Israel's Ruling Likud Party Heavily Hit by Election Scandal

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, December 18, 2002

Israel's Ruling Likud Party Heavily Hit by Election Scandal

A poll conducted on behalf of Israel's Channel 1 television reveals on Tuesday that 19 percent of those polled said they would vote for a different party following a spate of corruption scandals.

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A poll conducted on behalf of Israel's Channel 1 television reveals on Tuesday that 19 percent of those polled said they would vote for a different party following a spate of corruption scandals.

The 19 percent represents a possible 25 seats in the Knesset (Israeli parliament), the TV report said.

Previous polls showed the Likud could win as many as 41 seats.

Israeli police arrested two key members of the Likud Central Committee late Monday night for attempted bribery in the primary election for the party's parliament candidacy.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Tuesday that he would expel from the Likud anyone found to have committed improper acts during the party's recent primary election.

In an interview on Channel One, Sharon said he would see to it that anyone who was involved in such acts will be kicked out of theLikud party, even if they are ministers or Knesset members.

It was Sharon's first declaration about alleged corruption in preparations for Israel's Jan. 28 election.

In Sharon's Likud party, the 2,940-strong central committee chose the list of candidates for parliament.

Some of the losers have gone to the police with charges that certain central committee members demanded payments in exchange fortheir support.

An earlier local media report on Tuesday said the Likud already expects to lose at least three to four parliament seats from the victory currently projected by the polls, as a result of the corruption scandal.

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