Posted by
Purplegimp on Wednesday, October 08, 2008 6:55:07 AM
The gimp wonders why it has taken so long to around to get around to writing this post. I wonder if I can use my burned foot as an excuse? What? I don't ytpe with my toes? How about it hurts to sit here with the foot down? Whatever excuse I come up with, I still owe Craw an apology for taking so long to explain Ms. Livni as promised. And as long as I'm at it, I'll answer St. Gracie's question about our multi party election system. In fact I'll start there and work my way to Livni.
Our system came about as a result of Jewish immigration to Ottoman Palestine at the end of the 19th century. As more and more Jews arrived, they decided that they needed their own system of self governing. This was way before any one dared think that there might be an independent Jewish state here one day. They organized their own governing body which owned a bank, building companies and a chain of medical clinics. That first governing body eventually evolved into what today is The Histadrut-a sort of national union. As the dominant movers and shakers were of a leftist bent, the Labor party was born and has gone through endless permutations. Along side Labor, the right had a few organizations of their own, including medical services and their own union. Those organizations eventually evolved into the Likud. As the Jewish population grew, so did the number of political parties. There three major religious parties today, and several splinter leftist paties and a few right wing ones. When the time for elections rolls around, the various parties present lists of candidates chosen either by the party bosses or a strange primary process. The party members vote from a list of other party members who want to run for Knesset in order to set the ranking of the candidates. Or, the party big shots decide themselves who will be in what place on the list. The Chairperson of the party is the candidate for Prime Minister.So, how did we end up with Tzippi Livni as a potential Prime Minister without elections? We can thank Ariel Sharon. After he managed to enrage most of the members of his party and before he could be kicked out, he left the Likud and formed Kadima with some other Likud members of Knesset, including Livni.
I still remember the first time she ran for Knesset. I quite liked her at the time. She's from an old Likud family and was an operative in the Mossad. Going over to Sharon's new party was the end for me. She has jumped on the Great Israel Land Give Away with the other Likud defectors and has now won the position of party chair and unless something right (she won't be able to put a coalition together) happens, she could very well become our prime minister and delay elections until it's too late.
The only good thing I can say about Kadima is that it has exposed itself as a group of politicians who can not, or will keep their word to the general electorate. One and all they say whatever they think the voting public wants to hear, then, after election, they will do whatever they want and the country be damned.
That's just a brief explanation of an incredibly complex system that doesn't really work, but was set up so as to be almost impossible to change because those who can change it have no interest in changing it.