Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed Monday to thwart efforts by his political opponents to draft the 61 MKs needed to delay the March 28 general election and form a new coalition that could last until November. Sharon hinted to Kadima officials that he blamed his arch-rival, former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu for the maneuver. He said the people behind the move were "the same people who tried to advance the Likud primary," referring to Netanyahu. Netanyahu denied involvement in the initiative, even though Shinui head Yosef Lapid revealed that Netanyahu called him personally two weeks ago and asked him to support it. The main MKs openly advancing the initiative have been four vocal Netanyahu loyalists in the Likud: Reuven Rivlin, Michael Ratzon, Yuval Steinitz and Ayoub Kara. "We cannot let this story rest," Sharon told the Kadima faction at the Knesset. "We need to say aggressively, seriously and even cynically that this initiative is problematic."