Sharon seeks dissolution of parliament, early election after quitting Likud Party

JERUSALEM – In a bold gamble, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon yesterday asked Israel’s president to dissolve parliament, pushing for a quick March election just hours after deciding to leave his hardline Likud Party and to form a new centrist party.

Sharon’s decision to leave Likud sent shock waves through Israel, redrawing the political map, finalising his transformation from hardliner to moderate and boosting prospects of progress in peacemaking with the Palestinians. His confidants say Sharon felt Likud hardliners, who tried to block this summer’s Gaza pullout, were imposing too many constraints and would prevent future peace moves.Palestinian officials expressed hope yesterday that the political upheaval in Israel would bring them closer to a final peace deal.The dramatic events began with Sharon’s decision late on Sunday, after a weekend of agonising, to leave the party he helped found in 1973, said a top aide, Asaf Shariv.Yesterday morning, Sharon asked President Moshe Katsav to dissolve parliament, a step that would move the vote to the beginning of March, or eight months ahead of schedule.Katsav said he would weigh the request and decide quickly, after consulting with leaders of other parties.At noon yesterday, Sharon summoned members of his new party – still nameless – to the prime minister’s office for a first meeting.More than a dozen legislators, most of them Likud breakaways, were expected to attend.Yesterday evening, Sharon was to announce the split formally in a nationally televised news conference.Sharon’s decision set the stage for a turbulent election campaign.It would pit a smaller, more hawkish Likud, possibly led by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, against Sharon and the new Labour Party leader, former union boss Amir Peretz.Sharon and Netanyahu are bitter political rivals.Peretz, in turn, rejuvenated the ailing Labour Party with his appeal to Israel’s working class and Sephardi Jews of Middle Eastern descent, voter groups that were once was largely out of Labour’s reach.One poll yesterday indicated that an alliance of Sharon’s new party with the moderate Labour and leftist parties would command a comfortable majority in the 120-member parliament.It was seen as unlikely Sharon would seek a coalition with Likud after the election, since hardliners in the party spent months trying to halt the Gaza pullout, and came close at times to bringing down his government.- Nampa-APHis confidants say Sharon felt Likud hardliners, who tried to block this summer’s Gaza pullout, were imposing too many constraints and would prevent future peace moves.Palestinian officials expressed hope yesterday that the political upheaval in Israel would bring them closer to a final peace deal.The dramatic events began with Sharon’s decision late on Sunday, after a weekend of agonising, to leave the party he helped found in 1973, said a top aide, Asaf Shariv.Yesterday morning, Sharon asked President Moshe Katsav to dissolve parliament, a step that would move the vote to the beginning of March, or eight months ahead of schedule.Katsav said he would weigh the request and decide quickly, after consulting with leaders of other parties.At noon yesterday, Sharon summoned members of his new party – still nameless – to the prime minister’s office for a first meeting.More than a dozen legislators, most of them Likud breakaways, were expected to attend.Yesterday evening, Sharon was to announce the split formally in a nationally televised news conference.Sharon’s decision set the stage for a turbulent election campaign.It would pit a smaller, more hawkish Likud, possibly led by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, against Sharon and the new Labour Party leader, former union boss Amir Peretz.Sharon and Netanyahu are bitter political rivals.Peretz, in turn, rejuvenated the ailing Labour Party with his appeal to Israel’s working class and Sephardi Jews of Middle Eastern descent, voter groups that were once was largely out of Labour’s reach.One poll yesterday indicated that an alliance of Sharon’s new party with the moderate Labour and leftist parties would command a comfortable majority in the 120-member parliament.It was seen as unlikely Sharon would seek a coalition with Likud after the election, since hardliners in the party spent months trying to halt the Gaza pullout, and came close at times to bringing down his government.- Nampa-AP