With old-newcomer Ehud Barak pushing for party primaries as early as possible, Shimon Peres pushing for the opposite, and other party-leader candidates pushing for somewhere in between, the Labor Party decided last night to postpone the decision until Dec. 12 – and even that's not for certain.
Barak, who resigned as Labor chairman in 2001 after losing his bid to be re-elected as Prime Minister, recently returned to the party, with the intention of taking over the leadership once again. His main strategy was to arrange for early primaries, which he felt would sweep him into office, and then to lead to early national elections by making sure not to enter into a national unity government with the Likud.
Peres, on the other hand, has precisely the opposite objectives. The longer the primaries are pushed off, the more secure he is in his position as party chairman – and the more likely he will be to bring the party into a unity government.
At last night's Labor Party Central Committee meeting, Barak demanded a secret vote on the matter. A vote on whether to have a secret vote was about to be held, and it appeared that Barak would not receive his desire. He then grabbed the microphone from session chairman Moshe Shachal and, in a frantic and hoarse voice, yelled, "I call upon everyone to vote only for a secret vote. Don't vote until we hear from the [party's] legal counsel... Anything else is an attempt to steal the party, and this won't happen in 2004!"
In the end, no vote was taken, and the decision was postponed until Dec. 12. This date is not engraved in stone, however, as it falls on Chanukah.
In press interviews today, Barak defended his actions, saying he has strong support within the party, and that it will only increase. "Allow me to lead a militant opposition for a year, and you'll see that the public wants to see what I have to say," he said. Peres and other party leaders such as Matan Vilnai had only bad things to say about Barak.
Moshe Shachal, a fomer Cabinet minister who resigned from politics several years ago, said today that Barak had phoned him yesterday afternoon and asked for a "good speaking slot towards the end of the evening." Shachal said that he planning to do that, "and even give him an extra few minutes as well. But at one point in the conversation, Barak actually said to me, 'You know that we could have good political and business connections in the future.' If I was still Minister of Police, I would have gone straight to the police with this."
Barak, who resigned as Labor chairman in 2001 after losing his bid to be re-elected as Prime Minister, recently returned to the party, with the intention of taking over the leadership once again. His main strategy was to arrange for early primaries, which he felt would sweep him into office, and then to lead to early national elections by making sure not to enter into a national unity government with the Likud.
Peres, on the other hand, has precisely the opposite objectives. The longer the primaries are pushed off, the more secure he is in his position as party chairman – and the more likely he will be to bring the party into a unity government.
...then grabbed the microphone from session chairman Moshe Shachal and, in a frantic and hoarse voice, yelled...
At last night's Labor Party Central Committee meeting, Barak demanded a secret vote on the matter. A vote on whether to have a secret vote was about to be held, and it appeared that Barak would not receive his desire. He then grabbed the microphone from session chairman Moshe Shachal and, in a frantic and hoarse voice, yelled, "I call upon everyone to vote only for a secret vote. Don't vote until we hear from the [party's] legal counsel... Anything else is an attempt to steal the party, and this won't happen in 2004!"
In the end, no vote was taken, and the decision was postponed until Dec. 12. This date is not engraved in stone, however, as it falls on Chanukah.
In press interviews today, Barak defended his actions, saying he has strong support within the party, and that it will only increase. "Allow me to lead a militant opposition for a year, and you'll see that the public wants to see what I have to say," he said. Peres and other party leaders such as Matan Vilnai had only bad things to say about Barak.
Moshe Shachal, a fomer Cabinet minister who resigned from politics several years ago, said today that Barak had phoned him yesterday afternoon and asked for a "good speaking slot towards the end of the evening." Shachal said that he planning to do that, "and even give him an extra few minutes as well. But at one point in the conversation, Barak actually said to me, 'You know that we could have good political and business connections in the future.' If I was still Minister of Police, I would have gone straight to the police with this."