became Acting Prime Minister as a result of the serious stroke suffered by then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. This occurred after consultations took place between Cabinet Secretary Yisrael Maimon and Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, who declared Sharon "temporarily incapable to carry out the duties of his office", while only officially in office. Then, Olmert and the cabinet reaffirmed in an announcement that the 28 March elections would be held as scheduled. During the days following the stroke, Olmert met with Shimon Peres and other Sharon supporters to try to convince them to stay with Kadima, rather than return to Likud or, in Peres' case, Labor. On 16 January 2006, Olmert was elected chairman of Kadima, and Kadima's candidate for prime minister in the upcoming election. In his first major policy address on 24 January 2006 after becoming caretaker Prime Minister, Olmert stated that he backed the creation of a Palestinian state, and that Israel would have to relinquish parts of the West Bank to maintain its Jewish majority. At the same time, he said, "We firmly stand by the historic right of the people of Israel to the entire Land of Israel." In a number of interviews, he also introduced his Realignment plan, which would see Israel unilaterally withdraw from most of the West Bank and redraw its borders to incorporate major settlement blocs into Israel. The plan was shelved following the 2006 Lebanon War. Following the March 2006 election, Kadima won 29 seats, making it the largest party. On 6 April, Olmert was officially asked by President Moshe Katsav to form a government. Olmert had an initial period of 28 days to form a governing coalition, with a possible two-week extension. On 11 April, the Israeli Cabinet deemed that Sharon was incapacitated. The 100-day replacement deadline was extended due to the Jewish festival of Passover, and a provision was made that, should Sharon's condition improve between 11 and 14 April, the declaration would not take effect. Therefore, the official declaration took effect on 14 April, formally ending Sharon's term as prime minister and making Olmert the country's new Interim Prime Minister in office (he would not become the official prime minister until he formed a government). Prime minister of Israel On 4 May 2006, Olmert presented his new government to the Knesset. Olmert became prime minister and minister for welfare. Control over the Welfare Ministry was expected to be