Yamina MKs seek to punish renegade lawmaker Chikli

Yamina MK Shirly Pinto says that fellow lawmaker Amichai Chikli — who voted against extending the Palestinian family reunification bill and against the government — should be kicked out of the party.

“He should be declared a ‘deserter,'” Pinto tells Kan radio, saying Chikli has proven\d he is more loyal to opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu than to any ideology, and “is looking for his next job and everything Netanyahu promised him… we can’t work with him, we can’t operate like this. We need to sanction him.”

Declaring Chikli — who has been opposed to the government since it was sworn in, despite being from Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s party — a Yamina deserter would bar him from running for reelection in any existing party.

But some Yamina lawmakers are hesitant to make such a move, since the narrow, 61-seat coalition needs every vote possible on future legislation.