Rivlin to meet with faction chiefs on Sunday
INSIGHT: How does one form a government? In the week after elections, the president appoints one candidate to begin tedious process of gathering a coalition.
The director general of the President's Residence sent letters on Wednesday evening inviting the representatives of the factions for a series of talks, after which the president will ask Benjamin Netanyahu to begin forming a coalition.
"In accordance with section seven of the Basic Law: The Government, the president will hold consultations with the representatives of the party lists which will enter the new Knesset, at the talks' conclusion he will appoint one of the MKs the role of forming a government," said the letter.
The letter added that the president planned to begin the round of talks at the beginning of next week – in coordination with the chairman of the central election committee – in an attempt to finish the process of forming a new coalition as soon as possible.
The near-final results, amounting to 99 percent of the total, for the elections to the 20th Knesset will be published on Thursday. The release of the final official results will occur next Wednesday, when they will be provided to President Rivlin.
Only once Rivlin receives the results can he appoint the chosen candidate – Benjamin Netanyahu – to begin the difficult task of piecing together a coalition.
How does it work?
Each stage in the process of forming a new coalition is based in the Basic Law: The Government and the proportional representation system adopted by Israel. After the final tally is published, the president has one week to deliberate with the faction chiefs before choosing one to negotiate with his rivals over the government.
In many cases – and certainly after the 2015 elections – the person nominated is the head of the faction which garnered the most mandates. Occasionally, as occurred in 2009, the second-largest party is tasked with forming a government.
According to the law, Netanyahu will have 28 days to form a coalition, and President Rivlin can extend that period by an additional 14 days. During this time, the Likud leader will negotiate with the parties who support him in order to hear their terms for joining a coalition.
The soon-to-be four-term prime minister will use his best bargaining chip – the ministries – to curry favor with the faction chiefs. After the delicate negotiations are completed and coalition agreements are signed, the candidate seeking to head the government must bring his proposed coalition to a vote in the Knesset.
If a majority of the chamber approves the motion, the new prime minister and his ministers are sworn into office. Generally, the sitting prime minister remains in the role until the ceremony. For the second time in a row, however, Netanyahu will be holding both titles.
If after 42 days the incoming prime minister fails to form a government – or forms one that does not pass a Knesset vote – the president may select another candidate within three days, who is then given 28 days – with no extension – to try their luck.
If the president does not find a viable candidate, he tells the Knesset Chairperson that he does not believe a government may be formed.
In the unlikely event that the second candidate fails to form a government - or the president does hold faith in another candidate – there is a 21-day period when 51 MKs may band together and present to the president a colleague to take on the task of coalition-building.
In that rare scenario, the new bidder has 14 days to negotiate a coalition.
If all of the possibilities presented above fail to result in the formation of a government, the law dictates that new elections will be held on the last Tuesday of the month, within 90 days of the last failed attempt, as if the Knesset had voted to disband before the end of its term.
Roi Yanovsky contributed to this report.
