Sharon loses title of prime minister

By Ori Lewis

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Ariel Sharon’s tenure as Israeli
prime minister formally ended at midnight (2100 GMT) on Friday,
100 days after he was incapacitated by a massive stroke.

At the same moment, Sharon’s long-time deputy, Ehud Olmert,
formally took on the title of acting Israeli prime minister.

Olmert won last month’s general election as head of the
Kadima party which was formed last year by Sharon. He is in the
process of forming a new coalition government.

Under Israeli law, a prime minister’s incapacitation is
deemed permanent after 100 days and his title and powers are
revoked for good.

Sharon, 78, has been in a coma in a Jerusalem hospital
since suffering a massive hemorrhagic stroke on Jan 4. He
underwent several brain operations in the initial days of his
hospitalization but never regained consciousness.

Olmert, who was vice premier at the time of Sharon’s
stroke, immediately assumed his powers and was named interim
premier.

At a special session last Tuesday, the Israeli cabinet
voted unanimously to designate 60-year-old Olmert the acting
prime minister. The vote was brought forward because of the
week-long Passover holiday which began on Wednesday.

The title change from “interim” to “acting” does not alter
Olmert’s powers of office.

Olmert, whose Kadima party won the most parliamentary seats
in Israel’s March 28 general election, will take the full
fledged title of prime minister in the coming weeks if the new
government he is currently forming is sworn in as expected.

“I very much hope that today’s decision will be in effect
for just a short period,” Olmert told the cabinet on Tuesday.
“I hope … we will be able to bring a new government to
parliament for approval as quickly as possible,” he added.

Olmert has pledged to set Israel’s borders with or without
Palestinian agreement, through evacuation of isolated Jewish
settlements in the occupied West Bank and the strengthening of
major settler blocs in the territory.

Sharon is expected to be moved soon to a long-term care
facility, or back home to his ranch in southern Israel under
medical supervision.

For decades, the former army general was a key figure in
shaping the Middle East. Long seen as an archetypal hawk and
champion of the settler movement, he was first elected prime
minister in 2001.

In his second term, Sharon made an about-face, pulling
Israeli settlers and soldiers out of the occupied Gaza Strip
last year.

The dramatic move, marking the first time Israel has
dismantled settlements on land Palestinians want for a state,
stirred a far-right revolt in his Likud party, leading him to
form Kadima.