JERUSALEM/ ISRAEL: OPINION POLLS SHOW PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON'S LEAD DECLINING AFTER CORRUPTION SCANDAL

Record ID: 645661

  • Title: JERUSALEM/ ISRAEL: OPINION POLLS SHOW PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON'S LEAD DECLINING AFTER CORRUPTION SCANDAL
  • Date: 8th January 2003
  • Summary: (U3) JERUSALEM (JANUARY 9, 2003) (REUTERS) SLV PEOPLE WALKING IN MAIN STREET MALL OF JERUSALEM SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) ELAZAR WEINER, PEDESTRIAN, SAYING: "I personally think it won't affect, since we are dealing here in Israel with so many serious problems as security, as negotiations for peace, and so on. So, I think that, when someone will arrive finally and make his decision, he will make his decision according to the main things that are in our minds at the moment." SLV PEOPLE WALKING IN STREET SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) ORI SHIMONI, PEDESTRIAN, SAYING: "It's politics. So, you know, in politics there will always be a corruption. The things that are now trying to get measure of is things that been for two years now with Sharon and now all the politics are getting it up now before the elections just to ruin his name and all that stuff. I don't really consider that as...it's just propaganda, in my account."
  • Embargoed: 23rd January 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: JERUSALEM / TEL AVIV, ISRAEL
  • City:
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAEK3VYPKIUKVBVPZSLPBLDEC0C
  • Story Text: Opinion polls in Israel have shown Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's clear lead evaporating against the centre-left Labour party as corruption scandals embroil him and his right-wing Likud party.
    Three weeks ahead of general elections, Israel's Supreme Court has overturned a controversial ban on two Arab candidates for parliament.
    Although Thursday's (January 9) Israeli daily newspaper opnion polls show that the gap between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's right-wing Likud party and the leading centre-left Labour party has narrowed in the past two weeks since the revelation of a corruption scandal, the Israeli public believes it will not effect the outcome of the forthcoming elections.
    Some believe that other "serious problems", such as security and peace negotiations will blur the corruption allegations agianst Sharon and his Likud party and others believe it is simply propoganda, which is apparent in all political arenas.
    Israelis will cast votes for parliamentary parties on January 28. The leader of the party that wins the most votes is most likely to become the next prime minister.
    Israeli political analyst Amotz Asa'el believes Sharon's chances of being re-elected prime minister remian solid, despite the fact that personally he was severely damaged by the recent corruption allegations.
    Three weeks ahead of general elections, Israel's Supreme Court overturned on Thursday a controversial ban on two Arab candidates for parliament.
    The court found against an elections parliamentary committee recommendation to bar Ahmed Tibi and Azmi Bishara from the ballot, a statement said.
    It also rejected a petition by Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz, a former chief of staff, to run for parliament.
    The court found that a mandatory cooling-off period since his retirement from the army last summer had not expired, disqualifying him from joining the legislature.
    But Mofaz can remain in his post and serve in the next cabinet, even if he is not a legislator.
    Bishara welcomed the the court decision as "the right decision". Azmi Bishara, leader of Israeli Arab Balad party, and Ahmed Tibi, of the Arab-Jewish Hadash party, were banned by the elections commitee last month over alleged support for Palestinian attacks on Israelis in an uprising for statehood.
    Bishara told reporters on Thursday he believes the decision derives from the fact that the supreme court is dedicated to democratic values as opposed to the rest of Israel's institutions.
    "It is trying to be more sincere, more dedicated to the issue of democratic values than the parliament itself" Bishara told reporters after receiving the Supreme Court decision.
    The United States said last week it wanted to see broad participation in the elections, implicitly criticising the preliminary disqualification of the Arab-Israeli candidates.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register