Sharon seeks dissolution of parliament
Israeli prime minister poised to bolt Likud, form new party
Monday, November 21, 2005 Posted: 0929 GMT (1729 HKT)
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is expected to form a new party.
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Monday formally requested that President Moshe Katsav dissolve the country's parliament, thereby paving the way for early elections.
On national television shortly after his meeting with Sharon, Katsav said he agreed with the prime minister that elections should be held as soon as possible.
However, first the president must hold consultations with legal advisers and with candidates from major parties, to see if any of them can form a ruling coalition, which is considered unlikely.
A statement from Sharon said he asked for the dissolution of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, after reaching the conclusion that a majority within it was opposed to the government, making it impossible for him to govern.
The prime minister's request came after the Labor Party voted Sunday to withdraw from Sharon's ruling coalition, a move that left the prime minister poised to leave the right-wing Likud party to form a more moderate political organization.
Sharon's political advisers told CNN that the prime minister would announce his next step Monday.
If that comes to pass, it would be an odd move for the longtime hawk who, at 77, has become something of a political pragmatist. He could be joined by high-profile political figures on the left and the right, including the current finance minister, Ehud Olmert, and former Labor leader Shimon Peres, a longtime political foe but a personal friend.
For the past year, Sharon has faced rebellion inside the Likud, a party he helped found in the 1970s, over his decision to pull Israeli soldiers and settlers from Gaza and parts of the West Bank, Palestinian territories Israel has held since 1967.
Then Labor, which had been Sharon's main partner in his ruling coalition in the Knesset, voted to quit the coalition Sunday.
Martin Indyk, who served as U.S. ambassador to Israel during the Clinton administration, said Sharon's expected decision was "unprecedented in Israeli history and tantamount to a huge political earthquake."
"In what presumably would be his last term in office, he intends to make big strides which he cannot do hobbled by a right-wing party, and therefore his calculation is that he can through this big bang create a large center bloc that would give him the basis for making some political decisions vis-a-vis the Palestinians," Indyk told CNN.
Elections would likely be held next March, and the vote is expected to pit Sharon as a centrist against Likud hardliners such as Benjamin Netanyahu and against Labor members angry over his economic austerity measures.
Netanyahu, who served as prime minister in the late 1990s, opposed Sharon's territorial concessions in Gaza and quit as finance minister.
Peres was ousted as Labor leader last week by Amir Peretz, a self-described socialist known for his fiery rhetoric and class-warfare style. Labor's membership voted Sunday to pull out of Sharon's coalition, and Peretz also has called on members of Likud to switch to Labor.
Sunday's vote was considered a formality, as both major parties have declared they are in favor of March elections. The Knesset is due to vote on an election date Wednesday.
CNN Correspondent Guy Raz contributed to this report.
