In the past, Sharon stood on the Likud hardliners’ side opposing attempts by former Prime ministers to pass any compromise that includes any territorial compromises; today Sharon is expected to drink from the same bitter glass he, in the past, poured for others.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will present to the Wednesday Likud convention a proposal that allows the government to negotiate with any Zionist party to expand the existing minority coalition.
The proposal will be presented to counter the Likud rebels’ proposal, which calls Likud delegates to vote against inviting labor party to join the cabinet.
Sharon accused Tuesday his opponents move to be premature.
‘There is no agreement with Labor. Things have not been summarized and no agreement has even been initialed. I don’t know what kind of coalition there will be. And there is no sign right now who will be in the coalition,’ Sharon said.
Against repeated hardliners calls for the Wednesday vote to be binding to all, Sharon, In private conversations, is still insisting that the composition of the cabinet is a Knesset business, not a Likud party one.
While most commentators believe that Likud rebels will have the upper hand in the party convention, Sharon won over the support of Health minister Danny Naveh after Education minister Limor Livnat extended publicly support to the Prime minister; both ministers are seen as hardliners.
While Sharon is growing increasingly angry with Foreign minister Cilvan Shalom, who completely aligned with rebels’ leader Minister Uzi Landau and is working actively to foil Sharon’s move to invite labor into the ruling coalition, the prime minister is working hard to gain the public support of Finance minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu, who is still sitting at the wall, has so far only said that Labor can join the existing coalition, if it accepts all the government guidelines, including his economic policies.
So far, nobody can predict what would happen on Wednesday night.
Different from the time prior to the last Likud referendum, in which Sharon received a humiliating defeat, Likud hardliners seem to be losing major hard-line ministers and their supporters; a crack that could benefit Sharon’s camp.
Opposition in the Likud is strongest to the formation of Likud-Shinui-Labor-UTJ coalition. Such coalition is seen by many as a “leftist-secular†one that contradicts the principles of the Likud.
While the secular Shinui party bitterly accepted to set in a cabinet with Ultra-orthodox UJT, Sharon knows beyond doubts that inviting the Sephardic ultr-orthodox Shas party would force Shinui to step out.
Forming a Likud-Labor-Shas-UTJ coalition is another option that is more likely to be accepted by a majority in the Likud.
Sharon, who immediately dismissed Labor’s demand to open the State 2005 budget for negotiations prior to the cabinet approval, said Tuesday that all changes made to the budget prior to its Sunday approval are in line with labor demands.
The prime minister hopes that changes made would help advance coalition talks with labor despite the mounting opposition among labor leaders.
If Sharon opts for Labor and Shinui, he needs to face a strong opposition within his own party that could either lead to him being voted out or the fragmentation of the Likud.
If Sharon opts for Labor and Shas he would defiantly lose his faithful ally, namely Shinui, and face tremendous hardships in implementing the disengagement plan.
If Sharon decides on keeping his existing minority coalition, he needs to go through tough bargaining with each minister and Knesset member on each and every decision submitted for approval.
Apparently, Sharon’s proposal to allow him to negotiate with all “Zionist†parties is an attempt to gain more time, hoping to harvest more support from within his own party.
The Likud convention is due to begin at 4 P.M. with nine speeches scheduled, 4 for Sharon’s supporters and 4 for his opponents. Sharon is scheduled to speak around 8 P.M.
Fears are mounting within Likud that the convention will turn into a big fight with sever exchanges of accusations, signaling that it could be hard to maintain the party unity for long.
In the past, Sharon stood on the Likud hardliners’ side opposing attempts by former Prime ministers to pass any compromise that includes any territorial compromises; today Sharon is expected to drink from the same bitter glass he, in the past, poured for others.
