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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (Daniel Bar-On) Last update - 10:51 26/06/2008 Kadima sources: Olmert can't afford not to run in primary By Mazal Mualem, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Ehud Olmert, Kadima, Israel  Prime Minister Ehud Olmert may still run to keep his spot at the helm of Kadima in the party's primary elections, despite a deal struck with the Labor Party late Tuesday which simultaneously salvaged the coalition and essentially began the process of removing Olmert from power. Kadima sources said on Wednesday that the agreement, which obligates the party to hold primaries by September 25 in exchange for Labor's pledge to remain in the coalition, does not prevent Olmert from running for party leadership. Labor did not insist on such a clause in the deal, assuming that Olmert would not choose to contend. Advertisement Nevertheless, Kadima's undertaking to hold its election by September 25 kicked off the primaries season and was the first step to removing Olmert from the faction's leadership, party sources said. Kadima sources said Olmert cannot afford to announce that he will not run in the primary because that would make him irrelevant. Olmert's aides said the prime minister was still determined to move the peace process forward. Senior Kadima officials on Wednesday commended the deal struck between Kadima and Labor to prevent the vote to disband the Knesset. "We twisted [Olmert's] arm and didn't let him destroy the party," a senior Kadima source said about the agreement, which puts off the next general elections to next year. Olmert and Barak had engaged in all-night mediation efforts to postpone a vote on the preliminary reading of a bill to dissolve the Knesset. Earlier this week, the Labor Party faction agreed it would support dispersing the Knesset, prompting Olmert to threaten dismissals of Labor ministers in the government who supported the move. Assuming Olmert does not run and Kadima elects a new chairman in September, the party may have a prime minister and new leader at the same time. In addition to holding a primary by September 25, the agreement stipulates that Kadima's faction will decide on holding a party council meeting by July 21 (after the cross-examination of U.S. fund-raiser Morris Talansky, scheduled for July 17.) The meeting would approve a change in the charter that would set the date for the primary. Barak, for his part, can present the compromise as an achievement, and claim he managed to get Kadima to set a date for the primary. The indirect negotiations between Olmert and Barak were led by the chairman of Kadima's committee for party matters, MK Tzachi Hanegbi, and the Kadima Council head, Rishon Letzion Mayor Meir Nitzan. Nitzan and Hanegbi met Tuesday in separate meetings with Barak, and got the impression that he was open to the compromise. Barak said he would agree to the deal as long as it created institutions in Kadima during the coming week to bring forward the primary date. Nitzan and Hanegbi passed this on to Olmert and told him that most Kadima faction members were urging him to compromise and did not want the Knesset to be dispersed. Based on the Kadima charter, Olmert is the only official authorized to call a faction meeting. Another way to do so is by collecting signatures from 20 percent of the Kadima Council, which has 180 members. But such a step would be considered a dismissal of Olmert for all intents and purposes, so Kadima wants him to agree to the meeting. Hanegbi said Wednesday he was under the impression that "Barak and Olmert and all those who took part in the talks displayed national responsibility and commitment to the government's stability. When we signed the agreement we felt that a new leaf was opened in coalition relations." Meanwhile, Olmert on Wednesday accused the opposition of trying to bring down the coalition with its criticism of the peace initiatives being carried out by the current government. Speaking during a special Knesset session in the wake of the late-night deal to salvage the shaky coalition, Olmert said; "Whatever peace negotiations we might be involved in will be met with opposition from you because you just don't want peace." Related articles: Olmert to opposition: You just don't want peace Coalition crisis / Two Ehuds take each other down in duel of despair Bookmark to del.icio.us   Bridging the gap A flashy addition to Jerusalem's entrance merges the old and the new. Two years later Captive soldiers' families lash out during ceremony marking Shalit's kidnapping.   1.   The energy being transmited 10:03  |  Dror 26/06/08   2.   Israel is such an amazing country 11:52  |  Btzelem 26/06/08   3.   Sometime I can`t decide whether to laugh or cry 12:10  |  S 26/06/08   4.   Labor Has Little power or Say in Israel, so Stay quiet! 12:18  |  Baruch Gold 26/06/08   5.   Outsider 12:29  |  Di 26/06/08   6.   Here is Olmert CV for the primary 14:53  |  Simon 26/06/08   7.   The question can he afford it ? The answer is "yes" 15:15  |  Sal 26/06/08

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