The Day After – Post-Election Politics
Elections 2003
Election Results
The polls are closed, the ballots are counted. To see the election results, broken down according to categories of population centers and or by geographic area, go to Ynet ‘s election result page.
How a Coalition is Built
Based on “Return to single ballot leaves Katsav power to determine PM”, by Gideon Alon, Ha’aretz Correspondent)
On February 5, President Moshe
Katsav will begin a round of discussions with representatives of the newly
elected parties. In the discussions, which will last a week, Katsav will decide
who is the candidate that the parties want in charge of the new government. If nothing unexpected
occurs, by February 11 Katsav will appoint Ariel Sharon, the
leader of the Likud party, in
charge of forming a coalition. Since Sharon is the leader of the largest
Knesset party, he is expected to have the best chance of building a government.
Sharon will have 28 days to form the coalition, during which
the current government will remain in place. If at the period Sharon has not
yet formed a coalition, the president can give him "additional time
periods," up to 14 days. Altogether then, Sharon has 42 days to form a
coalition of at least 61 MKs.
Did you know? If
Sharon doesn't succeed within the 42 days, the president can appoint a
different MK who has told Katsav he was willing to form a coalition and that MK
would also have 28 days. If the second choice were also to fail, a group of at
least 61 MKs could request from the president in writing that he appoint a
different MK, who had also agreed to take the task; that MK would get 14 days.
And if the third choice were to fail as well, the president would then inform
the Knesset speaker that all the attempts to create a government had failed.
New Knesset elections would then have to take place within 90 days.
Building a coalition in the Knesset can be difficult given the various parties who will not sit in the government together. Shinui, for example, has stated publicly that they will not participate in a government which includes Shas or Agudat Yisrael, while Meretz will not take part in a government which includes a right-wing party like Herut.
Ynet ‘s election result page includes an interactive feature called “Build Yourself a Coalition” where the user can build a coalition on the basis of the election results. To win, you must build a coalition in which the parties will agree to sit together in the government. This feature offers an excellent opportunity for educators to further discuss the Israeli political system, and the fragmentation in Israeli society.