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Labor leader: Party won't join Sharon unity governmentIsraeli prime minister declares threat 'not serious'
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Two weeks before Election Day, Israeli Labor Party leader Amram Mitzna announced Tuesday that Labor will never join a national unity government headed by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Mitzna, who advocates the immediate resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians, told reporters that Israeli voters have a choice on January 28: a Sharon government dominated by right-wing parties or one headed by Mitzna that will deal with the Palestinians in an attempt to end terror attacks. "It's us or Sharon. That's the situation and we can't get away from it," Mitzna said. Sharon, the Likud party leader whose dominant position going into the election campaign has been eroded by scandal, has said he expected to form a new government but said he won't be the prisoner of extreme parties. "I don't doubt I will form the next government," Sharon told New York Times columnist William Safire. "I won't put myself in the hands of any radical parties, neither of the left nor of the right. I can't have those who want to give up everything or those who want to keep everything. I need the center because we have to take painful steps." Sharon would have to put together a coalition with at least 61 votes to rule. The Labor declaration could force Sharon to deal with right-wing parties who want much tougher stands on the Palestinians than Sharon has agreed to before. But Sharon said Mitzna's threat is "not serious." "Today a unity government is more important than ever," Sharon said in Haifa. "Most citizens of Israel are watching and expect us to unite." Coalition governments are a part of political life in Israel. No party has ever won enough seats in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, to rule without a coalition. A unity government attempts to combine the largest number of parties possible. Sharon called for new elections in October after the Labor Party quit the unity government he formed in 2001. Sharon attempted to negotiate with the far-right National Union party, but those talks collapsed after he refused to harden his line against the Palestinians. At a news conference last week, Sharon said Labor's decision to quit his government in a dispute over money for Israeli settlements was irresponsible. He conceded that if he can't form a stable government, Israelis may have to go to the polls again. Sharon and the Likud party were in a commanding position at the beginning of the campaign and initially were expected to win as many as 41 seats in the 120-member Knesset. However, in recent weeks, a vote-buying scandal involving Likud candidates and a scandal over a $1.5 million loan made to Sharon's sons -- allegedly to pay off illegal campaign contributions -- have sapped Likud's strength. Last week the race was a dead heat in the polls. But when a Sharon news conference -- in which he attempted to put to rest the loan scandal -- was pulled off the air by election officials who said Sharon was violating prohibitions against campaigning, the Likud slide stopped. The latest polls show Likud may win as many as 32 seats, while Labor is expected to win between 20 and 25. (Full story)
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