Members of Knesset, the Israeli parliament, are proposing to make the health situation of politicians more transparent.
The proposal came after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, 77, suffered a minor stroke on Sunday evening, sparking concerns about his age and physical ability to function as a politician.
MK Avshalom Vilan from the Meretz-Yahad Party, proposed to the Knesset’s ethics committee that ministers and premiers should be obligated to report on their medical condition once a year, the online news portal Ynet reported.
Sharon is remaining in Jerusalem’s Hadassah University Hospital Ein Kerem where he is undergoing a series of routine checkups. His aides say he is in high spirits and his health condition is good.
Politicians from Sharon’s newly formed Qadima party hope this incident will generate empathy from the public toward Sharon. But party members are also concerned about the damage to its image. The party derives most of its power from Sharon.
In the long run, voters are likely to think twice before voting for someone in his late seventies who appears unhealthy.
Sharon’s Qadima party is participating in the upcoming general elections on March 28, 2006.
Sharon’s former party, the Likud is electing a new head on Monday. Some 128,000 Likud members are choosing between four candidates. The two strongest candidates are Binyamin Netanyahu and Sylvan Shalom, although the race seems close and polls can give no indication as to who will win.