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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Israel's Livni to say by Sunday if she has a coalition |
| 2008-10-24 |
| JERUSALEM - Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who heads the ruling Kadima party, said on Thursday she will form a new coalition government by Sunday, failing which she will ask for snap elections. "Decision time has come. I have just spoken with the president to tell him I will meet him on Sunday to announce my decision: either we form a new government or we go to new elections," Livni told journalists following talks with members of the centrist Kadima. President Shimon Peres had asked Livni on September 22 to form a new government after she was elected to succeed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as Kadima leader. "I have considered it my duty to try to form a new government, particularly now, in order to favour stability, and I believe it is still what is preferable for the country," Livni said. "I have had negotiations with all possible partners with a view to forming a stable government by suggesting to all partners the creation of a true partnership," she added. Last week Livni, 50, reached a draft agreement with the Labour party to form a coalition. She would also need the support of other political parties to form a majority in the 120-member Knesset and has been in tough negotiations with the religious Shas party, which in the past has played the role of kingmaker. If it proves impossible to form a new government, snap general elections will be scheduled for 2009 and polls indicate they could bring the right-wing Likud party to power. Livni as foreign minister has been leading US-backed negotiations with the Palestinians since the November 2007 Annapolis conference and has vowed to press ahead with the peace process if she becomes prime minister. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 Won't matter anyway. Once the anointed one is voted in - Israel will disappear in a mushroom cloud. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2008-10-24 12:46 |
| #1 Nope. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2008-10-24 11:45 |