Olmert has established a "ruling mini-cabinet" that would have the authority to revoke any previous cabinet decisions. His partners are Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On and Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann.
Of course, he's explaining that it will just add "efficiency" to the over-sized cabinet, but its power is dangerous. And about "efficiency," nothing is more efficient than a dictatorship.
It, obviously, does not include representatives of his coalition partners. And, yes, they are furious. Let's see what they will do. Most of them are too greedy to vote against the government, because they don't want to lose out on their cushy ministerial salaries and future MK pensions.
4 comments:
I don't know anymore if it a matter of not wanting to give up the cushy salaries and prestige. I think it has more to do with the yetzer hara telling them that they can influence more policy by being 'inside' the government. Mafdal and National Union learnt that lesson the hard way (at least I hope they did) by staying in the expulsion government until the end.
Another lesson they have yet to learn is to stop demanding that Yisrael beitenu and Shas leave the government to return to the 'natioanl camp'. Too hilarious, why would these parties want to join them? Shas is not a right-wing party and Yisrael Beitenu has to be careful about keeping it's mandates and growing even larger next time. Sure the Russians are right-wing, but they 'land of Israel' is not their only issue, and anyway, Lieberman already mentioned the option to trade land.
I honestly don't think the government will fall until the new MK's can get their pension, which will be if the govt lasts until late next March. There are a lot of first time MK's.
With a 27 man/woman cabinet, nobody has any influence, besides Olmert; the others are almost "botul b'shishim.
the Shas voters may be "right" by gut instinct, but their politicians are "left." And I don't see Lieberman as "right" in the Israeli political sense, but then again, I don't think Sharansky is either.
You know what? I actually think that Shas and Agudah are virtually the only centrist parties in Israel, something no one wants to admit. While the other parties ar more or less segregated along the lines of loving 'land of Israel' or not, these two Haredi parties are not as easily labeled.
good point
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