MK Shelah
Photo: Yaron Brener
Yesh Atid urges High Court to stop vote on expansion of government
MK Shelah submits petition to top court asking for temporary injunction to prevent incoming coalition from passing amendment to revoke limit on number of ministers.
Yesh Atid petitioned the High Court of Justice on Sunday against Likud's decision to increase the number of ministers by changing the "Basic Law: The Government" which the previous Knesset amended to limit the size of the coalition.
The former coalition member – now in the opposition – asked the High Court for a temporary injunction to halt the legislative process, which is being led by a transitional government.
Yesh Atid MK Ofer Shelah with petition
Meanwhile, Bayit Yehudi approved its coalition deal with the Likud.
Yesh Atid's caucus chief MK Ofer Shelah said they turned to the High Court to stop "a despicable play in which the government seeks to pass a despicable decision and increase the number of minister – against public opinion – against all sense and all principles, all while trampling on every government procedure and Knesset process."
He added: "We are confident the High Court will have his say and do the sensible thing."
Yesh Atid officials claimed that "the petition should be accepted because of the limited authority of a transitional government… and the pass given the prime minister by the Knesset speaker despite the existing laws."
In the petition, Yesh Atid urges the Court handle the matter with urgency to prevent a "trampling of the rules of democracy day by day."
The hash petition said the legislation was "a cynical exercise of changing the rules in favor of political survival and cronyism on behalf of the prime minister, who is asking – at knife-point, in the form of a loyalty test – that the Knesset speaker will personally help fulfill his request, all while trampling on the delicate fabric and balance between the legislative and the executive."
It emphasized that "this is a despicable political act which will cause harsh, critical, and irrevocable harm to the standing and respect of the Knesset."
