Sep. 29, 2005 Parties look to gain from Likud turmoil
By SHEERA CLAIRE FRENKEL
Labor and Shinui are planning to vote against the budget as it currently stands, making it impossible for the Likud to pass it without significant changes, several party spokespeople said Wednesday.
Although Prime Minister Ariel Sharon may have gained political ground within his own party this week by defeating rebel Likud MKs in an inter-party vote, his ground within the Knesset had become increasingly shaky, said a rival party spokesman.
Spokespeople from Labor and Shinui said they hoped to further loosen Sharon’s footing by opposing Likud initiatives in the Knesset, primarily the 2006 budget.
"Unless significant changes are made in the budget there is no way it will pass,‘ said MK Matan Vilnai (Labor). ’Labor will not vote for the budget the way it is now, and there is no way Likud can pass the budget without the Labor party vote," he added.
"It seems certain that there is strong opposition in Shinui to the current budget,‘ said a spokeswoman for Chemi Doron (Shinui). ’Shinui is certainly expected to vote against it."
Labor chairman Shimon Peres told supporters in a political rally in Petah Tikva on Wednesday night that Labor would demand a war against poverty. "A revolution is needed in the thinking on the state budget,‘ Peres said. ’Investments must be made in the Negev, Galilee and Jerusalem in order to save them."
The budget and the confirmation of Acting Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as finance minister are due to be the most contentious votes at the opening of the winter session on October 30. While Labor already announced its intention to vote against Olmert’s appointment, Shinui will meet over the issue in the coming weeks.
Many Labor MKs were looking at the Likud as a party in collapse, said a Labor party spokesman, and were hoping to use the turmoil to move the Knesset toward their own party lines.
"I look at Likud and I see a party in suicide,‘ said Construction and Housing Minister Isaac Herzog, who received the second place in the ministerial vote in the Labor party. ’Labor must use this opportunity to show voters a real, serious party that they can vote for." Labor would use the upcoming Knesset session to push their own agenda more heavily, said a spokesman for the party.
"We aren’t trying to break the dishes, to shatter everything,‘ said a spokeswoman for MK Eitan Cabel (Labor). ’We will try and work with the PM, and we will try to see our objectives met."
In the past, Likud turned to Shinui to create a Likud-Shinui majority with its 14 MKs. Likud would need the support of at least one other political party to pass the budget, said a Knesset spokesman. A date has not yet been set for a vote on the budget, which the Knesset must approve before 2006.
Many MKs, however, said it was unlikely that the budget would be able to pass in time, causing 2006 to begin on an interim budget, as was done in 2005. While the situation buys the Knesset several months before a permanent budget is passed, it limits the influence of the budget on issues such as infrastructure reform that could only be initiated in the permanent budget.
"I think there will be some very problematic votes for Sharon, including Olmert’s appointment as finance minister and the vote over the budget,‘ said a spokesman for Labor whip Ephraim Sneh. ’If he does not reach out and make concessions, make compromises, I believe he will have a hard time on these votes."
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