Last update - 00:00 03/12/2007
Changes to Labor constitution would fix chair's term at four years
By Mazal Mualem, Haaretz Correspondent
The Labor Party chairman and candidate for prime minister will be elected in party primaries to a four-year term, according to changes expected to be made to the party's constitution.
The changes are designed to strengthen Labor Chair Ehud Barak ahead of the next primary elections. On Sunday, Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon was authorized to stand at the head of the panel that will formulate the changes, which will then be brought before the party's central committee.
The current constitution stipulates that should the party chairman lose the election for prime minister, primaries are held within 14 months. It was according to that clause that Barak beat former chairman Amir Peretz.
Additional changes expected to bolster Barak include the unification of the party's legal institutions and the reduction of central committee members from 2,500 to 1,051.
An additional planned change would freeze the current party ranking, should Knesset elections move up to take place before 2009.