Sharon asked to set new elections

[L@mplighterM]

Snip:

Sharon asked to set new elections
Tuesday, October 29, 2002 Posted: 5:59 PM EST (2259 GMT)

Sharon's government is expected to collapse within days.




RISHON LETZION, Israel (CNN) -- Anticipating that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's national unity government would collapse Wednesday, Labor Party chief Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said Tuesday Sharon should meet with him to settle on a date for new elections.

Barring some last-minute deal, the Labor Party is set to vote against the new government budget and support a no-confidence vote against the government.

"I intend to lead this battle to the end," Ben-Eliezer said at a Labor Party conference in Rishon Letzion. "From here I call on Sharon to sit with me so we can agree on a date for the elections.

"We can agree on dates in March or April, but whenever the prime minister wants, we will go to the people."

The major sticking point between the Labor Party and Sharon's Likud movement was $147 million earmarked for the expansion of Jewish settlements.

http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/10/29/israel.gov.crisis/index.html

[NewsGuy]

Originally posted by L@mplighterM
"I intend to lead this battle to the end," Ben-Eliezer said at a Labor Party conference in Rishon Letzion. "From here I call on Sharon to sit with me so we can agree on a date for the elections.

What Arab wars and Islamic terrorism could not accomplish, Israel's lousy parliamentary system will. It's really ridiculous that the government can be brought down by political bickering before its term is out.

[L@mplighterM]

Many political systems work that way a vote of non confidence brings down the
coalition government. I think political systems like that have their upside and downside.

The upside is that theoretically the electorates have more representation if the members they elected serve them. The downside can be a windmill government that changes direction at the whim of the elected members.

In the case of Israel I think that the current government should stay on target without distractions from its current offensive against terrorism.

[alexbmn]

you know what ,I want this government to collapse.it hasnt achieved much at all.The economy is in shambles and the war hasnt been won.And how could it be with those half assed measures?

[alexbmn]

in fact Ben Eliezer thinks the military option has exhausted itself meaning he wants to surrender. the sooner he is removed from the his post the better.

[L@mplighterM]

Snip:

Israeli governing coalition collapses
Wednesday, October 30, 2002 Posted: 12:55 PM EST (1755 GMT)




JERUSALEM (CNN) -- The national unity government of Israel collapsed Wednesday after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon rejected a deal that would have kept the opposition Labor Party in the coalition.

Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, the head of the Labor Party, along with other Labor ministers, resigned after a day of negotiations over money budgeted for Jewish settlements.

With the departure of Labor ministers, Sharon of the Likud party is left without a majority of votes in the 120-member Knesset. He has two options -- try to form a new government by appealing to small, right-wing religious parties to join his coalition or call for new elections.

"We did everything we could," Sharon said. "I am sorry our efforts were not fruitful. We will continue to lead the country with responsibility and judiciousness."


http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/10/30/israel.gov.crisis/index.html

[redcake]

So this means we might have a governing body in charge that's all on the same page for a chance? I do believe the nature of a Parlimentary system is to bicker, and run off in a huff. They'll be back next week once they realize an all Likud government isn't going to satisfy them. With that said, how terrible would it be to have Sharon running things without the need to please his opposition party for the sake of harmony?

[Mediocrates]

According to David Horowitz of the Jerusalem Review it spells political suicide for ben Eliezer. There is no chance that any Labor candidate can win now and the only choice is between Sharon and Netyanhu. Which basically makes Sharon the moderate this time around.

Keep in mind that they were 35 million apart on the funding. People will not forgive Labor so easily.

[redcake]

Little of it has to do with the fiscal issues at hand, they're just channeling their disputes into the money side of things for a sot of "blackmails" sake, but it doesn't do any good. Expect Labor to return within two weeks. My naive prediction at least.

[Miriam]

Where I am now, it is commonly believed that narrow-based governments function better than broad-based ones and that a strong opposition benefits the general public.

[NewsGuy]

Originally posted by Miriam
Where I am now, it is commonly believed that narrow-based governments function better than broad-based ones and that a strong opposition benefits the general public.

Yes, that should generally be true when the coalition partners have very similar interests and principles. Unfortunately in Israel, however, the coalition partners are usually made up of petty little groups who are so self-interested that they become a more of a problem than a benefit to the government.

They simply view the narrow government as an opportunity to grab more power than they actually have earned in the elections, because they know that the government desperately needs their support. And so the coalition blackmail goes on, especially with a narrow government.

[Miriam]

Originally posted by NewsGuy

Yes, that should generally be true when the coalition partners have very similar interests and principles. Unfortunately in Israel, however, the coalition partners are usually made up of petty little groups who are so self-interested that they become a more of a problem than a benefit to the government.

They simply view the narrow government as an opportunity to grab more power than they actually have earned in the elections, because they know that the government desperately needs their support. And so the coalition blackmail goes on, especially with a narrow government. Yes, it's an old subject. It seems that a reform of the election system would do Israel a lot of good. Adopting schemes similar to those of France or Germany would reduce the number of parties in Knesset roughly by half, and experience shows that when the entrance thresholds to national parliaments are relatively high, the political scene tends to consolidate.