Sapir Says He is Not a Candidate for Party Leadership or Premier

Finance Minister Pinhas Sapir insisted last night that he was not a candidate for leadership of the Labor Party and the Premiership–and that he really means it. Sapir met with reporters in his office after a three-hour session with a delegation of ex-Mapai leaders who reportedly tried to convince him that he was the only figure who could re-unite the party and form a new government without new elections.

But Sapir indicated that he believed new elections are unavoidable. He thinks they should be held next fall after the Agranat Committee has submitted its final report on the yom Kippur War and after the completion of the new voter registration which will add some 100,000 young voters to the roles.

The deputation that visited Sapir yesterday included Labor Party Secretary General Aharon Yadlin, Moshe Baram, chairman of the party’s Jerusalem branch and Sapir’s close associate. Housing Minister Yehoshua Rabinowtz, the ex-Mayor of Tel Aviv who heads the powerful Tel Aviv-based “Gush” faction within the Labor Party. But the Finance Minister remained adamant.

LABOR PARTY MAY OPT FOR NEW ELECTIONS

While a certain amount of cynicism usually greets protestations by politicians that they are not candidates for high office, the general feeling is that Sapir is sincere and politically more astute than his supporters. He understands that there is little hope of his forming a government without elections, observers said.

Sapir’s position has increased the likelihood that the Labor Party will opt for new elections rather than try to select a new leader at this time to replace Mrs. Golda Meir. The party’s leadership bureau and its Knesset faction are scheduled to meet here tomorrow to reach a decision. In the unlikely event that they decide to attempt to form a new government, the party’s Central Committee will convene next week to elect new leaders.