The Likud fears that it will lose some support in the upcoming voter surveys as a result of the ongoing investigation into possible vote-buying in the party. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said last night, "I will personally make sure that anyone found to be involved in such corruption will be thrown out of the party, no matter who he is." He denied that his son Omri, who was elected to the 27th slot on the Likud list of Knesset candidates, had anything to do with illegal practices.
Prime Minister Sharon instructed Justice Minister Meir Sheetrit yesterday to speed up his work on investigating the Likud primaries and preparing proposals for legislation regarding the way in which parties choose their Knesset candidates. Sheetrit was originally given 30 days to prepare the new plan, but has now been asked to have it ready within a week or two. One option under consideration is to obligate all parties over a certain size - 10 MKs, or possibly even 5 - to choose their candidates in public primaries. Sheetrit announced the composition of his investigative team this afternoon; it includes Likudniks such as Hon. Uri Gruzman and former Defense Minister Moshe Arens, as well as elections experts from the world of academia.
Arutz-7's Haggai Segal noted today that there is essentially no meat to the blaring headlines of "corruption in the Likud." "I have been looking into the story," he said today, "and I'm still waiting for the big breakthrough that will show that something illegal happened in the Likud. The two activists who were arrested yesterday, for instance, have already been released to their homes, and the police didn't even ask for an extension of their custody. The two say that all they did was to arrange gatherings for various candidates and ask the guests to participate in paying expenses." In conclusion, Segal said, "the Likud comes out looking very bad from this whole story, but nothing criminal has yet stuck… We do see the low level of some of the Likud candidates, but nothing worse than that."
Prime Minister Sharon instructed Justice Minister Meir Sheetrit yesterday to speed up his work on investigating the Likud primaries and preparing proposals for legislation regarding the way in which parties choose their Knesset candidates. Sheetrit was originally given 30 days to prepare the new plan, but has now been asked to have it ready within a week or two. One option under consideration is to obligate all parties over a certain size - 10 MKs, or possibly even 5 - to choose their candidates in public primaries. Sheetrit announced the composition of his investigative team this afternoon; it includes Likudniks such as Hon. Uri Gruzman and former Defense Minister Moshe Arens, as well as elections experts from the world of academia.
Arutz-7's Haggai Segal noted today that there is essentially no meat to the blaring headlines of "corruption in the Likud." "I have been looking into the story," he said today, "and I'm still waiting for the big breakthrough that will show that something illegal happened in the Likud. The two activists who were arrested yesterday, for instance, have already been released to their homes, and the police didn't even ask for an extension of their custody. The two say that all they did was to arrange gatherings for various candidates and ask the guests to participate in paying expenses." In conclusion, Segal said, "the Likud comes out looking very bad from this whole story, but nothing criminal has yet stuck… We do see the low level of some of the Likud candidates, but nothing worse than that."