Shinui threatens to expel Lapid

The party is unable to start its campaign since it is unclear who will lead it.

By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER
lapid 88 (photo credit: )
lapid 88
(photo credit: )
Shinui officials are threatening to kick Yosef "Tommy" Lapid out of the party, since his prolonged debate about his political future has hamstrung the organization. Lapid has been debating whether to quit the party and political life after he won a close election to retain the party chairmanship, but watched his second-in-command, Avraham Poraz, lose the second slot last Thursday. In the meantime, Shinui has been unable to start its campaign because it is unclear who will lead it, and because executive decisions about money and electioneering still need to be made by Lapid and Poraz, according to the party structure. "They're sabotaging the party," charged Shinui MK Igal Yasinov, one of only five of 14 current MKs with a spot on the new list. He said that the party wants Lapid to remain at its helm, but will take measures to remove his authority if he still hadn't made a decision by next Thursday. That night, Yasinov said, the Shinui council would meet and vote no confidence in the governing board. Lapid, as head of the board, has control over public relations and campaign moves, while Poraz's assent is necessary for financial decisions. After the no-confidence vote, another governing board would be chosen and, a week later, a third congress would be held to elect a new slate without Lapid. "We have the majority," Yasinov said, declaring that the change was assured. But MK Etti Livni, a supporter of Poraz and Lapid, disagreed and maintained that the votes were lacking. "It's not the right way, to make Lapid resign this way," she said. A Lapid aide, who said that the Shinui leader should make an announcement about his future soon, called the talk of expelling Lapid "nonsense." "They can bring the council together," he said, "but they cannot remove Lapid because he was elected in a democratic way." Livni also said that her camp would most likely be forming its own party, but the technicalities of doing so have caused delays because by law they need to resurrect a defunct party rather than start a new one. According to their lawyers, Livni said, the Shinui "rebels" would have to split some NIS 12 million currently in Shinui's coffers, but would be able to take the approximately NIS 700,000 given to each of them for the upcoming elections.