Prime Minister Sharon announced on Monday that he will leave
the Likud and start his own party to run in the upcoming
elections. Instant polls showed the new party winning 30
Knesset seats, to 26 for Labor and only 15 for Likud. This
would mean that Sharon would form the next government. These
results are not a reliable indicator for the elections to be
held in three months' time or more.
The Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee is to
discuss on Tuesday the preparation of bills to disperse the
Knesset. Committee chairman MK Michael Eitan (Likud) said
that he hopes the legislation process will be complete as
early as Wednesday afternoon.
Sharon also went to President Katzav and asked him to
dissolve the Knesset and hold elections. Doing the process
through Katzav rather than the Knesset bill would set an
earlier date for elections (at the beginning of March) and
would also allow Sharon to appoint interim ministers without
Knesset approval. With most of the Knesset hostile to him, he
would have a hard time getting any ministerial appointments
approved there. However, the Labor Party may agree to support
ministerial appointments.
The President believes that he should be the one to dissolve
the Knesset.
In order to form a new political party that would preserve
the financial and publicity rights of an existing party, the
new party must comprise at least a third of an existing
party. These rights include advance funding for the campaign,
and free broadcast time in the mass media. Without these
incumbent benefits, the task of setting up a new party is
immeasurably harder. Since the Likud had 40 seats, Sharon had
to get at least 14 MKs to join him. He did it.
Knesset factions are eligible for NIS 1.146 million per MK,
of which they receive 60 percent — NIS 687,000 per MK
— after submitting their lists to the Central Elections
Committee (CEC). They receive another 25 percent with the
publication of the election results. The remaining 15 percent
is transferred after the state comptroller confirms that they
have not violated the party funding law.
Election funding is based on the average of lawmakers in the
outgoing and the incoming Knesset. This includes all seats
that the party had at its highest. Thus the Likud will
receive an election advance based on 40 mandates despite the
withdrawal of 14 MKs who have moved over to Sharon's party.
Based on the current configuration, it appears that the
Knesset will pay election advances for at least 136 MKs
instead of 120. A similar approach is used to calculate the
broadcast time allotted.
The 14 who have so far joined Sharon are: ministers Ehud
Olmert, Meir Shetreet, Tzipi Livni, Avraham Hirchson and
Gideon Ezra, as well as Ruhama Avraham, Eli Aflalo, Yaakov
Edri, Ze'ev Boim, Roni Bar-On, Marina Solodkin, Omri Sharon
and Majali Wahabi. Prime Minister Sharon is the 14th.
Other additional candidates in the new party who have been
mentioned include former Shin Bet security service chief Avi
Dichter, and Labor Party minister Chaim Ramon. Shimon Peres
has also been mentioned as a possibility but he said that he
was not interested.
The name mentioned for the party was Kadima, but as we go to
press it has not been finalized.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz decided not to join Sharon,
opting to run for the Likud leadership instead. Minister-
without-Portfolio Chaim Ramon was the only Labor MK to join
the party but negotiations will certainly be conducted with
other Likud figures, Labor officials and key public
figures.
The prime minister said that the new party would focus on
advancing the road map peace plan, changing the electoral
system and fighting terror, violence, poverty and
corruption.
"After many misgivings, I decided to leave the Likud party,"
Sharon announced. "In its present form, the Likud cannot lead
Israel toward its national goals."
"Staying in the Likud means wasting time on political
struggles instead of acting on behalf of the state," Sharon
said.
Sharon said that if elected he would try to form a national-
unity government with new Labor chairman Amir Peretz. He
hinted that he might not bring the Likud into his
government.
Sharon said that he intended to "lay the foundation for a
peace agreement in which the country's permanent borders
would be determined," but he firmly ruled out further
unilateral withdrawals in the West Bank.
