Preliminary results showed Wednesday that Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's Kadima party won most seats in the parliament.
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Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni waves to supporters. Livni's Kadima party won a razor-thin victory in the Israeli election Wednesday, gaining one more seat than right-wing rival Likud, according to a final ballot count.[Xinhuanet.com] |
With votes counted from 99 percent of polling station, the centrist Kadima won 28 seats in the 120-seat parliament while Benjamin Netanyahu's hawkish Likud Party was right behind with 27.
Another two hawkish parties of Yisrael Beiteinu and the ultra-Orthodox Shas had 15 and 11 seats respectively, with the labor gaining only 13.
Though earlier exit polls showed Livni with a slight lead, but strong gains by right-wing parties overall would make it extremely difficult to form a unity government. Overall, the right-wing parties got a majority of 64 seats in the parliament.
Earlier Wednesday, Livni claimed winner of the election and called on Netanyahu to join a Kadima-led unity government.
"Today the people have chosen Kadima," Livni told supporters in Tel Aviv.
"Today all that remains is ... to do what is right for Israel at this time particularly in the face of the political, security and economic challenges both at home and abroad and to join a unity government led by us," Livni said.
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Israeli Foreign Minister and leader of the Kadima party Tzipi Livni casts her vote at a polling station in Tel Aviv, Feb. 10, 2009. Israel started a day-long general election on Tuesday morning to choose its next parliament and premiership. [Xinhua Photo] |
Netanyahu also claimed victory.
"With God's help, I will lead the next government," Netanyahu told supporters, adding that the national camp led by the Likud has won a clear advantage.
According to the percentage of votes each party garnered, most analysts predicted a harsh political wrangling following Tuesday's vote on forming the next government.
(Xinhua News Agency February 11, 2009)