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Sharon Wins Massive Victory: Initial Official Result
Opposition Likud party leader Ariel Sharon won 63.8 percent of the votes in Israel's prime ministerial election Tuesday and caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Barak 36.1 percent after the votes of the first 100 polling stations were tallied.
Vote counting began with the closing of the polls at 10 p.m. (2000 GMT) and final official result is expected by February 14, Israeli TV Channel One reported Tuesday night.
Exit polls conducted by Israel's two TVs among 90 polling stations from the total 8,000 across the country projected just after 10 p.m. that Sharon will win 59.5 percent of the votes while Barak get 40.5 percent.
Barak has indicated that he would not bow out from politics if he losses. But former Prime Minister Shimon Peres, of Barak's Labor party, has urged him to "draw conclusion" from his defeat.
Peres did not rule out the possibility that his Labor party would consider joining forces with Sharon if he proves open to compromise with the Palestinians.
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