Rulers
January 1998
Tarar |
Cotti |
1
Albania: Former chairman of the Presidium of the People's Assembly (1953-82) Haxhi Lleshi dies.
Pakistan: Mohammad Rafiq Tarar is sworn in as president.
Russia: The president of Chechnya, Aslan Maskhadov, names Shamil Basayev as prime minister. Previously Maskhadov headed the government himself.
Switzerland: Flavio Cotti takes office as president for 1998.
3
Green |
Congo (Kinshasa): In a cabinet reshuffle, Gaetan Kakudji becomes interior minister and Fernand Tala Ngaï finance minister.
Mexico: Interior Minister Emilio Chuayffet Chemor is replaced by Francisco Labastida Ochoa. On January 5 Foreign Minister José Ángel Gurría Treviño is named to replace Guillermo Ortiz as finance minister. On January 7 Rosario Green is named as new foreign minister.
4
Israel: Foreign Minister David Levy resigns (effective January 6). Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu takes over the post.
Lithuania: Valdas Adamkus wins the presidential runoff election, with 50.4% of the vote, against Arturas Paulauskas with 49.6%. Turnout is 73.7%.
5
Severino |
Association of Southeast Asian Nations: Rodolfo C. Severino of the Philippines takes over as secretary-general.
7
Australia: Former administrator of the Northern Territory (1964-70) Roger Levinge Dean dies.
Pakistan: Former governor of North-West Frontier Province (1985-86) Nawabzada Abdul Ghafoor Khan Hoti dies.
Switzerland: Former president of the Council of State of Genève (1967-68) François Peyrot dies.
8
Kenya: President Daniel arap Moi names a new cabinet, including Bonaya Godana as foreign minister and Simeon Nyachae as finance minister.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: Allan Cruickshank becomes foreign minister.
9
Colombia: Alfonso López Caballero is appointed interior minister, following the resignation of Carlos Holmes Trujillo the previous day. López is sworn in on January 28.
Jovanovic |
Yugoslavia: Zivadin Jovanovic is appointed foreign minister.
11
Cuba: Parliamentary election. All 601 candidates, running unopposed, are elected to the National Assembly. Turnout is 98.35%; 3.4% of the votes are invalid.
12
Canada: Former foreign minister (1980-82) Mark MacGuigan dies.
Northern Mariana Islands: Pedro P. Tenorio is sworn in as governor.
14
Brazil: Former acting governor of Goiás (1986-87) Onofre Quinan dies.
Slovakia: President Michal Kovác appoints Miroslav Maxon to replace Sergej Kozlik as finance minister.
15
French Polynesia: Former governor (1958-60) Pierre Sicaud (also governor of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon 1955-58) dies.
India: Former prime minister (1964, 1966) Gulzarilal Nanda dies.
Yugoslavia: Milo Djukanovic is sworn in as president of Montenegro.
16
Chile: Defense Minister Edmundo Pérez Yoma resigns. Raúl Troncoso is sworn in as his replacement.
India: Tumkur Ramaiya Satish Chandran is sworn in as governor of Goa.
17
Senegal: Lamine Cissé becomes interior minister.
Gilmore |
United States: Jim Gilmore is sworn in as governor of Virginia.
18
Russia: Aleksandr Dzasokhov wins presidential elections in North Ossetia with 73% of the vote, while incumbent Akhsarbek Galazov wins 9.7%. Turnout is about 70%.
19
The Gambia: President Yahya Jammeh names Momodou Lamin Sedat Jobe as foreign minister.
20
Czech Republic: Václav Havel is reelected as president by a joint session of parliament.
21
Equatorial Guinea: In a cabinet reshuffle Demetrio Elo Ndong replaces Julio Ndong as interior minister.
Western Sahara: The Polisario Front names Mohamed Salem Ould Salek as foreign minister of their self-proclaimed Saharan Arab Democratic Republic.
22
United States: Former Kansas governor (1951-55) Edward F. Arn and former Minnesota governor (1951-55) C. Elmer Anderson die.
23
Afghanistan: Former prime minister (1963-65) Mohammad Yusuf dies.
Ghana: Former president (1979-81) Hilla Limann dies.
Pakistan: Former governor of Punjab (1985-88) Makhdoom Qureshi dies.
Venezuela: Freddy Rojas Parra becomes finance minister.
24
Cameroon: Former foreign minister (1966-68) Benoît Bindzi dies.
25
Philippines: Salvador Enriquez is appointed finance secretary, replacing Roberto de Ocampo.
26
Uruguay: A cabinet reshuffle is announced, with Interior Minister Didier Opertti to become foreign minister and Luis Hierro López to replace him as interior minister.
27
Flores |
Honduras: Carlos Roberto Flores Facussé takes office as president. Fernando Martínez Jiménez becomes foreign minister; Col. Cristóbal Corrales Calix, defense minister; Delmer Urbizo Panting, interior minister; Gabriela Núñez, finance minister.
28
Burundi: Defense Minister Firmin Sinzoyiheba dies in a helicopter crash.
Czech Republic: The government of Prime Minister Josef Tosovský wins a parliamentary confidence vote.
Estonia: President Lennart Meri dismisses Interior Minister Robert Lepikson. The following day Olari Taal takes office as interior minister.
Japan: Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka resigns. On January 30 Hikaru Matsunaga is appointed to replace him.
29
Romania: Defense Minister Victor Babiuc resigns.
30
Netherlands Antilles: Prime Minister Miguel Pourier's Antillean Restructuring Party wins 4 of 22 seats in parliamentary elections, while the National People's Party and the Labour Party People's Crusade win 3 each. Two other Curaçao-based parties win 2 seats each; the remaining 8 seats go to parties from the other islands.
31
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Milorad Dodik is sworn in as prime minister of the Republika Srpska.