Israel's Netanyahu Asks President To Extend Mandate To Form Gov't
Date
12/8/2022 7:37:36 PM
(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) Israeli former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday
asked President Isaac Herzog for an extension of the mandate to
form a new coalition government, his Likud party said in a
statement, trend reports citing xinhua .
The Likud formally submitted to Herzog a request for additional
14 days to put together a coalition government, the statement
said.
The president has yet to announce his decision. If he refuses to
approve the request, Netanyahu's 28-day mandate would expire at
midnight between Saturday and Sunday.
'The negotiations are in full swing and there has been a lot of
progress,' Netanyahu wrote in the request, adding that he still
needs more time to form a new government.
He said the extension is needed because of 'remaining issues'
with the appointment of some ministers.
Earlier on Thursday, the Likud announced it signed an interim
agreement with Shas, a Jewish ultra-Orthodox party, securing a
comfortable 64-seat majority in the 120-seat parliament.
Under the deal, Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri will head the interior
and health ministries for the first half of the government's term
before assuming the position of finance minister. However, a final
coalition agreement has yet to be signed.
Netanyahu signed on Tuesday an interim coalition agreement with
the United Torah Judaism, another ultra-Orthodox party, while three
ultra-nationalist parties -- the Religious Zionism, Jewish Power
and Noam -- already signed full coalition agreements.
Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving leader, is expected to
return to power about a year and a half after he was ousted, thanks
to the Nov. 1 parliamentary elections in which he and his far-right
partners won a majority.
Outgoing Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar urged the president not
to grant an extension. 'The actual formation of the government has
already been completed,' Sa'ar wrote on Twitter.
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