The Democratic Movement for Change (DMC) is shifting away from its dove-ish faction Shinooy (Change) and toward the views of the group headed by Deputy Premier Yigael Yadin and Justice Minister Shmuel Tamir who favor remaining within the Likud-led coalition government. That trend emerged from a partial assessment of the internal elections to the DMC Council in Jerusalem Wednesday. The election results were invalidated Friday after complaints of irregularities were upheld by the DMC election committee. New elections are to be scheduled.
Only about half of the 12,000 eligible voters participated in the balloting for the 120-member Council. Local branches elect 80 members and 40 are elected from a national list. Tel Aviv, which has ten seats, was split 5-5 between Yadin and the Shinooy faction headed by Amnon Rubinstein, which wants to leave the coalition. The group centered around Transport Minister Meir Yamit also drew fewer votes than expected. Several DMC leaders, including Gens. (res.) Tzvi Zamir and Avraham Botzer, were not elected to the Council. The Oded group of students of North African origin, registered impressive gains.
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