" refers to a governing coalition of the two largest parties, usually the Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats. While Germany has historically tended to favour narrow coalitions of one of the two largest parties with the FDP or with the Greens, four grand coalitions have been formed at a federal level: the Kiesinger cabinet, the first Merkel cabinet, the third Merkel cabinet, and the fourth Merkel cabinet. A fifth coalition government, the Merz cabinet, is dubbed as the "black-red coalition" due to the SPD falling behind the second-placed AfD after the 2025 election.Under the Weimar Republic, the Great Coalition included all of the major parties of the left, centre, and centre-right who formed the basis of most governments: the SPD, the Catholic Centre Party, the German Democratic Party, and the German People's Party. The two examples were the first and second Stresemann cabinets and, less ephemerally, the second Müller cabinet.