The centrist Kadima, center-left Labor and center-right Likud, which are key players in the coming Israeli general elections slated for March 28, have asserted their different platforms as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon remained in critical but stable condition on Monday.

The 77-year-old Sharon, who has been hospitalized since last Wednesday's massive stroke, slightly moved his right arm and leg in response to pain stimulus following steps to bring him gradually out of a medically-induced coma. His condition has remained critical but stable.

Doctors said it would be several days before it became clear whether Sharon had suffered any cognitive damage or paralysis on the left side of his body.

Medical experts have asserted that the ex-general, weathering through battles and wounds in the past, is unlikely to return to politics after such a grave illness.

The sudden severe illness of Sharon, championed for being capable of bold steps toward a settlement of the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict, has sent big shocks across the Israeli political landscape and put much uncertainty to the March elections as well as the prospects of the Mideast peace process.

To cope with an ballot without Sharon who was almost certain to win as head of his newly founded Kadima party, Kadima, Labor and Likud have ratcheted up efforts in a politically sensitive atmosphere.

Kadima spokesman Maya Jacobs recently told Xinhua that the party will hold onto its centrist nature while Likud, which Sharon helped establish decades ago but quit in November, calls itself a conservative party, avoiding the word "right-wing."

Jacobs said Kadima supports the internationally-backed roadmap peace plan which envisions an independent Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel, adding that the party believes the plan is the right way to achieve the final status agreement with the Palestinians.

Labor spokesman Odelia Karmon said that the dovish party also upholds the roadmap peace plan while Odelia Karmon, spokesperson of Likud, said the party leader Benjamin Netanyahu refused to comment on the issue at present due to Sharon's critical condition.

Labor supports the establishment of a Palestinian state while Kadima favors a two-nation solution, demanding the recognition of the state of Israel from the Palestinian side.

Although Likud leaders refrained from voicing their official stance over the roadmap peace plan, the party's platform states it opposes to Palestinian statehood.

On the status of Jerusalem, all the three parties emphasize the importance of a united Holy city.

Israel seized Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East War and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community.

Palestinians want the Gaza Strip and West Bank as their future state with East Jerusalem as capital, but Israel has vowed to keep the entire Jerusalem as their capital.

As to the right of return of Palestinian refugees, Kadima and Labor said they would not allow Palestinian refugees to return to the areas that are now under Israeli sovereignty, but would agree to let them go back to the future Palestinian state.

The Likud party did not respond to the question either.

In terms of economy, Kadima has not revealed any specific policies so far, but local media reported that the party might adopt the Likud policies of free market and capitalism while Labor will continue its socialist policies.

Analysts have expected the March general elections to become an open race without Sharon.

But latest polls showed that Kadima, quite likely to be headed by Sharon's long-time ally acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, would beat Labor and Likud even without Sharon.

Source: Xinhua