• Thursday, 27 June 2024

Israeli government planning to dissolve parliament

Israeli government planning to dissolve parliament
Tel Aviv, 20 June 2022 (dpa/MIA) - The Israeli government is planning to dissolve parliament, paving the way for an early election, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Monday evening. The government will call on the Knesset to vote on draft legislation next week. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is to take over as acting prime minister until a new government is sworn in. An election could be held at the end of October, according to reports. The vote would be the fifth in three and a half years. Bennett's fragile coalition, in office for a year, has been struggling for some time. His eight-party coalition lost its razor-thin majority of 61 out of 120 seats in April when a lawmaker quit. A week ago, another member of Bennett's ultra-right Yamina Party said he was leaving the coalition. The opposition, led by former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has called on Bennett to resign. Bennett's government came to power in June last year, ending a political crisis in Israel that saw four elections in two years. The coalition was formed of eight parties from the left to right wing of the political spectrum - including an Arab party for the first time.