Israël heeft een nieuwe premier. Het is de vraag of zij een enigzins stabiele coalitie zal kunnen samenstellen, anders worden waarschijnlijk nieuwe verkiezingen gehouden, waarin zij het op zal moeten nemen tegen Barak en Netanjahoe, die beiden al eens premier waren.
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Livni sweeps Kadima race; Olmert pledges cooperation
By Haaretz Staff and News Agencies
Last update 01:29 18/09/2008
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday phoned Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and congratulated her on her victory in the party (Kadima) primary as the new party head after TV exit polls indicated her victory.
Olmert wished Livni good luck and told her she would receive his full cooperation in passing on the role of leadership in the event she is capable of establishing a coalition. The two planned to meet later this week.
Exit polls by Israel's three major TV stations put Livni on 47-49 percent of the vote in the election for the new Kadima leader, negating a second round of voting to replace Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and making her the next likely premier.
Olmert wished Livni good luck and told her she would receive his full cooperation in passing on the role of leadership in the event she is capable of establishing a coalition. The two planned to meet later this week.
Exit polls by Israel's three major TV stations put Livni on 47-49 percent of the vote in the election for the new Kadima leader, negating a second round of voting to replace Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and making her the next likely premier.
Livni's main rival for the leadership of the ruling party, Shaul Mofaz, the hardline transportation minister and former army chief, was predicted to have won 37 percent of the vote.
The exit polls awarded the two other candidates, Meir Sheetrit and Avi Dichter, 7 percent each.
The winner, should he or she achieve a minimum of 40 percent in the final results, will replace Olmert, who is stepping down in light of multiple corruption allegations.
Livni was expected to address party activists Thursday, after the vote counting was completed. Late Wednesday she thanked her supporters in a phone call to her headquarters.
"You fought like lions...you did an amazing thing, and I just want to do all the things you fought for," she said. "I know you did it as friends, but like me you did it because you want this to be a better place."
The biggest issue at stake was the future of Israel's peace talks with the Palestinians, with Livni seen as far more amenable to a final deal than Mofaz. Livni, 50, is currently Israel's lead negotiator in those talks.
Either candidate would make history by becoming prime minister. Livni would be the first female premier since Golda Meir. Mofaz, who was born in Iran, would be the first Israeli of Middle Eastern, or Sephardic, descent to lead the country.
Mofaz was seen as having a better chance at cobbling together a ruling coalition if he had won Wednesday's primary. But pre-vote polls showed Livni to be a far stronger candidate in a general election against Israel's other political star, former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the rightist Likud Party.
Kadima extended the voting hours by 30 minutes Wednesday night, apparently to give voters returning from work more time to cast their ballots at crowded polling stations. Analysts predicted a high turnout would favor Livni, who has a wide advantage in opinion polls but who is seen not to have rallied party activists as efficiently as Mofaz.
The fact that only 74,000 party members, in a country of 7 million people, were eligible to vote added to the uncertainty of the outcome. Israeli media reported that an hour before the new closing time of 10:30 P.M. some 45 percent of the eligible Kadima voters had cast their ballots. However, voting often picks up in the evening after working hours in Israeli elections.
Mofaz, a former chief of staff and defense minister, has insisted that opinion polls showing him trailing Livni are inaccurate.
The exit polls awarded the two other candidates, Meir Sheetrit and Avi Dichter, 7 percent each.
The winner, should he or she achieve a minimum of 40 percent in the final results, will replace Olmert, who is stepping down in light of multiple corruption allegations.
Livni was expected to address party activists Thursday, after the vote counting was completed. Late Wednesday she thanked her supporters in a phone call to her headquarters.
"You fought like lions...you did an amazing thing, and I just want to do all the things you fought for," she said. "I know you did it as friends, but like me you did it because you want this to be a better place."
The biggest issue at stake was the future of Israel's peace talks with the Palestinians, with Livni seen as far more amenable to a final deal than Mofaz. Livni, 50, is currently Israel's lead negotiator in those talks.
Either candidate would make history by becoming prime minister. Livni would be the first female premier since Golda Meir. Mofaz, who was born in Iran, would be the first Israeli of Middle Eastern, or Sephardic, descent to lead the country.
Mofaz was seen as having a better chance at cobbling together a ruling coalition if he had won Wednesday's primary. But pre-vote polls showed Livni to be a far stronger candidate in a general election against Israel's other political star, former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the rightist Likud Party.
Kadima extended the voting hours by 30 minutes Wednesday night, apparently to give voters returning from work more time to cast their ballots at crowded polling stations. Analysts predicted a high turnout would favor Livni, who has a wide advantage in opinion polls but who is seen not to have rallied party activists as efficiently as Mofaz.
The fact that only 74,000 party members, in a country of 7 million people, were eligible to vote added to the uncertainty of the outcome. Israeli media reported that an hour before the new closing time of 10:30 P.M. some 45 percent of the eligible Kadima voters had cast their ballots. However, voting often picks up in the evening after working hours in Israeli elections.
Mofaz, a former chief of staff and defense minister, has insisted that opinion polls showing him trailing Livni are inaccurate.
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