Peres enters race for premiership

Peres and his possible rival, Likud's Ariel Sharon

Shimon Peres, the Nobel peace laureate and two-time Israeli prime minister, says he is planning to run in the prime ministerial elections scheduled for February.

The 77-year-old Mr Peres, who has never won an election in more than 50 years in Israeli politics, has until Thursday to announce his formal candidacy.

Peres' career

Previously PM in 1984 and 95

Lost elections in 1977, 81, 84, 88 and 96

Nobel peace prize Arafat and Rabin in 1994

Currently minister of regional co-operation

The veteran Labour party politician is under pressure to enter the race from left-wing supporters of the peace process who believe he is in a better position to win that current Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

The Thursday deadline for candidates to submit their formal candidacy may not give him enough time to secure the political backing Mr Peres needs.

His candidacy depends on the backing of the left-wing Meretz party, whose executive committee meets on Thursday. By law, Peres needs the endorsement of 10 members of parliament to get on the ballot.

Splitting the left

For Mr Barak, the prospect of Mr Peres competing against him could be a disaster. It would split the Labour vote and undermine Mr Barak's already narrow chances of staying in power.

Prime Minister Barak has been urging Peres not to stand

If the election does turn into a three-way race, the split in the Labour vote would only matter if Likud's Ariel Sharon were to win 50% of the vote in the first round.

If none of the three were to get half of the vote - which is the most likely scenario - the two leading candidates would go on to second round.

Mr Barak is urging Mr Peres not to stand and he may offer him a post in the new government as compensation.

Perennial loser

Polls show Mr Peres has a better chance of defeating Mr Sharon than Mr Bark.

This is because he draws more committed backing from supporters of the peace process with the Palestinians than does the prime minister.

However, Mr Peres has a reputation as a perennial loser of election. He has lost Israeli prime ministerial elections five times: in 1977, 1981, 1984, 1988 and 1996.

In July, he aslo lost the parliamentary vote for the ceremonial job of Israel's president to Moshe Katsav, a little-known right-wing Israeli politician.

Mr Peres was first prime minister in a national unity government in 1984, and he took over the job of prime minister after the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in 1995.