The Herut convention wound up here early Monday morning after handing an undisputable victory to Premier Yitzhak Shamir and sharply boosting the political fortunes of two of his most outspoken rightwing ministers, Ariel Sharon and Moshe Arens.
Shamir was unopposed in his re-election as party leader Sunday. Sharon and Arens easily beat back challenges from Herut Knesset members for the offices of Central Committee chairman and the chairman of the party Secretariat respectively.
Each won with a 64 percent majority of the 2,100 ballots cast. For Sharon, who is Minister of Commerce and Industry, it was his first election to high office in Herut. He defeated MK Eli Ovadia, the Mayor of Afula. Arens, a Minister-Without-Portfolio, scored over former Finance Minister Yoram Aridor.
Deputy Premier and Housing Minister David Levy was re-elected deputy chairman of Herut but by a margin of 56 percent over MK Meir Cohen-Avidov, in contrast to the better showing by his two Cabinet colleagues. He was promptly labeled a “loser” by political analysts who saw his chances of replacing Shamir at the head of the Likud ticket in the next elections to be fading away.
On the other hand, Sharon and Arens were seen firmly in the running for the office of Prime Minister should Likud defeat the Labor Party in the next elections, whenever they are held.
The Herut convention was actually the wind-up of the convention that opened here in March 1986 but broke up in chaos after two days, before any ballots were cast, because of a determined effort by Levy to unseat Shamir.
At that time, Levy had the backing of Sharon. At the end of the convention Monday he bitterly accused the Shamir, Sharon and Arens camps of “ganging up” on him and his supporters. He insisted that his 56 percent was a vote of confidence, a claim derided by his future opponents for party leadership.
Shamir appealed for party unity and an end to petty squabbles. In fact, he mentioned “unity” 26 times in his brief closing speech to the delegates, and the words “unity” and “democracy” were echoed endlessly by other speakers. Herut, indeed, was in a self-congratulatory mood, having completed its once-aborted convention with decorum and parliamentary good order.
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