Well that was interesting. In a no-confidnce vote in the Knesset today Ariel Sharon's government won, surviving with a vote of 55-50. What made it unexpectedly close is that Labor backed away from its promise to provide Sharon with a "safety net" because the no-confidence motion dealt with his government's economic program. Apparently Labor will only provide him with such a safety net (while they are out of the government) on no-confidence votes dealing with the Gaza pullout plan.
In another interesting turn a senior Labor MK said that if they were "forced" to join the government in order to keep the Gaza plan on track Labor would demand the Treasury portfolio. That would obviously require Finance Minsiter Netanyahu to either accept a demotion or leave the cabinet. And the long-term implications of that could be ... interesting.
Posted by armand at June 21, 2004 03:18 PM | TrackBack | Posted to Politics