Sharon officially quits Likud

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon officially quit the Likud party on Monday and announced his intention to set up a new party, local newspaper Ha'aretz reported on its on-line edition.

"I am resigning from the party and forming a new one," Sharon wrote in a letter to Likud's central committee chairman Tzachi Hanegbi, who will take over the chairmanship temporarily after Sharon's departure, said the report.

Hanegbi will convene the Likud central committee on Thursday to vote for a new chairman, it added.

Sharon's quit came shortly after his meeting with President Moshe Katsav earlier in the day, during which Sharon asked Katsav to dissolve parliament, the first step toward early general elections, likely in March 2006.

Also on Monday, Sharon held the first meeting of prospective members of his new "National Responsibility" party in his Jerusalem office.

Likud officials said the new party would be a "true centrist party, from every perspective: political, economic and social."

Sharon's new party is expected to attract 12 to 14 Likud Knesset (Parliament) members, among them Finance Minister Ehud Olmert, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Tourism Minister Abraham Hirchson, Transportation Minister Meir Sheetrit and Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra.

Non-Likud personalities were also reportedly planning to stand with Sharon, including former Shin Bet chief Avi Dichter, Ben Gurion University President Avishai Braverman, Professor Uriel Reichman and former Likud minister Dan Meridor, who has expressed a desire to return to politics.

Sharon, 77, helped found the center-right Likud three decades ago, but has been battling against dissidents inside the party over the Gaza pullout, which completed in September.

Analysts said Sharon's latest move could reshape Israeli politics in the years to come.

Source: Xinhua