Sharon plans coalition to aid Gaza exodus

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday he planned to replace his minority government with a broad coalition to push through his Gaza withdrawal plan.

Sharon promised not to launch attacks on Palestinians, unless provoked, during the Palestinians’ election campaign.

Mr Sharon’s governing coalition has disintegrated in recent days after the premier fired the moderate Shinui Party for voting against the budget, leaving him with only 40 seats in the 120-member Knesset. If Mr Sharon cannot patch together a new coalition, he will be forced to call early elections, endangering his plans to pull out of Gaza next year.

Mr Sharon said he will court the opposition Labour Party and ultra-Orthodox parties.

At a gathering of Israeli journalists, he reiterated his intention to carry out his “disengagement” plan, under which Israel would withdraw from the Gaza Strip and four small West Bank settlements next year.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad joined Hamas in calling for a boycott of Palestinian elections on January 9.

“The Palestinian people who are living under occupation want to have a real election, a free and fair election in a free, liberated land. We cannot say the upcoming presidential election is like this,” Mohammed al Hindi, Gaza leader of Islamic Jihad, told reporters.

Hamas has promised to abide by the election result, but if many of it and Jihad’s tens of thousands of followers boycott, it could undercut the vote’s legitimacy.

Palestinian election officials announced yesterday that 10 candidates qualified to run in the election which will pick a successor to the late Yasser Arafat as head of the Palestinian Authority.

The candidates included Mahmoud Abbas, who is the interim leader, Marwan Barghouti and Mustafa Barghouti.