Posted on 12/20/2004 1:02:03 PM PST by anotherview
Last Update: 20/12/2004 21:46
MKs okay preliminary reading of bill to make Peres deputy PM
By Gideon Alon and Mazal Mualem, Haaretz Correspondents
Shimon Peres speaking in the Knesset on Monday, ahead of a vote on a bill that would allow him to become deputy prime minister. (AP)
The Knesset on Monday passed the preliminary reading of a bill aimed at allowing Shimon Peres to become a second deputy prime minister, thereby meeting Labor's demands for joining a coalition government under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The draft was approved by a vote of 56 to 34. A senior government official said Monday that the new coalition is expected to be sworn into office by early next week.
Labor and Shas MKs all voted in favor of the bill, which will amend the clause in Basic Law: The Government which permits just one deputy prime minister, who takes over should the premier become incapacitated or away.
Most Likud lawmakers also voted in favor, although several party "rebels," who oppose the disengagement, were absent during the ballot.
The coalition talks between Labor, which has 19 parliamentary seats, and Likud, which has 40 seats, hit a stumbling block when Eitan on Sunday refused to rush through legislation to make the change to the basic law.
The bill must still be brought to the Knesset for three formal readings, the first of which is expected to take place as soon as the Constitution Committee approves its final draft. Each of the upcoming three votes requires a majority of 61 MKs to ensure its passage.
Sharon on Monday urged Likud faction members to support the bill amendment.
Shas, whose own coalition talks collapsed over the issue of the disengagement, said that it will also support the bill through the next three readings.
"We support Shimon Peres, we want to help him as he helped us in the past with social issues," Shas lawmaker Amnon Cohen told reporters Monday. "We're only doing this for Shimon Peres, nobody else."
The introduction of the private bill comes the day after the head of the Constitution Committee, Likud MK Michael Eitan, refused to rush through legislation to amend the basic law.
Also Monday, the Knesset House Committee approved the bill in a move that allowed the preliminary reading to be held immediately.
Had the committee failed to approve the bill, it would be buried for 45 days until the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee would even consider it.
Peres met briefly with Sharon before Monday's vote, but left the session without talking to reporters.
The Labor Party wants a speedy change to the basic law, demanding that Peres be appointed acting prime minister at the same time the rest of the party's new ministers are sworn in.
Israel Radio earlier Monday quoted Labor officials as saying they would also accept Peres' appointment as foreign minister or defense minister - thereby unseating Silvan Shalom or Shaul Mofaz, both Likud high-fliers.
The radio said Labor Central Committee members were preparing to submit a proposal to a meeting of the committee on Tuesday, in which they would demand one of the three posts - deputy prime minister, foreign minister or defense minister - as a condition for the party's entry into the coalition.
"We deserve appropriate representation on the issues that concern us," Peres told reporters Sunday.
Likud negotiators had suggested that Peres become deputy prime minister for matters related to the peace process - a position that does not currently exist, but would not require an amendment of a basic law. Labor has rejected the offer, however.
Eitan told Haaretz on Sunday evening that MK Ramon had decided to present the amendment to the basic law as a private bill, because the Justice Ministry would be opposed to such a draft had it been sponsored by the government.
According to Eitan, Labor rejected his offer to make Peres a minister, with the process of amending the basic law to be started at a later date.
If the basic law is amended, the change would then have to be approved by a 61-MK majority in the Knesset.
"I don't understand what can be so urgent, that it requires an amendment to a basic law. This attitude is unacceptable and I will not be a part of it," Eitan said.
"Professor Amnon Rubinstein told me once that his biggest mistake in his political career was approving an amendment to a basic law in order to allow the extension of the number of ministers in the government. I don't want to repeat the mistake and lend my hand to such hasty legislation."
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