Last update - 00:00 23/01/2007
Mazuz: Conflict of interest could lead to restrictions on PM
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz is not seeking to place general limitations on the actions of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert due to the criminal probe of his role if any in the sale of Bank Leumi, but only to prevent a conflict of interest in action Olmert might touching on the investigation, Mazuz has written to Professor Amnon Rubinstein.
The former justice minister criticized the AC harshly on Sunday at the Herzliya Conference following reports that he was going to place limitations on Olmert during the investigation.
Last Thursday following the decision by State Prosecutor Eran Shendar to open the probe, the attorney general's office responded to demands that he suspend the prime minister: "There is nothing in law or custom to support your demand that the prime minister step down at this time," his office wrote. However that letter also stated that if a link becomes apparent between the investigation and an action or invoking of specific authority by the prime minister, the question of limiting the PM with regard to that matter would be examined.
Rubinstein, who is president of the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, which is hosting the conference, then said Mazuz had no right to limit "a minister or the prime minister, and certainly not to threaten such a limitation." Rubinstein also warned in his statements of a "danger of rule by officials."
Mazuz's bureau issued the clarification to Rubinstein the same day. "From your statements it appears that the attorney general sought to limit the prime minister's authority following the investigation, while, in fact, our answers were the exact opposite. The attorney general's position is clear: only if a link is found between the investigation and an action or a specific instance of use of authority by the prime minister, will the need for the prime minister to avoid involvement in that specific matter be studied, in keeping with the accepted rules regarding conflict of interest. We are certain that if you had been aware of the attorney general's actual position, you would not have found it correct to state the harsh criticism attributed to you, and it is a pity the matters were not checked before publication."