CNN.com - Sharon quits Likud to form new party -

CNN.com - Sharon quits Likud to form new party -
Prime minister asks president to dissolve parliament

Monday, November 21, 2005; Posted: 8:26 a.m. EST (13:26 GMT)
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- In what some observers are calling a "huge political earthquake" for Israel, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has resigned from the right-wing Likud party he helped found -- the next step in his plan to form a new center party.

"I am resigning from the party and forming a new one," Sharon said in a letter handed to Likud chairman Tzachi Hanegbi, Israel Radio reported.

Hanegbi confirmed that Sharon had handed him the letter.

After resigning, Sharon met with potential members of his new party, which would be called the National Responsibility Party.

Israel Radio said Sharon thanked the Knesset members for their courage and said he would work toward fulfilling the U.S.-backed "road map" to Middle East peace.

Sharon could be joined in the new party by high-profile political figures on the left and right, including Finance Minister Ehud Olmert.

Sharon's political advisers said the prime minister would announce the formation of his new party later Monday.

Earlier, Sharon 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 to Katsav came after the Labor party voted Sunday to withdraw from Sharon's ruling coalition.

Sharon's decision to leave Likud to form a new party is an odd move for the longtime hawk who, at 77, has become something of a political pragmatist.

For the past year, Sharon has faced rebellion inside Likud, a party he helped create in 1973, 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 earlier that Sharon's move 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 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.

Shimon Peres was ousted as Labor leader last week by Amir Peretz, a self-described socialist known for his fiery rhetoric and class-warfare style. Peretz has called on members of Likud to switch to Labor.

Sunday's vote by Labor to pull out of the coalition 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's John Vause, Guy Raz and Shira Medding contributed to this report.