JERUSALEM (Reuters)
Dogged by corruption scandals, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Wednesday he would resign after his ruling Kadima party chooses a new leader in a Sept. 17 internal election.
Olmert's decision not to run in the upcoming leadership election and then to step down throws Israeli politics into fresh turmoil and may cast into limbo peace talks with the Palestinians and Syria.
"I have decided I won't run in the Kadima movement primaries, nor do I intend to intervene in the elections," Olmert said in a surprise announcement from his official residence in Jerusalem.
"When a new (Kadima party) chairman is chosen, I will resign as prime minister to permit them to put together a new government swiftly and effectively," Olmert added.
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Challenges Four Kadima ministers, including Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz, have already launched campaigns to replace Olmert as prime minister.
Political analysts say the process of replacing Olmert could drag on for months and could lead to early national elections. Polls suggest that right-wing Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu would win such a contest.
Olmert's successor as Kadima party leader would not automatically take over as prime minister.
He or she must first cobble together a coalition government, a challenge that could prove time-consuming and complicated because of bitter divisions within parliament. |
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Background Olmert's resignation will end a long career of public service. He entered parliament at age 28 and served as mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003. In 2005 he broke with the rightwing Likud party to form Kadima, becoming leader after former Prime Minster Ariel Sharon’s Jan. 2006 stroke. Olmert refused to resign after a scathing official report on the conduct of the 2006 war against Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas.
But in recent years he has been dogged by corruption scandals and calls for his resignation have mounted this summer.
The two most prominent investigations against Olmert involve suspicions that he took bribes from an American businessman, and that he double-claimed for travel expenses when he was trade minister and mayor of Jerusalem.
Olmert has denied wrongdoing.
"I will step aside properly in an honorable and responsible way, and afterwards I will prove my innocence," he said. |
