Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will today say he is quitting the ruling Likud party to form his own faction to contest elections next year, Israeli army radio station said. The move comes as Israel readies for elections that will probably take place in late February or early March. Sharon, 77, may make a formal announcement to President Moshe Katsav later today when he asks to dissolve parliament, army radio reported, citing unidentified aides to the prime minister. Israel began moving toward early elections after Shimon Peres last week lost his bid to remain leader of the Labor Party, Sharon's coalition partner. Amir Peretz, who now heads Labor, got backing yesterday for Labor's central committee to bolt. Although he has about three months to organize a new party, a poll last week showed Sharon is the front runner or tie for first place. A survey of 501 people published in the Yediot Aharonot daily Nov. 18 showed Sharon's new party winning 28 seats in Israel's 120- member parliament if elections were held today, cutting the Likud to 18 seats from its current 40. Labor would also get 28 seats, up from 21 today, according to the poll, which had a margin of error or 4.5 percent. Sharon's party would lead in votes, gaining 24.8 percent to Labor's 20.3 percent, the survey showed.
``It's a pity that someone who built the Likud is now trying to destroy it,'' Michael Ratzon, a party legislator who has opposed the prime minister, said on army radio. Asked about the contest to find a successor to Sharon, Ratzon said he hoped the party ``will establish a timetable such that there won't be a vacuum for a long period.''