Setting date for primary turns tricky

"Sharon was traumatized by the Likud's regulations and when he put Kadima together, he made sure no loopholes could be employed," Hanegbi tells 'Post.'

By SHELLY PAZ
tzahi hanegbi 224.88 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
tzahi hanegbi 224.88
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Kadima's party affairs committee is having trouble adapting the strict bylaws that were set by prime minister Ariel Sharon, the party's founder, to the tight time frame ahead of February's national election. "Sharon was traumatized by the Likud Party's regulations and when he put Kadima together, he made sure no loopholes or tricks could be employed," MK Tzahi Hanegbi told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday. Hanegbi said the meticulous rules made it difficult for the committee to set an early date for the primary. According to Kadima's bylaws, the internal elections, which will determine who will be on the party's candidates list for the next Knesset, must be held 60 to 90 days before the general elections. "We wanted to set the earliest possible date for the primary. But we also want to keep a distance from the municipal elections that are set for November 11, and that leaves us only with late November or early December," MK Ronit Tirosh said. The party's director-general, Adi Sternberg, will fix the date and the procedures for the primary. The bylaws do not allow for reserving spots on the list without a complicated legal procedure; the desire to secure realistic spots on the list for various sectors, such as Arabs, Ethiopians, Russian-speakers entails difficulties. "We have decided to examine with Kadima's legal adviser the legal ways to hand the chairman of the party the responsibility to secure these spots for sectoral representatives," said Kadima faction's spokesman, Shmulik Dahan. The committee has decided to have the party's members determine two-thirds of the Knesset candidates list. The bylaws forbids securing spots for individuals, such as the demand to secure Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz's place as No. 2 on the list. "The committee has looked into several possibilities that will allow reserving the party's second spot," Dahan said.