Makhoul. Defeated
Photo: Yariv Katz
Barakeh. Won first spot on list
Photo: Atta Awisat
Hanin. Asked to withdraw
Photo: Yariv Katz
Commotion in Hadash council session
MK Isaam Makhoul, secretary-general of Communist Party, loses primary elections for second spot on Arab party's Knesset list; following results, communist members announce they will not take part in party's election campaign
A commotion erupted during a council session of the Arab party Hadash after the Communist Party's secretary-general, Knesset Member Issam Makhoul, lost the vote for the second spot on Hadash's Knesset list.
The winner was Dr. Hana Sueed, former head of the Ilabun Regional Council in the Galilee, who won 54 percent of the votes.
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After the results were published, a commotion erupted in the place. Makhoul's supporters, most of them members of the Communist Party, threatened to bring the meeting to an end.
They called on all the participants to leave the place and claimed that Makhoul was conspired against.
Only after exerting great efforts, Hadash Chairman Mohammad Barakeh managed to calm the members down. Earlier, Barakeh won the vote for the first spot on the party's Knesset list, after receiving 69 percent of the votes.
'Putsch against communists'
The meeting was held in a very tense atmosphere after it was clear in the past few days that many Hadash members are planning on dismissing Makhoul from the second spot.
Makhoul and Barakeh (Photo: Hagai Aharon)
Once the results were published, members of the Communist Party began shouting that this was a putsch against the communist members of Hadash.
Many of the party members demanded that the third candidate, Dov Hanin, withdraw from the race in order for the list to remain a one-national list and not a Jewish-Arab list, as Hadash presents itself.
The commotion lasted for an hour, after which a large number of members of the Communist Party announced that they do not plan on taking part in the election campaign after a "trap" was set for the party's secretary-general.
