Party reps meet with president to recommend next PM

The post-election dust has begun to settle, and the official process of forming the next government is getting underway at the President's Residence in Jerusalem. President Reuven Rivlin was scheduled to spend Sunday and Monday conferring with party representatives, who will make their recommendations about who should form the next government.

"Given the security and social challenges ahead, and the vital need for a budget, it is imperative to work toward swearing in a new government as urgently as possible," Rivlin said.

"As the consultations begin, I call on elected officials to do everything in their power to expedite the process and the coalition negotiations in order to ensure that the government can resume working as it should," he continued.

The election was a tempestuous and passion-filled time, and now we must begin the process of mending and healing. The government that will be formed was chosen by a majority of Israel's citizens, but it will have to address the needs of all the citizens of Israel," he said further.

At 10 a.m. on Sunday, Likud representatives arrived at the President's Residence to recommend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the next prime minister. An hour later, representatives of the Zionist Union were slated to meet with the president, followed by representatives of the Joint Arab List. In the afternoon, Rivlin was scheduled to meet with representatives of Habayit Hayehudi, Shas, and United Torah Judaism, in that order.

A senior official on the Joint Arab List said that the party's representatives did not intend to recommend any of the candidates for prime minister, but rather to discuss with the president what they feel were racist remarks made by the prime minister during the election.

Yesh Atid representatives were scheduled to meet with Rivlin on Tuesday morning, followed by Kulanu, after which representatives of Yisrael Beytenu and Meretz were to make their recommendations to the president.

The original schedule called for the consultations to begin this Wednesday, after the official results are to be announced by the chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Justice Salim Joubran, but in light of the decisive election result and Rivlin's urgent desire to establish a new government, the president and the committee chairman agreed to move up the consultations.

After his meeting with the faction heads, Rivlin will select the candidate with the greatest chance of being able to successfully assemble a coalition with the job, allotting 28 days for the task to be completed.

The president has the authority to extend the allotted time, should the candidate fail to assemble a coalition in that time, with the longest possible extension being 14 days. After the chosen candidate assembles a government, he or she must inform the president and the Knesset speaker.

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