Israel's Cabinet yesterday declared ailing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon permanently incapacitated, marking the official end of his five-year tenure.
Sharon, 78, suffered a devastating stroke on Jan. 4 and has been in a coma since.
After the stroke, Sharon's deputy, Ehud Olmert immediately stepped in as his temporary replacement.
Olmert has since won national elections as leader of the centrist Kadima Party, and has become the designated prime minister, assigned the task of forming a government.
Tuesday's declaration was largely symbolic in nature, since Olmert has been Israel's de facto leader since January and experts believe Sharon's chances of recovery are slim.
However, under Israeli law, an ailing prime minister can only have a temporary replacement for up to 100 days before an official successor must be named. That deadline expires on Friday, but because the weeklong Jewish Passover holiday begins tomorrow, the declaration of permanent incapacitation was moved up to yesterday.
"This coming Friday at midnight will mark 100 days in which Prime Minister Sharon was unable to carry out his role," said Cabinet Secretary Israel Maimon at the beginning of a special Cabinet session.
"According to the law, at the end of 100 days, the government must appoint a minister from his party as the acting prime minister, until the establishment of a new government. The suggestion laid forth today is to appoint the head of the Kadima party, the acting prime minister Ehud Olmert, as the prime minister in practice," he added.
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