Labor MK calls deal "nothing but a survival pact lacking vision, guidelines and a work plan."
By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMANpaz pines 298 aj(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Labor MK Ophir Paz-Pines will try to prevent the coalition deal between Kadima and Labor from passing in the Labor Central Committee, sources close to Paz-Pines said Tuesday night.
Several Labor lawmakers criticized the deal in private conversations on Tuesday, but none came out against it as fiercely as Paz-Pines, who ran against Barak for the Labor leadership last year.
"It is nothing but a survival pact lacking vision, guidelines and a work plan," Paz-Pines said. "Most of Labor's essential demands were rejected or barely answered. We surrendered on everything except for [freezing] college tuition."
Most of the agreement was a retreat from the coalition deal of 2006 and the rest rehashed promises made in the past that never were honored and probably never will be, he said. Labor should have vowed in the deal to leave the coalition if Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann succeeded in passing his judicial reforms, he added.
Barak's new title of "senior deputy prime minister" was "pathetic," according to Paz-Pines, who noted that by law the vice premier is the most senior minister and that title is expected to be given to defeated Kadima leadership candidate Shaul Mofaz.
Paz-Pines also criticized a clause that ensures that the current Labor ministers will all keep their positions. He said this went against the party's bylaws, which would require a new vote for the party's ministers.
Finally, he said the deal should have made reference to the Annapolis diplomatic process and the evacuation-compensation bill.
"Instead of opening a new page and forming a new government with a relevant agenda, the deal promises that what was, will be and only the name of the prime minister will be different," Paz-Pines said.
Barak's associates responded that he succeeded in bringing Labor several achievements and in ensuring that the government would be able to function well, with full cooperation between Kadima and Labor. They accused Paz-Pines of merely being upset that he will not get to return to the cabinet in the new government.
In Kadima, legislators close to Mofaz criticized Livni for not doing enough to ensure that Shas would join the government, but they said they had no problem with the deal itself.
Opposition MKs blasted the agreement, with most of the criticism directed at Labor.
Likud faction chairman Gideon Sa'ar accused Barak of "crawling to the government" and "zigzagging" from his promise to only join a national-unity government that included the Likud.
"Labor once again proved that it is a party that would join any government under any circumstances or conditions and that the only thing that is holy to them are their seats in the cabinet," Sa'ar said.
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