April 1998

Mogae

1

Botswana: Vice President and Finance Minister Festus Mogae is sworn in as president, after Sir Ketumile Masire retired on March 31. Ponatshego Kedikilwe is appointed to replace Mogae as finance minister. On April 3 Ian Khama is nominated as vice president.
Ecuador: Pedro Aguayo Cubillo is named vice president.

Francini

Cecchetti

San Marino: Loris Francini (Christian Democrat) and Alberto Cecchetti (Socialist) take office as captains-regent.

2

Vasile

Romania: President Emil Constantinescu designates Christian Democrat Radu Vasile as prime minister. His cabinet is approved by parliament on April 15 and takes office April 17. Victor Babiuc becomes defense minister, while Andrei Plesu remains foreign minister, Gavril Dejeu interior minister, and Daniel Daianu finance minister.

3

Swaziland: Albert Nhlanhla Shabangu becomes foreign minister.

6

United States: Energy Secretary Federico Peña announces his resignation for June 30.

8

Latvia: The Democratic Party Saimnieks announces the withdrawal of its ministers (including Interior Minister Ziedonis Cevers) from the ruling coalition. On April 9 Prime Minister Guntars Krasts orders Defense Minister Talavs Jundzis to act as interior minister.
Mexico: Former Sonora governor (1975-79) Alejandro Carrillo Marcor dies.
Tuvalu: Kokea Malua becomes home affairs minister.

9

Oskanyan

Tarasyuk

Armenia: Robert Kocharyan is inaugurated as president. On April 10 he appoints Armen Darbinyan as prime minister. Vartan Oskanyan becomes foreign minister and Edvard Sandoyan finance minister in the cabinet named on April 20.
Ukraine: Foreign Minister Hennadiy Udovenko resigns. On April 17 President Leonid Kuchma names Borys Tarasyuk as new foreign minister.

10

Nepal: Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa resigns. On April 12 Girija Prasad Koirala is appointed prime minister. He is sworn in April 15, heading a three-member cabinet in which he holds 25 portfolios, including foreign affairs and defense. Ram Sharan Mahat is finance minister. On April 18 Koirala wins a confidence vote, gaining 144 votes in the 205-member parliament.

Koirala

Russia: The State Duma rejects Sergey Kiriyenko as prime minister. He receives only 143 votes in the 450-seat chamber. On April 17 he is rejected a second time, getting only 115 votes. In a third vote on April 24, he is confirmed with 251 votes.
Vietnam: Former foreign minister (1980-91) Nguyen Co Thach dies.

13

Tunisia: Former prime minister (1969-70) Bahi Ladgham dies.

14

United States: Former commerce secretary (1969-72) Maurice H. Stans dies.

15

Cambodia: Former premier (1976-79) Pol Pot dies.
Haiti: The Senate narrowly rejects President René Préval's choice for prime minister, Hervé Denis.

16

Haarde

Iceland: Geir H. Haarde replaces Fridrik Sophusson as finance minister.
Mexico: Former Nayarit governor (1981-87) Emilio M. González Parra dies.
Niger: Former prime minister (1957-58) Djibo Bakary dies.
Slovakia: Another attempt to elect a president fails as the government's candidate, Milan Secansky, wins only 59 votes and Brigita Schmögnerová of the Party of the Democratic Left 43. A three-fifths majority in parliament (90 votes) is required.

17

India: Five new governors - J.F.R. Jacob (Goa), Anshuman Singh (Gujarat), Bhai Mahavir (Madhya Pradesh), Anandam Padmanabhan (Mizoram), Suraj Bhan (Uttar Pradesh) - and two new lieutenant governors - Vijai Kapoor (Delhi) and Rajani Rai (Pondicherry) - are appointed.

Elbegdorj

Mongolia: Prime Minister Mendsaikhany Enkhsaikhan's cabinet offers its resignation. Parliament elects (61-6) Tsakhiagiyn Elbegdorj as prime minister on April 23. On April 30 Rinchinnyamyn Amarjargal becomes foreign minister and Bat-Erdenii Batbayar finance minister.

18

India: A.R. Kidwai is appointed governor of West Bengal. He is sworn in on April 27.
United States: Former North Carolina governor (1961-65) Terry Sanford dies.

19

Austria: Thomas Klestil is reelected president with 63.4% of the vote, ahead of Gertraud Knoll (13.6%), Heide Schmidt (11.1%), and Richard Lugner (9.9%). Turnout is 74.4%.
Malaysia: Former chief minister of Kedah (1978-85) Datuk Seri Syed Nahar Shahabuddin dies.

22

Greece: Former prime minister (1955-63, 1974-80) and president (1980-85, 1990-95) Konstantinos Karamanlis dies.
India: Sunder Singh Bhandari is appointed governor of Bihar, Girish Chandra Saxena, governor of Jammu and Kashmir, and Darbara Singh, governor of Rajasthan. Chakravarti Rangarajan, governor of Andhra Pradesh, is concurrently appointed governor of Orissa.
Papua New Guinea: In a cabinet reshuffle, Peter Waieng becomes defense minister.
Venezuela: Former foreign minister (1960-64) Marcos Falcón Briceño dies.

23

Belgium: Interior Minister Johan Vande Lanotte resigns. He is replaced the next day by Louis Tobback. On April 28 Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene survives a no-confidence vote.

24

Albania: Luan Hajdaraga is appointed defense minister.

25

The Netherlands: Former queen's commissioner of Drenthe (1951-64) Jaap Cramer dies.

26

Germany: In state elections in Sachsen-Anhalt, the Social Democratic Party of Minister-President Reinhard Höppner wins 35.9% (47 of 116 seats), the Christian Democratic Union 22% (28 seats), the Party of Democratic Socialism 19.6% (25 seats), the German People's Union 12.9% (16 seats), the Free Democratic Party 4.2%, and the Greens 3.2%. Turnout is 71.7%.

27

Vietnam: Former Communist Party general secretary (1986-91) Nguyen Van Linh dies.

28

Georgia: President Eduard Shevardnadze dismisses Defense Minister Vardiko Nadibaidze. He is replaced by David Tevzadze.

29

Yemen: Prime Minister Faraj Said Bin Ghanem resigns. Abdul Karim al-Iryani becomes acting prime minister.

30

Faeroe Islands: The Republican Party wins 23.8% in parliamentary elections, followed by the Social Democrats with 21.9%, the People's Party with 21.3%, the Coalition Party with 18%, and others with 15%. Turnout is 85.7%.