Ami Ayalon appears to be leading the Labor party chairmanship race by a few percentage points. According to a poll conducted among Labor members, Ayalon has 49 percent support; Ehud Barak has 44 percent, and an additional seven percent have not yet decided.
On His Way to Victory?
Ayalon tries to secure Peretz's support / Attila Somfalvi
Labor chairmanship candidate meets outgoing party head in attempt to garner support for second round of elections
The runoff is scheduled to take place next Tuesday.
The survey revealed that over 70 percent of those who voted for Peretz,
Ophir Pines and Danny Yatom in the first round plan to vote for Ayalon in the second round. If this materializes, Ayalon will beat Ehud Barak in the second round. However, nothing is certain, especially if the 4.5 percent margin of error is taken into account.
The poll shows that Peretz supporters from urban environments and minority communities seem to go for Ayalon, while Barak enjoys wider support in moshavim and Druze communities.
The majority, 58 percent of party members, believe that the party should stay in the government after the chairman is elected, while 32 percent said it should quit the coalition.
Ayalon said at a Tel Aviv conference that Peretz's support was important to him to win the runoff and to lead the party into power. "I told Amir I was no tradesman and I mean what I say when I negotiate. I have nothing to give you except being a member of the party in power," he said.
Ehud Barak said recently at a conference in Beer Sheva that "Ayalon was led by Peretz because he is inexperienced." He added that it was an "unholy alliance. I feel that many people are drawn to us and we will all see the results on election day. We will win big-time next week."
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