By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
The Meretz convention will meet in Tel Aviv on Sunday to open its campaign and set dates for electing its MKs.
The party is expected to select a group of candidates on January 2 and rank them on January 16.
Candidates who have been in the Knesset for at least eight years, such as MKs Yossi Sarid and Haim Oron and former MK Naomi Chazan, will require 60 percent of the vote in the party convention to be allowed to run. Oron held exploratory talks last week with Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and other officials close to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon about joining Kadima but decided to remain in Meretz.