Israel

Olmert resigns, Livni to form government

Article published on the 2008-09-22 Latest update 2008-09-22 17:45 TU

Ehud Olmert (r) and Tzipi Livni.
(Photo : Reuters)

The day after Ehud Olmert resigned as Israel’s Prime Minister, President Shimon Peres asked the Kadima party’s newly elected leader Tzipi Livni to form a new government.

Livni, a former Mossad spy, will have six weeks to try to put together a coalition government and could become Israel’s second female prime minister. If she fails to do so, general elections will be called.

“She has pretty good prospects, though it's still pretty far from certain,” says correspondent Peretz Kidron. “The parties of the coalition – according to opinion polls – are likely to lose heavily in the event of elections. So therefore, they are likely to have a strong inducement to do anything they can to … maintain the coalition for the time being.”

But Livni remains an unknown element in Israeli politics, as she’s always supported Olmert’s policies, and never expressed an independent view, Kidron explains.

“Bold moves and Livni don’t seem to go together,” he says.

Olmert’s resignation came as no surprise, says correspondent Mark Lavie. “Ehud Olmert is a failed prime minister in every way”, he says.

After the disastrous war in Lebanon in 2006, Olmert failed to improve Israeli security, or advance the peace process. The corruption allegations have followed him for years, Lavie says, and its not them alone that pushed Olmert to resign, but a combination of low polling numbers, corruption and a rebellion in his party push him to call it quits.

Livni’s task of cobbling together a cabinet will be very difficult considering her party doesn’t even have a majority of the ruling coalition.

“She’s going to have a tremendous job. Even if she does manage to stitch together some sort of election, it probably won’t last very long,” Lavie says.

Olmert will officially remain prime minister until a new government is approved by parliament. If Livni isn’t able to convince coalition members to work with her, Olmert will remain acting prime minister despite his resignation.