Eight small Knesset factions charged today that the two major parties were conspiring to cheat them out of votes and warned that they would embark on a campaign of “parliamentary disobedience” if the Labor Alignment and Gahal pressed their joint bill to change the distribution of surplus votes in future Knesset elections.
Surplus votes are those “left over” after a party’s total votes are divided by the number required for each Knesset seat. The measure, introduced by Avraham Ofer of the Alignment and Yohanan Bader of Gahal, would give the major parties priority in the distribution of the extra seats. But the smaller parties claim the bill is grossly discriminatory.
Opposing the measure are the independent Liberals, the State List, Free Center, Haolam Hazeh, the two Communist Parties, Agudat Israel and Poale Agudat Israel. Their spokesman said the public would be made aware of the seriousness of the “plot” but refused to elaborate on plans for “parliamentary disobedience.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
