Five Shinui MKs quit after Poraz loses second slot

The Shinui party split Thursday night after MK Avraham Poraz lost the second slot on the party’s Knesset list. Poraz’s move came as polls forecast a sharp drop in Shinui’s strength in the next Knesset. Thursday’s primaries brought about a groundbreaking change as voters ousted Poraz in favor of little-known opposition candidate Ron Levinthal. Shortly after the release of the vote results, Poraz announced he was quitting the party. Shinui MKs Ilan Shalgi, Melli Polishuk-Bloch, Eti Livni and Ronnie Brizon followed Poraz and announced they are quitting the party. The five are mulling forming a new list ahead of the March 28 general elections, saying it will represent the „real Shinui.” Shinui Chairman Yosef (Tommy) Lapid secured the first slot on the party’s Knesset list, although he received less support than expected, with only 53 percent of the votes. Lapid was given 87 votes, squeezing past Itzik Gilad, who received 60 votes. Lapid left the Shinui convention angrily after the results were announced. He was reported to be at his home, and that he would release a statement when he had something to say. Shinui officials believe the upset could be seen as a no-confidence vote in the party’s leadership, and that Lapid himself could decide to quit the party. In the Shinui primaries, there is a separate round of voting for each slot on the list, and the winning candidate must receive more than 50% of all votes. Recent polls indicate that Shinui is expected to lose approximately two thirds of is Knesset seats – dropping from the 15 seats it currently holds to four or five seats in the upcoming elections. These poll results are the reason for the intensity of the battle for the top slots on the Shinui list. „Everyone in the party feels like they’ve been wronged, everyone feels like they’re being pushed into a corner. An all-out war is taking place in the party,” said a Shinui MK. Lapid and Poraz had attempted to impose a list in which Lapid retains the top position followed by Poraz, MK Eliezer Sandberg, MK Ilan Shalgi, a woman, MK Ehud Rassabi, MK Ilan Leibowitz, and MK Hemi Doron. But Shalgi and Rassabi refused to comply with their wishes.