Plug pulled on Sharon TV address
JERUSALEM (CNN) --A televised news conference called by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to refute corruption allegations was pulled off the air on Thursday.
The Israeli Central Elections Committee ordered all media to stop the broadcast for breaking election laws when Sharon began attacking the Labor party opposition."I came here this evening to respond to despicable slander against me, and against the Likud party with only one purpose -- to bring down the government," said Sharon.
Two of Sharon's sons -- Omri and Gilad -- are accused of involvement in a loan scandal and members of the Likud party he leads are accused of buying votes.
The former general launched into an attack on Labor and its leader, Amram Mitzna.
But the head of the Israeli Central Elections Committee, Judge Michael Cheshin, ordered all Israeli media to halt the broadcast, saying Sharon's attacks on the Labor Party and Mitzna amounted to campaigning, which under election rules is restricted to party political broadcasts whose duration is closely monitored.
According to Giora Pordes, spokesman for the Knesset, Israel's parliament, a live broadcast by an Israeli prime minister had never before been ordered off the air.
In recent days, the Likud party has been rocked by allegations that Omri and Gilad were involved in a loan scandal and that Likud politicians had engaged in vote-buying to win their spots on the party's candidate list.
Sharon remains the most popular politician in Israel. However, the slide in his Likud party's popularity means he will have a much more difficult time forming a coalition government and ruling if, as expected, he remains prime minister.
The latest polls show that Sharon and Likud, which had been expected to win as many as 41 seats in the Knesset, would now be lucky to win 27 when Israelis vote January 28.
The Wednesday night poll -- which showed the Likud's decline -- also showed the Labor Party gaining two more seats, putting it at 24, and gave the next two largest parties, Shinui and Shas, 17 and 13 seats respectively.
Israeli law limits the amount of television time each party can have for campaigning. Labor officials said they were considering asking the Central Elections Commission to cut back the time Sharon and the Likud party would be allowed to have between now and election day.
The contributions were given to Sharon during his 1999 Likud party leadership campaign against his chief rival, Benjamin Netanyahu, who now holds the post of foreign minister. The state comptroller ruled that Sharon broke no law, but he ordered Sharon to return the money.
Israeli newspapers carried stories this week saying prosecutors were seeking information from the South African Justice Ministry on the loan made to the Sharon family.
Israeli law prohibits the use of foreign money to fund Israeli political campaigns. The letter requesting information also hinted that Sharon's sons may have misled Israel's comptroller in explaining how their father was going to pay back the $1.5 million in illegal contributions.
The businessman who loaned Sharon's sons the money, Cyril Kern, told reporters he is a longtime friend of Sharon. He called allegations of financial impropriety "character assassination" and "misinformation."
Kern, 72, said he is a British citizen who lives and works in South Africa and was in the army with Sharon in 1948. He said Sharon is his son's godfather.
He said the loan was for Sharon's farm and that it had been repaid.
Omri Sharon has been his father's go-between in the past with the Palestinian leadership. He is expected to win a seat in the Knesset on the Likud ticket. Sharon's other son, Gilad, is a farmer and businessman who has not been actively involved in politics.
Sharon has asked Israeli Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein to launch an investigation. However, Rubinstein said he would not be able to complete his investigation before Israeli voters go to the polls.
The loan scandal follows Sharon's firing of his deputy infrastructure minister after she refused to answer police questions about a vote-buying scandal.
The Likud party selects its parliamentary candidates through a vote of almost 3,000 members of its Central Committee. Police are looking into allegations that a number of Likud candidates paid for posh hotel rooms and even made cash payments to committee members in order to win spots on the Likud candidate list.
In Israel, each party chooses a slate of candidates. Seats in parliament are handed out on a proportional basis after the votes are cast, starting at the top of each party's candidate list and moving down until all the allotted seats are filled. The higher a candidate is on a party's list, the better the chance of being seated in the Knesset.
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/01/09/israel.election/index.html
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I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country.... corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war.
Abraham Lincoln
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