With Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on the ropes, members of his Kadima party are already jockeying for position in anticipation of his downfall and possible early elections.
“The Kadima party primary began yesterday, even if nobody declared this officially. Even the prime minister realizes that he cannot prevent it from taking place soon,” the top-selling Yediot Aharonot wrote in an editorial.
Olmert suffered a double blow when his No. 2 challenged his leadership shortly after a key ally demanded he quit over a corruption scandal.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, the No. 2 in the government and in Kadima, on Thursday called for unprecedented primary elections in the centrist party, hinting strongly that the scandal-tainted Olmert should go.
She dropped the political bombshell just one day after Defense Minister Ehud Barak, whose Labor party is a key partner in the government coalition, demanded that Olmert step down or face early elections.
“The scent of elections is in the air,” the Haaretz newspaper said, echoing the prevailing view of political experts.
A poll published by Haaretz said that if an election were held now, the opposition right-wing Likud party would emerge the winner, with 29 of the 120 parliamentary seats.
Livni is the favorite among Kadima voters. With her at the helm, the party would garner 23 seats, compared with 29 at present, the poll said. A Barak-led Labor would gain 15, down from its current 19.
One way or another, voters believe Olmert must go. An opinion poll on Thursday found that 70 percent of people surveyed thought he should step down.
Pressure against Olmert, 62, reached boiling point after Jewish-American financier Morris Talansky testified before a Jerusalem court on Tuesday that he had given Olmert vast amounts of cash stuffed into envelopes.
Talansky said he had given at least US$150,000 in the 14 years before he became prime minister in 2006, some of which might have been used to fund Olmert’s taste for luxury goods.
Olmert has denied any wrongdoing over the allegations that have been simmering since police first questioned him in the affair on May 2. He has, however, acknowledged receiving campaign donations.
The prime minister, who flies to Washington on Monday for a three-day visit and a meeting with US President George W. Bush, has asked Kadima MPs not to do anything until his return, Israeli media said.
Growing numbers of lawmakers have said Olmert cannot devote the necessary energy to US-sponsored peace talks with the Palestinians, as well as indirect negotiations with Syria, while at the same time fighting for his own political survival.
But officials in Washington insisted that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s travel plans to the Middle East are unaffected by the corruption scandal.
“In terms of the secretary’s plans, she does intend to go back to the region, in the not-too-distant future,” State Department spokesman Tom Casey said on Thursday.
“We’re still, you know, obviously looking at the right time to do that. But, certainly, I’m not aware that anything that’s occurred in Israeli politics in the last few days has made any change in our plans necessary,” he said.
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