Dichter: Kadima primaries ugly, pathetic

Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter slammed the recent Kadima primaries in a meeting with supporters Saturday evening, saying "we did not want this kind of politics."

"You, who were there, know how shocking it was to see the beautiful democratic process called primaries turn into a different event than we wanted to see," he said. "The pathetic and ugly politics that came to light in those cases will be uprooted from Kadima."

Dichter, who won about 6.5% of the vote, said he is unwilling to accept political corruption in his party.

"Political sophistication? Sure, I have no problem with that. Political alliances? Go ahead, I have no problem with that…but political corruption? Under no circumstances. We will uproot political criminality. We will fight corruption and corrupt individuals with all our might and with the force of the law, within Kadima as well."

'Scandalous voting conditions'

Dichter added that party members must "ask some incisive questions regarding the manner in which the voting took place."

"The number of polling stations where voting conditions were simply scandalous was too high," he said. "In quite a few polling stations, people who hold official positions in Kadima were walking around and crudely getting involved not in how to vote, but rather, whom to vote for."

Referring to the political lessons he has learned since joining Kadima, the former Shin Bet director said: "I'm a long-distance runner, and sometimes even a long-distance swimmer, but I don't remember a period in my life where I learned so much in such a short period."