Meretz Chairwoman Zehava Galon
צילום: תומריקו
Move fails to hold early leadership election in Meretz
Only several hundreds of the party's activists show up to vote for move, falling short of the 60% needed to change Meretz's constitution and hold elections in February 2018 instead of January 2019.
A move to declare early primary election for the Meretz party leadership failed on Sunday, allowing Chairwoman Zehava Galon to finish out her term.
Only several hundreds of activists arrived at the Tel Aviv Convention Center to vote over whether or not to hold early elections, with 54.9 percent in favor.
However, since the move is considered a change to the party's constitution, it requires 60 percent of the votes to pass, of which it fell short.
Meretz leader Zehava Galon (Photo: Tomeriko) (צילום: תומריקו)
In recent months, several players within the party have been working to move the vote earlier, to February 2018.
Chairwoman Galon saw the move as an attempt to oust her, and sources close to her said if the move succeeded, she planned to remove her candidacy and retire from the party.
Meretz MK Ilan Gilon (Photo: Tomeriko) (צילום: תומריקו)
"People in the party decided to remove me," Galon said in a speech after the vote. "Is this the party we want to be? Is this how we look? When the prime minister lashes out against the Left, we could always talk about good governance, but we will always be reminded of (this move)."
She said she is nevertheless not disheartened. "I will continue the struggle to introduce open primaries in Meretz," she said.
MK Ilan Gilon, who seeks to replace Galon, said he was embarrassed at her public comments against the party. "The only one talking about an ouster is the head of the party," he said. "We don't have an ideological crisis. Our crisis, heaven forbid, is about the election system. I've never met a person who decided not to vote for Meretz over the election system."
