The Kadima, Yisrael Beiteinu and Pensioners Parties jointly drafted the agreement.
Olmert said a bill detailing the changes will be presented to the Knesset for a vote “in a matter of weeks.”
The plan would empower the prime minister to dissolve the Knesset without the approval of cabinet ministers. A vote by a minimum of 66 Knesset members would be required in order to pass a no-confidence motion, and 73 votes to dissolve the parliament.
Cabinet ministers would be required to resign their positions as Knesset members in order to take on their portfolios. They would be able to return to the Knesset only after resigning from their ministerial posts.
The cabinet would be limited to 18 ministers, of which one-fourth would be required to be experts in their designated fields who did not run for Knesset.
Two Parties Left Out
The two other coalition member parties who apparently were left out of the discussions were surprised at the news and swiftly responded with announcements of their own.
Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Eli Yishai immediately announced that his Sephardic religious party, Shas, would strongly oppose any bill that was not first approved by the majority of Knesset factions. “There is a forum of faction whips on changing the system of government,” he said. “Any other forum does not have the right to advance initiatives on the matter.” Shas is the third-largest party in the government coalition.
Defense Minister and Labor Party Chairman Amir Peretz issued a statement within minutes after Yishai. Peretz, head of the second-largest party in the coalition, expressed concern that the current system of checks and balances in the government would be compromised. “The agreements the prime minister spoke of are liable to harm the Knesset’s standing and its ability to check the power of government,” he said. Peretz added that his party would shortly draft and present its own proposal for change.
Newly-appointed Strategic Affairs Minister and Chairman of the Russian immigrant Yisrael Beiteinu party Avigdor Lieberman called for a change in the current system of government as one of five conditions set in order for his party to join the coalition. None of the other four conditions were fulfilled. He promised last night that the next elections will be conducted differently, adding that the current instability in the government poses a strategic threat to the Jewish state.
Lieberman has said since before the elections that he feels the only hope for future stability in government is a change in the system of rule to a Presidential system with direct prime ministerial elections and fewer tiny parties. Olmert said at the time that he would support the bill at the cabinet level, but he would be unwilling to vote for it in the Knesset.
Olmert said a bill detailing the changes will be presented to the Knesset for a vote “in a matter of weeks.”
The plan would empower the prime minister to dissolve the Knesset without the approval of cabinet ministers. A vote by a minimum of 66 Knesset members would be required in order to pass a no-confidence motion, and 73 votes to dissolve the parliament.
Cabinet ministers would be required to resign their positions as Knesset members in order to take on their portfolios. They would be able to return to the Knesset only after resigning from their ministerial posts.
The cabinet would be limited to 18 ministers, of which one-fourth would be required to be experts in their designated fields who did not run for Knesset.
Two Parties Left Out
The two other coalition member parties who apparently were left out of the discussions were surprised at the news and swiftly responded with announcements of their own.
Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Eli Yishai immediately announced that his Sephardic religious party, Shas, would strongly oppose any bill that was not first approved by the majority of Knesset factions. “There is a forum of faction whips on changing the system of government,” he said. “Any other forum does not have the right to advance initiatives on the matter.” Shas is the third-largest party in the government coalition.
Defense Minister and Labor Party Chairman Amir Peretz issued a statement within minutes after Yishai. Peretz, head of the second-largest party in the coalition, expressed concern that the current system of checks and balances in the government would be compromised. “The agreements the prime minister spoke of are liable to harm the Knesset’s standing and its ability to check the power of government,” he said. Peretz added that his party would shortly draft and present its own proposal for change.
Newly-appointed Strategic Affairs Minister and Chairman of the Russian immigrant Yisrael Beiteinu party Avigdor Lieberman called for a change in the current system of government as one of five conditions set in order for his party to join the coalition. None of the other four conditions were fulfilled. He promised last night that the next elections will be conducted differently, adding that the current instability in the government poses a strategic threat to the Jewish state.
Lieberman has said since before the elections that he feels the only hope for future stability in government is a change in the system of rule to a Presidential system with direct prime ministerial elections and fewer tiny parties. Olmert said at the time that he would support the bill at the cabinet level, but he would be unwilling to vote for it in the Knesset.