|
Polls show Sharon returning to PM's seat
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-22 20:00
Polls published Tuesday, a day after Ariel Sharon broke away from his
hardline Likud party, showed him mustering enough support to return to the prime
minister's seat at the head of a moderate coalition.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon speaks
during a press conference at his Jerusalem office, Monday Nov. 21, 2005.
Sharon broke away from his hardline Likud Party on Monday to form a new
centrist party and push for a snap election, in a politically electrifying
gamble that raised hopes for a breakthrough in Mideast peacemaking.
[AP] |
Sharon's allies in the new centrist party he formed made it clear on Tuesday
that their goal was a peace deal with the Palestinians, culminating in a
Palestinian state.
"The process clearly is a process that leads in the direction of two states,"
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni told Army Radio. "We will lead in the direction of
two states."
Finance Minister Ehud Olmert, a top Sharon ally, said the prime minister
wants to draw Israel's final borders in talks with the Palestinians.
The breakaway from Likud came out of "the desire to define the permanent
borders of Israel in the framework of an agreement that is based on the recipe
of the road map," Olmert told Army Radio, referring to the internationally
backed peace plan.
|
