ID :
20491
Mon, 09/22/2008 - 10:01
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/20491
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Israeli PM Ehud Olmert announces resignation
Jerusalem, Sept 21 (PTI) Israel's graft-tainted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Sunday announced he will step down from office and pledged support to his successor and newly elected leader of the ruling Kadima party, Tzipi Livni, in forming a coalition.
"I have decided to resign as Prime Minister of
Israel," the beleaguered Premier under a storm of criticism
over corruption charges told his ministers at a weekly cabinet
meeting Sunday.
"This was not an easy decision, or a simple one. This was
a difficult decision with serious misgivings but I think I am
acting in an appropriate manner, as I have promised the people
of Israel," Olmert added.
The 63-year-old leader also pledged support to the newly
elected leader of his ruling Kadima party, Foreign Minister
Tzipi Livni, offering to help her and 'stand by her during the
process" of coalition formation.
Elections were necessitated in the Kadima party following
a series of investigations against Olmert on charges of
corruption, which led to a dip in his popularity to single
figures and uneasiness among his coalition partners, who
threatened to withdraw support if he did not step down.
Olmert's reign of thirty-three months is marked by a war
on Israel's northern frontier that exposed Jewish state's
vulnerability to rocket attacks, strengthening of Islamist
Hamas faction that has taken control of Gaza, string of
corruption charges against him and dwindling hopes of a peace
agreement with the Palestinians.
Olmert had, earlier, said that he would resign if he is
indicted on corruption charges or after the internal elections
in his party to choose a new leader.
Defending his tenure, which most critiques see to have
weakened Israel and made it more vulnerable to external
threats, he said that history would judge his performance.
"I think that this government has done good things, some
that we are able to speak about, and others that we are not.
[These acts] will be written in the pages of history, and will
be a source of pride to all those who participated in them,"
the premier said.
Olmert's associates, Saturday, said that the timetable
for submitting his resignation letter to President Shimon
Peres would be finalised in coordination with the
Presidency today.
They said that the two most likely options were
submitting the letter today or waiting till October 2 when
Peres returns from the United Nations General Assembly in New
York and the New Year holidays.
The President, after receiving the resignation letter,
will meet with the heads of the 13 Knesset factions to consult
with them on whom to appoint to form a new coalition.
Following the consultations, Peres is likely to formally
ask Livni, the leader of the single largest faction, to form a
government. She will then have 42 days to form the coalition,
failing which fresh general elections will be announced.
Olmert's departure from office and the ensuing process of
forging a new coalition is likely to linger the deadlock in
talks with the Palestinians, ruling out any chances of a peace
agreement by the end of US President George Bush's tenure.
PTI CORR
RRD
"I have decided to resign as Prime Minister of
Israel," the beleaguered Premier under a storm of criticism
over corruption charges told his ministers at a weekly cabinet
meeting Sunday.
"This was not an easy decision, or a simple one. This was
a difficult decision with serious misgivings but I think I am
acting in an appropriate manner, as I have promised the people
of Israel," Olmert added.
The 63-year-old leader also pledged support to the newly
elected leader of his ruling Kadima party, Foreign Minister
Tzipi Livni, offering to help her and 'stand by her during the
process" of coalition formation.
Elections were necessitated in the Kadima party following
a series of investigations against Olmert on charges of
corruption, which led to a dip in his popularity to single
figures and uneasiness among his coalition partners, who
threatened to withdraw support if he did not step down.
Olmert's reign of thirty-three months is marked by a war
on Israel's northern frontier that exposed Jewish state's
vulnerability to rocket attacks, strengthening of Islamist
Hamas faction that has taken control of Gaza, string of
corruption charges against him and dwindling hopes of a peace
agreement with the Palestinians.
Olmert had, earlier, said that he would resign if he is
indicted on corruption charges or after the internal elections
in his party to choose a new leader.
Defending his tenure, which most critiques see to have
weakened Israel and made it more vulnerable to external
threats, he said that history would judge his performance.
"I think that this government has done good things, some
that we are able to speak about, and others that we are not.
[These acts] will be written in the pages of history, and will
be a source of pride to all those who participated in them,"
the premier said.
Olmert's associates, Saturday, said that the timetable
for submitting his resignation letter to President Shimon
Peres would be finalised in coordination with the
Presidency today.
They said that the two most likely options were
submitting the letter today or waiting till October 2 when
Peres returns from the United Nations General Assembly in New
York and the New Year holidays.
The President, after receiving the resignation letter,
will meet with the heads of the 13 Knesset factions to consult
with them on whom to appoint to form a new coalition.
Following the consultations, Peres is likely to formally
ask Livni, the leader of the single largest faction, to form a
government. She will then have 42 days to form the coalition,
failing which fresh general elections will be announced.
Olmert's departure from office and the ensuing process of
forging a new coalition is likely to linger the deadlock in
talks with the Palestinians, ruling out any chances of a peace
agreement by the end of US President George Bush's tenure.
PTI CORR
RRD
