Early elections to be held in Israel
Premier Sharon and the new Labour leader, Peretz, reached this decision today. Polls indicate victory for Sharon's Likud party.
Tel Aviv (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the new Labour party leader, Amir Peretz, agreed during a short meeting on Thursday to hold elections between late February and March, officials from both sides said. Peretz said he hoped an exact date would be set by Monday, when parliament is expected to discuss bringing forward elections, originally scheduled for November 2006.
Sharon told Israel's biggest-selling Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper: "We must ensure that 2006 will not turn into a lost year with regard to the political process and to the effort to reach an agreement with the Palestinians." Israel's political uncertainty has put an additional damper on hopes for renewed peacemaking with the Palestinians, strained by violence since the Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Gaza Strip in September.
Israel's political system was given a sudden jolt last week by the victory of Peretz, a union leader, in a party leadership contest with veteran peacemaker Shimon Peres, who joined Sharon's alliance to assist the Gaza pullout.
Peretz, 53, shares the dovish views of 82-year-old Peres on making peace with the Palestinians and removing settlements from the occupied West Bank. But Peretz's call to restore social welfare policies and reverse free-market reforms have struck a chord with Labour members, while rattling markets that only recently pulled out of recession. Opinion polls show that Peretz's toppling of Peres has given Labour a big lift but not enough to unseat Sharon, a 77-year-old former general who twice swept to power pledging to crack down on a Palestinian revolt that erupted in 2000. A Maariv newspaper poll showed that Likud would win 33 parliament seats in the ballot, down from their current 40. Labour would garner 27 seats -- up from the 22 they hold in Israel's 120-member Knesset. Peretz's victory has also shaken Likud, which has been riven because of the Gaza pullout between supporters of Sharon and opponents of giving up settlements on land that Palestinians want for a state. The crisis had prompted speculation that Sharon could bolt to form a more centrist party, possibly with Peres. But political analysts now think there is a bigger chance that Likud will rally round Sharon.
.png)
30/05/2008
