Olmert said he believed Livni and the Kadima MKs were taking advantage of the announcement made by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, who said he planned to indict the prime minister on the accusations against him in the Rishon Tours double billing affair.
Olmert's affiliates said Livni's interest in seating herself on the prime minister's seat before the national elections in February is what drove her to call for Olmert's suspension. The sources claimed the Kadima chairwoman wanted a chance to prove to the public she could handle the job, despite her recent inability to assemble an alternate government.
Earlier Thursday the Kadima chairwoman said there was "no other option" for Olmert, and that he had to temporarily resign from office.
"In 1977 Rabin did not hesitate and immediately announced he was taking a leave of absence. The PM, just as any other citizen, is innocent until proven guilty, but the citizen Ehud Olmert must conduct the battle (to clear his name) from home and not from his Knesset seat," said Livni, who replaced Olmert as Kadima chief following the September 17 primary elections," she said.
"Israel cannot accept one more day in which he is acting as prime minister. It is a moral and practical trial (for the country). It is important that Kadima make its position known on a day like today."
But Olmert's affiliates insisted that Livni and Kadima were putting their own interests before that of the public and the political stability required at this stage. They claimed the global financial crisis and the security situation in the north and south necessitate constancy until the election.
"This country needs to continue to conduct itself. There is no room for the prosecution's issues of prestige, especially after the blow it received from the Talansky and Katsav affairs, nor is there room for the political needs of other officials," an associate of the prime minister said.
