Livni: Mofaz's decision to quit politics regretful
Transportation minister absent from first Kadima faction meeting under Livni's leadership. 'We must remain united; we have a country to run,' new chairwoman tells party members
"There will be no divisiveness in Kadima; yesterday's rivalry has ended," Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Friday morning during a party faction meeting in Petah Tikva, the first under her leadership.
"Kadima must remain united. We have a country to run. What's important now is that we work together and quickly, as we are facing political and security-related challenges," she said a day after defeating Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz in the party primaries by a narrow margin.
Livni, who was greeted at the party's Petah Tikva headquarters with hugs and flowers, said she regretted Mofaz's decision to take a break from politics. "I am sorry he is not with us today," she said.
Several hours after Mofaz's dramatic announcement, senior officials in his election campaign vowed to stand by Livni despite their claims of irregularities in the ruling party's primary elections.
Kadima Knesset Member and coalition chairman Menahem Ben-Sasson told those on hand "we will all stand behind our new leader and prepare for general elections."
As part of her efforts to assemble a new government, Livni met with Shas Chairman Eli Yishai on Thursday, and during Friday's Kadima meeting criticized Labor Chairman Ehud Barak's decision to wait for her to reveal her intentions before discussing the new coalition.
"We entered the process of forming a new government because (Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is being forced to step down), but there is no reason to change the make-up of the coalition," Livni said.
"We decided not to advance general elections in order to preserve governmental stability. I am not afraid of going to elections, but they are unnecessary."
Livni also told the faction meeting in Petah Tikva that she plans to meet with factions that are not part of the current government in order to "broaden the collation base".
"If we won’t succeed (in assembling a new government), we can go to general elections, from which I plan to come out on top," she said.
