Sharon Wants Early Israeli Vote

In a bold gamble, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Monday asked Israel's president to dissolve parliament, pushing for a quick March election just hours after deciding to leave his hard-line Likud Party and form a new centrist party.

Israel's parliament agreed in a preliminary vote Monday to dissolve itself, but three more votes are required to clear the way for early elections.

President Moshe Katsav weighed a request by Sharon to dissolve parliament by presidential decree. Katsav has said he would decide quickly whether to let parliament set a date for early elections, or pre-empt the legislators.

Katsav said the law gave him 21 days to decide, but that he would do so quickly. Asked whether the decision would be made within days, he replied, "less than days," Haaretz newspaper reported.

In either case, elections are widely expected to be held in early March, eight months ahead of schedule.

Parliament Speaker Reuven Rivlin urged legislators to hold the subsequent three votes by Tuesday. Rivlin said he had received assurances from the president that he would not issue a decree before Tuesday evening.

Sharon told 10 rebel Likud legislators Monday his new party would adhere to the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan, and that he does not envision unilateral Israeli pullbacks in the West Bank, Israeli radio stations reported.

Sharon was fed up with Likud rebels, who were angry over his pullout from Gaza last summer and making it impossible for him to govern by voting against his policies, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger (audio).

"He can't appoint ministers, he can't promote his agenda and he can't promote his vision," political analyst Mitchell Barak said.

Sharon helped establish the Likud 30 years ago on a platform of expanding Jewish settlement, but now that he seeks further withdrawals in the West Bank, the marriage is over.

While several other cabinet ministers were following Sharon out of Likud, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz announced Monday that he will remain in the party and compete for the post of leader.

"I said several times that I will stay in the Likud. I intend to stay in the Likud and contest the Likud leadership. I intend to contest the Likud leadership and win," Mofaz told a news conference.

Sharon's decision to leave Likud sent shock waves through Israel, redrawing the political map, finalizing his transformation from hard-liner to moderate and boosting prospects of progress in peacemaking with the Palestinians.

His confidants say Sharon felt Likud hard-liners, who tried to block this summer's Gaza pullout, were imposing too many constraints and would prevent future peace moves.

But it's a risky move for Sharon.

"At the age of 77 is not the best time to be starting a new business or a new political party," said Barak.

Palestinian officials expressed hope Monday that the political upheaval in Israel would bring them closer to a final peace deal.

"Ultimately it's healthy for Israel to do that because Likud was just competition between the extreme right and the more extreme right and Labour was non-existent and co-opted by Likud," said Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi.

The dramatic events began with Sharon's decision late Sunday, after a weekend of agonizing, to leave the party he helped found in 1973. On Monday 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.

Midday Monday, Sharon met at his office with 11 breakaway Likud legislators, expected to form the core of the new party, reportedly to be called "National Responsibility."

At the same time, more than 20 Likud lawmakers held their weekly meeting in parliament. The faction chief, Gideon Saar, announced that Sharon had sent a letter announcing his resignation from the party. The oversized brown leather chair, normally reserved for Sharon at the head of the oval table, was pushed to the side.

The decision set the stage for a turbulent election campaign.

"The brand of Likud is a very strong brand, and there are people who will vote for Likud almost no matter what," Barak.

The elections would pit a smaller, more hawkish Likud, possibly led by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, against Sharon and the new Labor Party leader, former union boss Amir Peretz. Sharon and Netanyahu are bitter political rivals. Peretz, in turn, rejuvenated the ailing Labor 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 Labor's reach.

One opinion poll Monday indicated that an alliance of Sharon's new party with the moderate Labor and leftist parties would command a comfortable majority in the 120-member parliament.

It was seen as unlikely that Sharon would seek a coalition with Likud after the election, since hard-liners in the party spent months trying to halt the Gaza pullout, and came close at times to bringing down his government.

In fact, signaling the bitterness, the head of the Likud secretariat, Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz, Monday requested restraining orders to prevent Sharon and other members of his new party from approaching Likud headquarters, reported the Jerusalem Post.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat compared the events to the eruption of a volcano. "I've never seen anything of this significance," he said. "I hope that when the dust settles, we will have a partner in Israel to go to the end game, toward the end of conflict, toward a final agreement."

"There will now probably be a period of lack of movement along the peace process and in preparation for the elections there will be heightened rhetoric, but post-elections there will probably be a reemergence of the peace camp," predicted Ashrawi.

The Palestinians also face political turmoil. The Islamic militant group Hamas is competing in Jan. 25 parliament elections and poses a strong challenges to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Sharon has said he would not hold talks with a Palestinian government that includes Hamas members.

Sharon had initially said Israel's general election would be held in November as scheduled, but after Peretz took over control of Labor, an early poll became inevitable. Peretz insisted on pulling Labor out of Sharon's coalition, depriving the prime minister of a parliamentary majority. Late Sunday, Labor voted to bolt the government.