Opposition plans ‘budget preview’ filibuster

Legislation allowing the new budget to apply to 2013 and 2014 will be brought to second and third (final) readings in the plenum.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Herzog 311 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Herzog 311
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Opposition parties will give the government a taste of what passing the budget will be like, with an all-night filibuster planned for Monday.
On Monday evening, legislation allowing the new budget to apply to 2013 and 2014 will be brought to second and third (final) readings in the plenum.
The opposition submitted dozens of objections to the bill, each of which will be presented with a speech.
Labor faction leader Isaac Herzog estimated Sunday that the vote will go on until late at night or even until morning.
“We will present an early preview to the government of the all-nighters they should expect when the budget is brought to a vote in the beginning of June,” Herzog said. “We will put everything on the table and fight all the budget cuts.”
Also Sunday, Balad sent a letter to Finance Minister Yair Lapid demanding changes to the budget, which includes cuts to welfare services and a tax hike.
“These steps will significantly harm millions of citizens, especially the poor ones, and even more drastically the Arab public, most of which lives under the poverty line,” the letter read.
The Balad MKs added that “reading the proposed budget, one draws a clear conclusion that after it is implemented, the Arab public’s situation, which is difficult to begin with, will be even harder.”