Peretz holds out for Labor poll in 3 weeks

MK Amir Peretz intends to propose at the Labor Party convention today that the primaries for party chair be postponed by three weeks. The Histadrut labor federation chairman, who is running for the post, is thus retracting his previous demand to hold the primaries on June 28, as scheduled.

The four other candidates - party chair Shimon Peres, ministers Benjamin Ben-Eliezer and Matan Vilnai, and Ehud Barak - are expected to support the suggestion of Labor Secretary General Eitan Cabel not to reschedule the primaries until the party census is complete, which means postponing them until after the disengagement.

Today's voting will be secret, at Peretz's request, and it is thought that Cabel's proposal will win a majority, since Peres backed down from demanding the primaries be held on July 19.

At a first working meeting Cabel held with Peres on Friday morning, with Minister Haim Ramon attending, Peres announced that he had decided to forgo his demand for primaries in three weeks, despite claiming a sufficient review of the census can be conducted.

"I succumbed to pressure because I want justice to be seen, and not just done. I don't want any doubt remaining about the integrity of the Labor Party," Peres said on Channel 2's "Meet the Press" yesterday.

Regarding suspected fraud in the census, Peres said: "I myself do not know how this happened. There is a control system that has everything necessary to prevent forgeries," he said.

"Nothing was spared - money, time, graphologists and psychologists."

Cabel yesterday expressed hope that Peretz would ultimately decide not to introduce a proposal of his own and would join his rivals, but Peretz is adamant.

The party convention this afternoon at the Tel Aviv Exhibition Grounds, is expected to be raucous and tense in view of the storm brewing over irregularities and suspected forgeries exposed last Thursday in the report by retired judge Sarah Frisch. Instead of preparing to hold primaries this Tuesday, Labor found itself amid another internal and public shake-up when it became clear it would be impossible to go ahead with the vote.

Bellicose Peretz

Peretz said that three weeks are enough time to examine the voter rolls thoroughly , and if no date is set for the primaries, it is obvious they will be postponed until after the disengagement, because that is what the Cabel proposal means, and it seems premeditated. Peretz today will find himself facing a front of the other four candidates. All are set to address the convention, and Peretz is expected to make a bellicose speech.

At the start of the convention, Cabel will present the findings of the Frisch report and explain to delegates why he needs at least two months to clean up the voter rolls, including an appeals process. Meanwhile, Cabel does not intend to reveal details concerning the forgeries and irregularities discovered in the various candidates' canvasses, but promised that suspect registration forms will be given to the police, and that all findings will be revealed at the end of the inquiry.