PM Ehud Olmert
Photo: Reuters
FM Tzipi Livni
Photo:AFP
Internal Security Minister Dichter
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Livni, Dichter fear Olmert 'keeping vote quiet'
Advisors to foreign, internal security ministers attempt to gather votes for alteration of party code enabling primaries, say Olmert distracting members from vote with political issues in order to prevent possibility of elections
The investigation against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert,
the negotiations with Syria,
and the prisoner swap deal with Hizbullah
are all distractions that cause Kadima leaders
to fear party members will forget about the vote for the alteration of the Kadima code, which will allow the party to hold primary elections for its chairperson.
Olmert's Reasons
Fifty-seven percent of registered Kadima voters say PM should not take part in mid-September primaries, 79% believe he should resign amid corruption allegations. Livni seen as leading candidate for party premiership, survey shows
"Many of the Kadima council members don't even know about the vote for the alteration of the code," a source affiliated with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Monday.
Sources within the party have claimed that Olmert is attempting to "keep it quiet" in order to prevent the recruitment of the majority needed for the vote.
The minimal majority required in order for the alteration to be approved is half of the members of Kadima's council, which is made up of 180 people. A current assessment estimates that only about 40 have participated in the vote so far.
For this reason advisors of many of the party's senior members, such as Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter, have been working overtime during the past few days in order to motivate members from all over Israel to participate in the vote, which will remain open until next week.
Despite the poor response recorded so far, party members believe that the required support will eventually be achieved. "There is no need to panic, people always arrive at the last minute," a senior member said Monday.
Last week, Kadima's council approved an agreement with the Labor Party according to which primary elections will be held from September 14-18. However there were not enough members present at the vote to determine that the next party chairman will also be the new candidate for nationwide elections.
