Last update - 00:00 10/01/2007
Bill urges permanent dismissal of MK convicted of crime
By Gideon Alon, Haaretz Correspondent
Members of Knesset standing criminal trial could be dismissed from their seat and subsituted with another MK from their party, according to a proposal brought Wednesday before Knesset.
MK Yitzhak Levi (National Union - NRP) proposed the idea at a meeting of the Knesset Legislative Committee during a debate on the Norwegian Law, a proposal to allow MKs who are appointed ministers or deputy ministers to take leave from Knesset and be replaced temporarily by a substitute MK. When the minister's tenure in government is over, he returns to Knesset and his substitute leaves.
According to Levi's proposal, if an MK is convicted of a crime, his leave from Knesset would be considered permanent. Levi said his proposal was designated to send out the message that the Knesset is fighting public corruption.
It is impossible to ignore the fact that there are currently 15 ministers and MKs embroiled in criminal investigation, Levi said, adding, "we have reached a situation which has broken the basic trust the public has in the purity of the state."
Former Knesset speaker MK Reuven Rivlin (Likud) voiced strong objections to the Norwegian Law, saying the law could allow the prime minister a "buy out" the conscience and positions of the next candidate in line for the Knesset by promising to appoint an acting MK as cabinet minister.
According to Rivlin, in such a situation MKs would be devoid of opinion and conscience. Rivlin said he would even prefer increasing the number of MKs to 150 to passing the Norwegian Law.
On the opposing side, Public Security Minister Avi Dichter expressed his support for the Norwegian Law, saying the current situation, in which 20 percent of the executive branch functions as part of the legislative branch, is highly problematic.
MK Danny Naveh (Likud) said many changes need to be administered to the governing system, including the election of half of all MKs in regional elections. According to him, the Norwegian Law is only a fraction of all that needs to be changed in the government.
According to a calculation by the Knesset information center, implementing the Norwgian Law would cost about NIS 27 million a year. The annual cost of employing an MK stands at NIS 1.09 million.
Committee chairman MK Menahem Ben-Sasson (Kadima) advised against using the term the "Norwegian Law," and instead suggested calling it the "Replacment MK Law."
"The public must be aware that democracy is the best tool we have, and that changing the law would improve it," Ben-Sasson said.