Prime Minister Sharon ended the suspense that gripped the country for a number of weeks, and made known his decision around midnight Sunday night: He will not run for the Likud Party leadership, but will rather quit and form his own new party. The reason, apparently, is as Binyamin Netanyahu - his main challenger for the party leadership - said on Friday: "Sharon knows that the Likud as a party will never accept his dictates for additional withdrawals, in the framework of the Roadmap or in a unilateral and arbitrary manner, as happened in Gush Katif. Every territorial compromise in the future will be contingent upon a referendum. Therefore, he has been left with no choice but to [try to] carry out his policies via a different party."

Commentators noted that Sharon would never have taken such a risky and controversial step if he was not planning to continue his policy of withdrawals from Judea, Samaria and even Jerusalem.

Sharon will submit his resignation to President Moshe Katzav tomorrow, and elections must be held within 111 days afterwards - 21 days to see if an alternative government can be formed (which it cannot), and then 90 days of campaigning. The election will apparently be held on Wednesday, March 8, 2006, the 8th of Adar 5756.
It was noted that just as Sharon had confounded former supporters by destroying the settlement enterprise in Gush Katif that he himself had so much to do with, he was now doing the same thing with his political home, the Likud. Likud MK Ehud Yatom said, "The man who built the Likud is now acting to dismantle it, just like he, the father of the settlements, is planning to continue to uproot them in Judea and Samaria."
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 12:07 am