Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer on Wednesday demanded a probe of his allegations that supporters of his rival for Labor Party leadership, Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg, had "stolen" the election, reported Haaretz.
Ben Eliezer called the slim electoral lead of Burg in the vote for Labor chairman "one of the gravest political scandals in our political history."
"This is a theft! This is a theft!" Ben-Eliezer told a news conference, alluding to results, especially in the Druze sector, that he hinted were fraudulent. "This is not South America, this is Israel."
“I call on Avraham Burg to join me in my request for the setting up of an electoral verification commission, chaired by a magistrate," Eliezer told a Labour press conference in Tel Aviv, broadcast live by public radio and cited by AFP.
"Avraham, don't get involved in this maneuvering, which will forever smear the party," he said.
Labour party members were voting to replace Ehud Barak, who resigned following his crushing defeat by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in February 6 elections, and to determine who will run for the premiership in 2003.
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres has unofficially headed the Labour Party since Barak's defeat.
Meanwhile, the paper said that the Labor Party election committee was meeting early Wednesday afternoon to discuss a petition submitted earlier by Ben Eliezer, demanding a recount of all votes cast in the Labor Party primary.
According to the near-final count, Knesset Speaker Burg beat Ben Eliezer by 1,020 votes.
However, Ben Eliezer's headquarters claims that there were voting irregularities and fraud in many ballot boxes, mainly in the Druze and Arab sectors.
Ben Eliezer's main complaint is about eight ballot boxes in Druze settlements, which are suspected of large-scale fraud in favor of Burg.
The count results so far show that about 34,000 people voted for Burg, or 50.1 percent of the total number of voters. About 33,000 people voted for Ben Eliezer, or 48.6 percent. About 2,000 ballots have not yet been counted.
When the two declared their candidacy several months ago, Burg was considered a certain winner, while most pundits saw Ben Eliezer's candidacy as little more than a curiosity, said the paper.
But Ben Eliezer, clearly enjoying the status afforded him by the mantle of defense minister - as well as the resulting increased media exposure - chipped away at Burg's lead.
Burg was also not helped by an investigative article in the daily Yediot Aharonot which portrayed him as exploiting his office for personal gain.
Polls published last weekend showed that Burg's lead had almost evaporated, and that his double-digit advantage at the beginning of the race had shrunk to a mere three percent.
In an interview on Army Radio earlier Tuesday, Burg said that if he was elected to lead the Labor Party he would resign from his post as Knesset speaker. He said that he expected Ben Eliezer to resign from the post of defense minister should he be elected, claiming that it would be impossible to rebuild the party on a part-time basis.
Ben Eliezer said he would not resign if he won the primary, but would instead gather a number of party members who would, together with him, rebuild the party - Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
