Abbas on coalition crisis: Nothing will stop gov't swearing-in tonight
When asked if there will be a government formed on Sunday, Alharomi told reporters yes, but refused to comment on how he would vote.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF, GIL HOFFMANYair Lapid, leader of the Yesh Atid party, and incoming alternate prime minister(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Ra'am MK Saeed Alharomi will vote in support of the new government, Muhammad Majadleh, the political analyst of Radio Nas and the son of Israel's first Arab minister, reported Sunday afternoon. This followed reports that Alharomi would not to vote in favor of the new coalition.When asked by N12 if a new government would be formed on Sunday, Alharomi told reporters "yes," but refused to comment on how he would vote.Ra'am head Mansour Abbas said that "nothing" can interfere with the swearing in of the new government Sunday night, adding that "we will all vote in favor of the government."In return for his support of the new coalition, Alharomi demanded that a clause in the coalition agreement regarding illegal construction in the Negev be cancelled, Kan reported.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Interior Minister Arye Deri are pressuring Alharomi and have offered him assurances, including on the topic of the Kaminitz Law that addresses illegal construction, in an attempt to get him to vote against the government, Ynet reported. Although Alharomi told reporters later Sunday that no one was pressuring him.Netanyahu would remain in power if the prospective new coalition's wafer-thin majority were to lose the support of even one MK in a vote of confidence in the Knesset.If Alharomi abstains in the confidence vote, Joint List MKs could come to its rescue and vote in favor.The Likud responded that it would be shameful if the government were formed through the backing of MKs who support terrorists and do not recognize Israel as a Jewish-democratic state.
