Last update - 00:00 10/04/2007
Labor MK Pines-Paz presses party to quit government coalition
By Mazal Mualem, Haaretz Correspondent
MK Ophir Pines, running for the position of chair of the Labor Party, is pressing his proposal that the party leave the coalition, a move which, if successful, would likely bring down the current government headed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Pines has further proposed that the party central committee convene to vote on his proposal before the party primary election takes place on May 28.
Merely by convening Labor's central committee, Olmert's largest coalition partner, Pines would be causing the prime minister a major embarrassment.
Pines-Paz' bid to convene Labor's high committee is intended to pressure his rivals in the race for party chairmanship, particularly former prime minister Ehud Barak and MK Ami Ayalon. Both contenders have bene vague in relation to whether Labor should remain in Olmert's coalition or not.
Last week Pines-Paz began collecting signatures from high committee members necessary for convening the meet.
"In light of the utter loss of public faith in the Olmert government, and particularly in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert," the petition circulated by Pines-Paz read, "we assert that the Labor Party can no longer be partner to a government that does not enjoy the public's faith."
Labor's constitution stipulates that the signatures of 10 percent of central committee members, some 250, are required for convening a special meeting. In an interview with Israel Radio on Tuesday, Pines-Paz said he is confident that the signing campaign would be completed in a few days.
Pines-Paz intends to approach his fellow primaries contenders and ask them to sign his petition and come out with their stance on the matter before Labor members. "Let them say whether they wish to join this failed government of whether they want to bring its tenure to an end," Pines said.
"If they [Barak and Ayalon] are joining this government out of personal calculations they are providing artificial reinforcement and handing the reins over to Bibi [Likud Chairman Benjamin Natanyahu] and Likud on a silver platter," he added.
Pines-Paz said also that should another Kadima candidate replace Olmert at the government's helm, Labor's partnership in the coalition could be reevaluated.