The Hindu : Sharon sacks coalition Ministers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 22, 2002

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International

Sharon sacks coalition Ministers

Jerusalem May 21. The Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, has ordered the dismissal of Cabinet Ministers from the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party.

The decision came yesterday after Shas voted against the Government on an emergency economic plan presented in parliament. "Prime Minister Ariel Sharon this evening ordered the immediate dismissal of four Shas Ministers ... following this evening's Knesset vote against the Government's economic programme," the Prime Minister's office said in a statement. It added that dismissal notices had been delivered to the Ministers.

Despite Mr. Sharon's decision, he would retain control over a majority of seats with 65 legislators in the 120-member Parliament, said political analyst Yaron Deckel. Mr. Deckel said that Mr. Sharon was now becoming increasingly dependent, however, on his alliance with the centre-left Labor Party. Shas is the third largest party in Israel. Meanwhile, an opinion poll published today said Yasser Arafat's popularity has been slipping amid growing dissatisfaction with his corruption-ridden regime, but no other Palestinian can muster enough support to pose a serious challenge to the Palestinian leader.

The survey also indicated that there is overwhelming support among Palestinians for reforms — including firing corrupt Cabinet ministers, streamlining rival security services into one force and holding elections within the coming months.

he survey was conducted between May 15-18 by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research, an independent think tank, with 1,317 adults interviewed face-to-face.

It had an error margin of 3 percentage points.

According to the poll, Mr. Arafat has the support of 35 per cent of Palestinians, compared to 46 per cent in July 2000, before the outbreak of fighting with Israel, and 36 per cent in December 2001.

Marwan Barghouti, the leader of Mr. Arafat's Fatah movement in the West Bank, came in second, with 19 per cent.

Mr. Barghouti was arrested by Israeli security forces last month suspecting he financed and co-ordinated attacks on Israelis by Fatah gunmen.

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