JERUSALEM, 13 December 2005 — Ariel Sharon’s political rivals are voicing increasing alarm that the tidal wave triggered by the prime minister’s formation of a new centrist party is threatening to engulf Israeli democracy. Having poached leading figures from all his main competitors, the latest polls show that Sharon’s Kadima party is on course to trounce all-comers at a March 28 parliamentary election.
Only three weeks after its formation, a survey in yesterday’s Yediot Aharonot daily predicted Kadima would have double the number of seats (41) in the next Knesset than its nearest rival, the center-left Labour party. The bulk of support comes from voters who supported Likud, the right-wing party led by Sharon for five years until he became fed up battling hard-liners.
Meanwhile, the ruling Fatah faction has a strong lead over the Hamas movement some six weeks before the Palestinian parliamentary election, according to an opinion poll published yesterday.
A total of 37 percent of voters questioned by Bir Zeit University said they would vote for Fatah, against 20 percent who opted for Hamas while a further 13 percent said they would cast their ballots for independents or smaller parties.
