Israel’s Netanyahu given 14 more days to form government as he struggles to build coalition
Source: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on Monday given a 14-day extension to form a new government as he struggles to build a coalition after four weeks of intensive talks.
Such a move is far from unusual in Israel where it is almost unheard of for a single party to win an outright majority, and lengthy negotiations with multiple potential coalition partners are the norm.
Following last months general election in which Netanyahus rightwing Likud party won the largest number of seats, the Israeli premier was on March 25 tasked by Rivlin with forming a new government.
He was given 28 days to complete the task, but with the Wednesday deadline looming, and no agreement in sight, he went to Rivlin early on Monday to request the extension. I am giving you another 14 days to put together a government, Rivlin told Netanyahu in remarks broadcast on Israels main radio stations.
-snip-
Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/israels-netanyahu-given-14-more-days-to-form-government-as-he-struggles-to-build-coalition/
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)peacebird
(14,195 posts)global1
(25,219 posts)DonViejo
(60,536 posts)if he doesn't come through in 14 days, the next highest vote getter will be asked to form a government.
rpannier
(24,326 posts)get a crack at it
If you wanna follow the process this site is pretty good for following the Knesset
http://knessetjeremy.com/
NV Whino
(20,886 posts)Even when he wins, he could lose.
LeftishBrit
(41,202 posts)The Labor-led group got 19% of the vote; the Joint List of Arab parties got 11%; and there were lots of other parties, many of them nuttier than fruitcakes, getting 8% or less. As I doubt that Netanyahu will form a coalition with his main opponents, and there is even less chance of his forming one with the Joint List, he is courting the smaller parties.
Imagine the American president needing to form a formal coalition with Pat Robertson, Pat Buchanan, and some even nuttier types in order to take office.
Ah, the wonders of almost-pure proportional representation. Not that I'm mad on the other extreme - pure first-past-the-post in a multi-party system - which operates in the UK.
NV Whino
(20,886 posts)I hadn't followed closely enough to realize the 23%.
karynnj
(59,494 posts)was that in the week before the election, he went far right - saying no 2 state solution, more settlements and on election day speaking of Israeli Arabs being bused to the polls. Note also that Bennett, leader of the far right party, appeared with Netanyahu - and while Netanyahu made a plea for votes - he didn't. That party lost about 4 seats in the last week.
From some accounts, Netanyahu had promised Bennett a lot - and is now not keeping the promises because Bennett got so few seats! This seems to be a pattern and why he is having trouble creating the government which looked very easy to create as it would be only center/right to far right and the religious parties.
In addition, he is trying to get promises from anyone entering the government to vote for a bill that will increase Netanyahu's power over their Supreme Court and possibly the bill stating that Israel is a Jewish State.
It seems that if you look at the block of right or right/center, it did not increase - the right may have, in fact, decreased. Something not mentioned most articles here. While our media has treated him better than they treat Obama, he has shown himself to be a dishonest, demagogic, unlikable man - dislike by most of the leaders of other countries and hated by the leaders of most of the other parties in Israel - even as they see him as a strong leader. Not to mention, he lost the Prime Ministership earlier in his career because he was shown to be corrupt.
So, where he did win the right to form the government and will likely do so, he has done so in an incredibly ugly way -- exposing his worst side. Unfortunately, this will likely not be good for Israel.
LeftishBrit
(41,202 posts)truthisfreedom
(23,138 posts)lil' boots got 'lected?
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)at the 11th hour.
The one party that has an incentive to hold out and force new elections are the Bayit Yehudi fanatics. Bibi cannibalized a lot of their voters by campaigning against Arabs and the two-state solution. Another campaign would force Bibi to either own those words or disown them.