Former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres said he would boycott a meeting Thursday of the Labor party's central committee to set a date for primaries ahead of early elections, saying the meeting had been hastily called.
"I will not take part in this meeting, because I have other obligations. And in any case, it is not normal that the central committee be given 12 hours' notice of the meeting," said Peres, who is regional cooperation minister in Prime Minister Ehud Barak's government.
Normally, Labor delegates from around the country are given a week's notice, Peres pointed out.
Israeli army radio's political commentator Aviv Drucker said Barak requested the "urgent" meeting in order to hold primaries as soon as possible and discourage potential rivals, namely parliamentary speaker Avraham Burg, from vying for the leadership.
Burg has not said whether he is interested in running for the party's chief post.
The central committee, which is due to meet near Tel Aviv, comprises 1,800 members.
On Tuesday, Barak stunned MPs when he agreed to stage elections, just before parliament was due to vote on bills calling for the early vote, which is expected to be held within the next six months -- JERUSALEM (AFP)
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