Fewer parties expected to register to run in March 2 election
After more than 60 parties took forms to register for the April election and 42 for the September race, this time, the number this week was only 30.
By GIL HOFFMANIsraeli workers count ballots cast by Israeli soldiers and civil servants living overseas at the central elections committee building in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem March 18, 2015.(photo credit: AMMAR AWAD / REUTERS)
The two-day process of registering new political parties will begin on Tuesday amid expectations that the March 2 election will have fewer parties running than the last two races.After more than 60 parties took forms to register for the April election and 42 for the September race, this week was only 30.Party registration will begin at noon on Tuesday and end Wednesday night at 10 p.m. The Central Elections Committee will greet parties and assign them letters for their ballots on a first-come, first-served basis.While in past races, party representatives slept outside the Knesset the night before registration began to be first in line, the gate in front of the parliament was clear on a cold Monday evening.A record 40 parties ended up running in the April 9 race, and 29 ran in September.The list of parties running includes the Pirate Party, the new Kol Hanashim women’s party and the Bible Bloc Party of American immigrant Dennis Avi Lipkin, which aims to prepare Israel for the mass immigration of Jews and Christians from the United States.Pirate Party leader Noam Cozer told The Jerusalem Post he was not excited about coming to the Knesset to register his party for the third time in less than a year.“We don’t have a lot of energy, but I guess we will have to run because we have no one else to vote for,” he said. “Nothing has changed really. We have tried different gimmicks, but our platform stays the same. It’s hard to cross the threshold, but if we get in, we will eliminate it.”Asked if he had received a call from Green Party leader Stav Shaffir, who will not be running with Labor-Gesher-Meretz, Cozer said, “Stav hasn’t called us. She had time in the Knesset to make changes. We prefer voices that are not being heard in the Knesset.”
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