:Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will resign on Sunday in the wake of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's victory in a Kadima party leadership election, Olmert's spokesman said on Saturday.
Olmert planned to announce the decision at Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting before formally submitting his resignation to President Shimon Peres ahead of the latter's trip to New York to attend the UN General Assembly meeting.
"The prime minister will announce his resignation during the cabinet meeting and then deliver his letter of resignation to President Shimon Peres in accordance with the law," Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev told AFP.
The embattled premier has been dogged by a series of corruption allegations for several months, and on July 30 said he would step down once a new leader was chosen in the unprecedented party vote.
Livni, who narrowly defeated Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz in Wednesday's vote, has 42 days to form a governing coalition in order to avert snap general elections, which would be held three months later.
Olmert will continue to serve as interim prime minister until a new government is formed, which could take weeks or even months.
As foreign minister, Livni has been leading peace talks with the Palestinians relaunched at a US-hosted conference in November and aimed at securing a comprehensive agreement ending the decades-old conflict by 2009.
She is viewed as a strong supporter of the peace process, but if general elections are held the opposition right-wing Likud party is expected to win the most seats, putting the future of the negotiations in doubt.
Olmert planned to announce the decision at Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting before formally submitting his resignation to President Shimon Peres ahead of the latter's trip to New York to attend the UN General Assembly meeting.
"The prime minister will announce his resignation during the cabinet meeting and then deliver his letter of resignation to President Shimon Peres in accordance with the law," Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev told AFP.
The embattled premier has been dogged by a series of corruption allegations for several months, and on July 30 said he would step down once a new leader was chosen in the unprecedented party vote.
Livni, who narrowly defeated Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz in Wednesday's vote, has 42 days to form a governing coalition in order to avert snap general elections, which would be held three months later.
Olmert will continue to serve as interim prime minister until a new government is formed, which could take weeks or even months.
As foreign minister, Livni has been leading peace talks with the Palestinians relaunched at a US-hosted conference in November and aimed at securing a comprehensive agreement ending the decades-old conflict by 2009.
She is viewed as a strong supporter of the peace process, but if general elections are held the opposition right-wing Likud party is expected to win the most seats, putting the future of the negotiations in doubt.
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