Livni to recommend mid-term pollsPress Trust Of India

In a big blow to the stalled West Asia peace process, Israel seems to be headed for mid-term polls as Prime Minister designate...

In a big blow to the stalled West Asia peace process, Israel seems to be headed for mid-term polls as Prime Minister designate Tzipi Livni has abandoned efforts to cobble up a coalition and decided to recommend early elections to President Shimon Peres.

Defying demands of potential coalition partners, Livni, who is scheduled to meet the President on Sunday, said she was “not willing to be blackmailed” and would “go for elections”.

If Peres upholds her recommendation, then US President George Bush’s dream of signing off in style with a peace agreement between Israel and Palestinians by the end of the year will almost certainly go unrealised.

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“I’m not willing to be blackmailed, either diplomatically or in terms of the budget, and therefore, I will go to elections,” Livni, aspiring to become the second woman Prime Minister in Israel’s history,told daily Haaretz.

Her decision means that elections will probably be held in February or March next year, more than a year ahead of schedule.

“The other possibility was for me to capitulate to extortion. But a government is supposed to advance processes and represent the good of the country, not just to survive in this or that coalition. I promised to exhaust efforts to form a government, and that’s what I did,” the Kadima party leader, riding high on a clean image, asserted.

The octogenarian Israeli President is likely to accept Livni’s preference, though by law, he could also decide to appoint another parliamentarian he believes could form a stable government within 28 days. Nobel laureate Peres has three days to arrive at a decision.

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Following her win in the race for the Kadima party leadership in September, Livni had 90 days to put together a government but could not muster enough support.

The ultra-Orthodox Shas party announced Friday that it would not join a Livni coalition, citing differences over the future of Jerusalem in the political process, and its demand for increased welfare benefits.

“I have a responsibility, and I decided there’s a limit,” Livni said in response adding, “we’ll go to elections as soon as possible. I’m not afraid of elections.”

Buoyed by recent poll surveys, the Kadima party leader also conveyed her decision to Labour Party Chairman Ehud Barak.