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Government vote after sharon has low turnout { March 28 2006 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/849af47c-be89-11da-b10f-0000779e2340,dwp_uuid=99eafd16-a001-11d8-81c6-000e2511c801.htmlhttp://news.ft.com/cms/s/849af47c-be89-11da-b10f-0000779e2340,dwp_uuid=99eafd16-a001-11d8-81c6-000e2511c801.html
Victory for Olmert as Israel moves to the centre
By Harvey Morris and Sharmila Devi in Jerusalem
Published: March 28 2006 19:42 | Last updated: March 29 2006 09:00
Ehud Olmert declared victory early on Wednesday for the new centrist Kadima party in Israel’s general elections, and pledged to lead a coalition that would set the country’s final borders.
With more than 99 per cent of votes counted, the party founded only five months ago by the ailing Ariel Sharon, had secured 28 seats in the 120-Knesset. It was at the lower end of expectations but enough to give Mr Olmert leadership of a predominantly centre-left government in likely partnership with Labour which won 20 seats.
Likud, the former ruling right-wing party that Mr Sharon and Mr Olmert quit last November, was pushed into an ignominious fifth place, with 11 seats, behind the ultra-Orthodox Shas (13) and Yisrael Beitenu (12), a predominantly Russian immigrant party.
Shas, along with Labour is a potential coalition partner, as is the newly formed Pensioners party, a single issue faction that came from nowhere in recent weeks to secure seven seats.
In his victory speech shortly after midnight, Mr Olmert, who took over as acting prime minister when Mr Sharon suffered a stroke three months ago, said: “In the coming period we will move to set the final borders of the state of Israel, a Jewish state with a Jewish majority. We will try to achieve this in an agreement with the Palestinians. This is our hope and prayer.”
The big shock was the virtual meltdown of support for Likud party, which looked likely to be pushed into fourth place by Yisrael Beitenu, a predominantly Russian immigrant party headed by Avigdor Lieberman which appeared to have won 12 seats.
Leaders of Mr Peretz’s Labour said the party’s showing, which might put him in line for a senior coalition cabinet post, was a victory for his social agenda to defend the poor.
Final results were likely to confirm Israel’s shift to the centre in a political realignment analysts have dubbed the Big Bang, sparked by Mr Sharon’s defection from the rightwing Likud last year. But with a turnout of 63.3 per cent, the lowest in an Israeli general election, the outcome also reflected uncertainty after decades of more clear-cut left-right politics.
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