Olmert named interim prime minister

Sharon's tenure ends quietly after 100 days of incapacitation following stroke.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN, DAN IZENBERG
Ariel Sharon's tenure as prime minister ended quietly and Ehud Olmert officially became interim prime minister on Friday, 100 days after Sharon became incapacitated from his January 4 stroke and subsequent cerebral hemorrhage. The Basic Law: Government determines that if a prime minister is incapacitated for 100 days, he will be considered permanently incapacitated and be replaced by an interim prime minister who will govern until a new prime minister and cabinet is approved by the Knesset. On Tuesday, just before Pessah, the cabinet approved Olmert as interim prime minister. Olmert has also been charged by President Moshe Katsav with forming a new government coalition. Olmert received the news he was now interim prime minister while he was vacationing at a posh villa in a northern farming community that cannot be named for security reasons. In his first day as interim prime minister, he accompanied his wife Aliza to a Mozart concert at a Crusader fortress in Yehiam celebrating the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth.