New parties in Israel have until October 23 to register to compete in the country’s January 22 ballot, giving Israeli politicians less than a week to add to the current crop of parties. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party announced it will hold its internal primaries, which will allow registered Likud members to vote on the party’s list of candidates. The consensus opinion that the party will reemerge from the elections as the clear winner was thrown into doubt by an overnight poll showing that the centrist Kadima party could win more seats than the Likud if its former leaders Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni return. That electoral scenario might see a replay of the last election, when Kadima won more seats but Netanyahu was chosen by Israeli President Shimon Peres as having the best chance to form a governing coalition.

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