Na Kadima verkiezing: Mofaz neemt time-out terwijl Livni coalitie gaat vormen

 

Hieronder de stappen naar een nieuwe regering na de interne verkiezingen voor het partijleidersschap van Kadima.

Inmiddels is bekend dat Tzipi Livni deze verkiezing heeft gewonnen, met een marge van slechts zo'n 400 stemmen. Mofaz gaat de uitslag toch niet aanvechten, maar gaat zich bezinnen op zijn politieke toekomst (zie tweede artikel onderaan).

 

Sommigen dachten dat Olmert nu gelijk met het ontslag van zijn kabinet ook daadwerkelijk zou opstappen, en Livni als vice-premier zijn post zou waarnemen totdat ze een nieuwe coalitie heeft gevormd, maar dat pluche plakt verschrikkelijk en Olmert wil nog als demissionair premier aanblijven totdat de nieuwe coalitie er is.

 

Wouter

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Last update - 23:23 17/09/2008

 

Kadima leadership race: What happens next

 

By The Associated Press

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1022114.html

 

 

Israel's ruling Kadima Party held a primary election Wednesday to pick a successor to the party leader, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

But the winner will not automatically succeed Olmert. Here is a brief look at the process:

Kadima holds primary election. If the winner gets 40 percent or more of the vote, he or she is the new party leader. If not, party holds run-off between two top vote-getters the following week. Exit polls put Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on 47-49 percent and her main rival, Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, on 37 percent.

Once party has a leader, Olmert formally submits resignation to President Shimon Peres. The cabinet resigns with him.

After consulting with party leaders, Peres picks a member of the Knesset, most likely the Kadima leader, to form a new coalition government.

The prime minister designate has 42 days to form a new coalition and bring it to the Knesset for approval.

If no new government is formed, a general election is held within 90 days. The process of forming government begins all over again.

Olmert remains in office as caretaker prime minister until a new government is approved by the Knesset.

Related articles:

Kadima votes on new leader

The princess and the soldier

ANALYSIS / New Kadima party chief to get cold dose of reality

Uzi Benziman / Kadima, Livni

 

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Day after losing Kadima race, Mofaz announces 'time out from politics'

By Haaretz Service

Last update - 22:35 18/09/2008
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1022517.html

 

Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz on Thursday announced he was planning to take a "time out" from politics in order to decide his future path.

At a press conference one day after he lost the Kadima Party leadership race to Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Mofaz said he did not intend to seek a position in the new government, should Livni succeed in forming a coalition.

"I will remain a Kadima member and will do everything I can to help [Livni]," Mofaz said.

Livni's camp on Thursday expressed surprise at Mofaz's announcement.

Commenting on Wednesday's primary election results, in which Mofaz came in second by a margin of some 400 votes, Mofaz said, "I am a democrat in my soul, and I know how to accept and respect every outcome. I accept the voters' verdict and I wish Ms. Livni luck."

Mofaz added that the difference was negligible between the number of the votes he and Livni received and that several lawyers advised him to appeal the results.

But, he said, "I decided that the good of the country comes before my personal gain, especially during this time in which the government is being tossed around in stormy waters."

Mofaz thanked his supporters, along with the cabinet ministers and Kadima MKs. "I have no complaints against anyone - not against those who didn't vote for me," said Mofaz. "I have nothing against the ministers and MKs who supported other candidates, not against the system or the general atmosphere, the media, the pollsters - everyone followed his own agenda."

Later Thursday, Mofaz cancelled a meeting with Livni scheduled for Friday in which the newly elected Kadima chair was to ask him to assist her in assembling a coalition and to rethink his decision to retire from politics.

However, in light of Mofaz's announcement, it appears that he is determined to follow through with his decision and will not be joining the government.