Nov. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Israeli President Moshe Katsav signed an order to dissolve parliament and schedule new elections for March 28, enabling Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to fill empty cabinet posts without being blocked by opponents in parliament.

The presidential decree will take effect Dec. 8, setting up a period where Sharon will be considered a caretaker prime minister and given special authority to keep the government running while the election campaign takes place.

Sharon, 77, asked Katsav on Monday to issue the order after members of the Labor Party pulled out of the ruling coalition and he said opponents from his own Likud Party made it impossible for him to govern. The prime minister later announced his resignation from the Likud to set up a breakaway party.

``The president told Prime Minister Sharon that with the agreement of the Knesset Law and Justice Committee, he has agreed to issue the order to dissolve the Knesset,'' Katsav's spokeswoman Hagit Cohen said by telephone from Jerusalem.

Sharon's National Responsibility Party will dedicate itself to advancing peace efforts with the Palestinians while battling terrorism, the prime minister said. Fourteen members of the Likud have split off to join the new party.

The new party will win as many as 33 seats in the 120-member parliament, or Knesset, followed by 26 for the Labor Party, a survey of 701 Israelis by pollster Mina Tzemach showed. Likud, which has 40 seats in the current parliament, would fall to 12, according to the poll, which was published yesterday in the Yediot Aharonot newspaper. The poll had an 8 percent margin of error.

Criticism

Haim Ramon, a lifelong member of Labor, criticized his former party comrades while announcing his support for Sharon today. Ramon, 55, said his choice to join the new party was influenced by what he described as the failures of two ``inexperienced'' former prime ministers: Ehud Barak of Labor, and Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud.

Labor's new leader, Amir Peretz, the head of Israel's biggest labor union and once a close friend, is not up to the job, Ramon said.

``It is no coincidence that two prime ministers entirely devoid of experience brought great disasters upon the state of Israel,'' Ramon said at a press conference. ``To gamble once again on someone inexperienced would be irresponsible.''

While Ramon crossed party lines, Shimon Peres, who Peretz unseated as chairman in a Nov. 9 party leadership contest, decided that he will not join Sharon's party, the Haaretz newspaper said, citing unidentified aides.

The Likud yesterday set Dec. 19 as the date for its own primaries, where Netanyahu will face at least five challengers, including Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and the former internal security minister, Uzi Landau.

The Israeli campaign season will take place just as Palestinians are holding their own legislative elections, scheduled for Jan. 25, where the militant Hamas organization will take part for the first time. Israel and the U.S. consider Hamas a terrorist organization and Sharon has said they should not be allowed to participate in the Palestinian election.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Ferziger in Tel Aviv at jferziger@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 23, 2005 10:46 EST