JERUSALEM, Apr 6 (NNN-MA’AN) – Israeli President, Reuven Rivlin, yesterday, held talks with all elected parties, to help form a new government, amid yet another round of inconclusive elections. In the meetings, the parties recommended which candidate the president should task with forming the next government.
Rivlin started the one-day talks by meeting with lawmakers with the Likud, Netanyahu’s right-wing party.
“The main consideration that will guide me is entrusting a lawmaker with the task, who has the best chance of forming a government, that will have the confidence of the new parliament,” Rivlin said.
The consultations are a formal procedure in Israel, after elections, in which the 120 newly-elected members of parliament or Knesset, give their recommendations on which leader should form the government.
The president then selects a candidate, with the best chances of forming a government. At no time in Israel’s history did a party win an outright majority to form a government. A coalition needs at least 61 members of the 120-member Knesset.
In the elections held on Mar 23, neither Netanyahu’s allies nor his rivals gained enough votes to secure a 61-seat coalition. It was already the fourth elections in Israel, in the past two years, amid a lingering political stalemate.– NNN-MA’AN
