Gideon Sa'ar vows to prevent the expelling of Likud members
"We will fight for elections that will be fair and democratic," he said.
By GIL HOFFMANGideon Sa'ar after presenting filing the forms necessary to run for the Likud leadership at the party's Tel Aviv headquarters(photo credit: COURTESY OF GIDEON SA'AR)
MK Gideon Sa'ar formally filed the forms necessary to run for the Likud leadership at the party's Tel Aviv headquarters on Wednesday, vowing to prevent the party from expelling thousands of Likud members.The administration of the Likud, which is loyal to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has removed thousands of members ahead of the December 26 primary, with 100 told that their membership will be removed pending a hearing. Sa'ar also complained of a decision to limit where the members will be allowed to vote."They are trying to take away the right to vote from a massive amount of members," Sa'ar told the press at Likud headquarters. "We will fight for elections that will be fair and democratic."Sa'ar said there had been an agreement to enable Likud members to vote at any polling station around the country. He said this was especially important, because the election will take place during Hanukkah, when children are off from school and many families take vacations inside the country.But since then, the party announced that members could only vote close to their homes. Sa'ar noted that in the last Likud primary for the party's list, a fourth of the voters cast ballots at polling stations that were not at their local Likud branch."This would prevent another massive of amount of members from voting," he lamented. Netanyahu's spokesman Yonatan Urich released a statement late Tuesday night confirming that thousands of Likud members have been removed from the membership rolls but outlining how many of them had not paid dues, moved to another party or died.There were reports on Wednesday that the Likud would have to hold another vote to cancel the primary for the party's list of Knesset candidates, because a vote in the Likud central committee last week did not have a legal quorum. The question of whether and how another vote will take place has not yet been clarified.Channel 12 reported on Wednesday morning that Netanyahu might want to hold a primary for the list in order to take revenge against the MKs who endorsed Sa'ar and prevent them from entering the next Knesset.
