Labor Receives Uncertain Support from Ex-likud Party Members

Prime Minister-designate Shimon Peres’ stalled efforts to put together a Labor-led coalition government got a possible boost from an unexpected quarter this week.

But the Labor Party leader is said to be wary.

The recently formed Party for the Advancement of Zionist-Liberal Values announced Tuesday that it was prepared to hold coalition talks with Labor.

It consists of five former members of Likud’s Liberal Party wing, led by Yitzhak Moda’i, who was minister of economics and planning.

They quit Likud last month in protest a-gainst Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir’s peace diplomacy. But most political observers suspect their offer to Labor could be a tactical ploy to improve their bargaining position with Likud.

Nevertheless, one member of the faction, Pessah Grupper, said Wednesday night that contact had been made, and he expected Moda’i would be invited to meet Peres and would accept.

But Grupper also confirmed that the five breakaways would return to the Likud fold if assured of safe seats in the next elections.

Along with Minister of Industry and Trade Ariel Sharon — who has quit the government but not the party — and Deputy Premier David Levy, Moda’i has tried repeatedly to scuttle Shamir’s peace initiative toward the Palestinians.

Peres, meanwhile, has now gone through eight days of his 21-day mandate to form a new government. He can ask President Chaim Herzog for a 21-day extension.

The Knesset begins its Passover recess Wednesday or Thursday, depending on when it acts on the $32 billion state budget for fiscal 1990-91, which begins April 1.

According to Claude Klein, professor of constitutional law at the Hebrew University, that does not preclude Peres’ continuing his efforts or the validation of a new government if he succeeds.

Klein said that the Knesset can be called into session for a vote of confidence in a new government. The rules preclude it from being recalled during recess for a no-confidence vote, he explained.