MKs petition PM to explain failure to step down

Forty-six MKs sign petition, including six Labor MKs: Ophir Paz-Pines, Ami Ayalon, Danny Yatom, Eitan Cabel, Avishay Braverman and Shelly Yacimovich.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
olmert serious 298.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
olmert serious 298.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
Opposition and coalition MKs signed a petition Tuesday to force Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to explain to the Knesset his "refusal to resign following the Winograd Report." Likud faction chairman Gideon Sa'ar and Meretz faction chairwoman Zehava Gal-On delivered the signatures to Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik, after the government survived three no-confidence motions Monday. Forty-six MKs signed the petition, including six Labor MKs: Ophir Paz-Pines, Ami Ayalon, Danny Yatom, Eitan Cabel, Avishay Braverman and Shelly Yacimovich. Sa'ar said he and Gal-On decided to use the Basic Law of the Knesset, which requires 40 signatures to force the prime minister to appear before the plenum, because Olmert had "refused to take responsibility for his decision." To date, Olmert has refrained from addressing the report before the plenum. Last week, the Knesset held a special session on the Winograd Report, and on Monday three no-confidence motions were filed against the government on the basis of the government's failing grades in the Winograd Report.