June 2002

1

Nigeria: Former foreign minister (1975-78) Joseph Nanven Garba dies.

Zölch-Balmer

Hirschy

Ruprecht

Huber

Switzerland: Elisabeth Zölch-Balmer becomes president of the government of Bern, Pierre Hirschy president of the Council of State of Neuchâtel, Hans Peter Ruprecht president of the government of Thurgau, and Gabi Huber Landammann of Uri.

2

Canada: Prime Minister Jean Chrétien fires his finance minister, Paul Martin, and replaces him with John Manley, who will also retain his post as deputy prime minister.

3

Israel: The ministers of the Shas party fired on May 20 are reinstated.

Netherlands Antilles: Etienne Ys becomes prime minister.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: Governor-General Sir Charles Antrobus dies. His post is filled by Monica Dacon, deputy governor-general.

Meyer

van Schalkwyk

South Africa: Piet Meyer is sworn in as acting premier of Western Cape following the resignation of Peter Marais on May 31. Marthinus van Schalkwyk is sworn in as new premier on June 21.
Vanuatu: Parliament reelects Prime Minister Edward Natapei; his new cabinet includes Deputy Prime Minister Serge Vohor as foreign minister, Sela Molisa as finance minister, and Joe Natuman remaining as internal affairs minister.

4

French Southern and Antarctic Lands: Former administrator-superior (1982-87) Claude Pieri dies.
Peru: Former president (1963-68, 1980-85) Fernando Belaúnde Terry dies.

5

Belgium: Former minister-president of Flanders (1981-92) Gaston Geens dies.

Inam

6

Ireland: Bertie Ahern is reelected prime minister by the Dáil (93-68).

7

Comoros: President Azali Assoumani forms a new government including Souef Mohamed El-Amine as foreign minister and Caabi El-Yachroutu as finance minister.
India: Former chief minister of Mysore (1958-62), lieutenant governor of Pondicherry (1968-72), governor of Orissa (1972-74), and acting president (1977) Basappa Danappa Jatti dies.
Mexico: Former Campeche governor (1961-67) José Ortiz Ávila dies.
Pakistan: Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar offers his resignation, which is accepted on June 14. On June 19 Inam ul-Haq is named minister of state for foreign affairs; he is sworn in on June 22.

Maslov

Russia: Viktor Maslov takes office as head of the administration of Smolensk oblast.

8

Touré

Traoré

Mali: Amadou Toumani Touré is sworn in as president. On June 9 he names Ahmed Mohamed Ag Hamani as prime minister. The new cabinet is named on June 15, including Lassana Traoré as foreign minister, Mahamane Maïga as defense minister, Ousmane Issoufi Maïga as finance minister, and Gen. Kafougouna Koné as interior minister.

9

France: In the first round of parliamentary elections, the Union for the Presidential Majority (UMP) wins 33.3% of the vote, the Socialist Party (PS) 24.2%, the National Front (NF) 11.3%, the Union for French Democracy (UDF) 4.8%, the Communist Party (PCF) 4.8%, and the Greens 4.1%. Turnout is 64.5%. The second round is held June 16, the UMP winning 355 of 577 seats, the PS 140, the UDF 29, the PCF 21, the Radical Party of the Left 7, and the Greens 3. Turnout is 60.7%.
Palestine: In a cabinet reshuffle, President Yasir Arafat names Abdel-Razak Yahya as interior minister and Salam Fayyad as finance minister.
Russia: Former chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian S.F.S.R. (1988-90) Aleksandr Vlasov dies.

10

Burkina Faso: Prime Minister Paramanga Ernest Yonli presents a new government including Jean-Baptiste Compaoré as finance minister. Foreign Minister Youssouf Ouedraogo, Defense Minister Kouamé Lougué, and Security Minister Djibrill Bassolé are retained.

Fall

Guinea: François Lonseny Fall is named as new foreign minister.

11

Chad: Prime Minister Nagoum Yamassoum resigns. On June 12 President Idriss Déby names a new government including Haroun Kabadi as new prime minister. Foreign Minister Mahamat Saleh Annadif, Defense Minister Mahamat Nouri, Finance Minister Idriss Ahmed Idriss, and Interior Minister Abderahman Moussa are retained.

12

Tsekoa

Lesotho: In a cabinet reshuffle, Foreign Minister Tom Thabane becomes home affairs minister and Finance Minister Mohlabi Tsekoa becomes foreign minister.

13

Afghanistan: Hamid Karzai is elected president by the Loya Jirga (grand assembly), winning 1,295 out of 1,575 votes, against 171 for Masooda Jalal and 89 for Mir Mohammad Mahfoz Nadai. On June 19 Karzai is sworn in and presents his new government including Taj Mohammad Wardak as interior minister and Ashraf Ghani as finance minister; Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and Defense Minister Mohammad Fahim are retained. The cabinet is sworn in on June 24.
Madagascar: Mahajanga Governor Étienne Razafindehibe resigns, and the next day forces loyal to President Marc Ravalomanana take control of that province as well as of Toliara. Pierre Tsiranana is installed as governor of Mahajanga on June 15 and Thierry Raveloson as governor of Toliara on June 17.
Russia: Akhmed Malsagov resigns as prime minister of Ingushetia. On June 15 President Murat Zyazikov appoints Sultan Gireyev as acting prime minister.

14

Aitmatov

Kyrgyzstan: A new government is formed including Askar Aitmatov as foreign minister and Bakirdin Subanbekov as interior minister; Defense Minister Esen Topoyev and Finance Minister Bolot Abildayev are retained.

15

Czech Republic: In parliamentary elections held June 14 and 15, the Czech Social Democratic Party wins 30.2% of the vote (70 of 200 seats), the Civic Democratic Party 24.5% (58), the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia 18.5% (41), and the coalition of the Christian Democratic Party-Czech People's Party and the Freedom Union 14.3% (31). Turnout is 58%. President Václav Havel asks Vladimír Spidla to form a new government on June 17.

17

Algeria: Mohamed Terbèche becomes finance minister in a cabinet reshuffle.
Nigeria: Former Adamawa governor (1979-83) Abubakar Barde dies.

19

Peru: Interior Minister Fernando Rospigliosi resigns. On June 21 President Alejandro Toledo swears in Gino Costa as interior minister.

21

Sircar

Bangladesh: President A.Q.M. Badruddoza Chowdhury resigns. Jamiruddin Sircar, the speaker of parliament, becomes acting president.
Germany: Former first secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Potsdam (1952-55, 1957-64) Kurt Seibt dies.

22

Platzeck

Germany: The minister-president of Brandenburg, Manfred Stolpe, announces his resignation. His successor Matthias Platzeck is sworn in on June 26.

23

Cameroon: Interior Minister Ferdinand Koungou Edima is dismissed and replaced by Marafa Hamidou Yaya (acting).
Congo (Brazzaville): In the second round of parliamentary elections, President Denis Sassou-Nguesso's Congolese Labour Party wins 23 seats (for a total of 52 out of 137), his allies 20 (31), the Pan-African Union for Social Development 2 (4), and the Union for Democracy and Republic 4 (6). Turnout is between 40 and 50%.
Ecuador: Finance Minister Carlos Julio Emanuel resigns. Francisco Arosemena takes over as finance minister on June 24.
Russia: Leonid Potapov is reelected president of Buryatia with 68.4% of the vote, against 23.8% for Bato Semyonov.

24

Albania: Parliament elects Alfred Moisiu as president (97-19). He will be sworn in July 24.
Luxembourg: Former prime minister (1959-74, 1979-84) Pierre Werner dies.

25

Brazil: Former governor of Goiás (1987-91) Henrique Santillo dies.
Russia: Dagestan's Constitutional Assembly reelects Magomedali Magomedov as chairman of the State Council with 228 votes against 4 for Atay Aliyev.
San Marino: A new government is named including Augusto Casali as secretary for foreign affairs, Fiorenzo Stolfi as finance secretary, and Emma Rossi as interior secretary.

26

Silva

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries: Venezuelan energy minister Álvaro Silva Calderón is elected as new secretary-general, to take office July 1 and serve out the remaining 18 months of Alí Rodríguez Araque's term.

27

Sama

Togo: President Gnassingbé Eyadéma sacks Prime Minister Agbéyomé Kodjo and names Koffi Sama as new prime minister, who is sworn in on June 29.

28

Morin

France: Elisabeth Morin becomes president of the Regional Council of Poitou-Charentes. Jean-Luc Harousseau is confirmed as president of the Regional Council of Pays de la Loire.

30

Bolivia: In presidential elections, former president Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (Nationalist Revolutionary Movement) wins 22.5% of the vote, followed by Evo Morales (Movement Toward Socialism) with 20.94%, Manfred Reyes Villa (New Republican Force) with 20.91%, and former president Jaime Paz Zamora (Movement of the Revolutionary Left) with 16.3%. Turnout is 63.4%. Congress will choose the president between the two top vote-getters. In parliamentary elections, the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement wins 36 seats in the Chamber of Deputies (11 in the Senate), the Movement to Socialism 27 (8), the Movement of the Revolutionary Left 26 (5), and the New Republican Force 25 (2). Turnout is 66.7%.
Cameroon: In parliamentary elections, President Paul Biya's Cameroon People's Democratic Movement wins 133 of 180 seats, the Social-Democratic Front 21, and the Democratic Union of Cameroon 5.
Guinea: In parliamentary elections, President Lansana Conté's Party of Unity and Progress wins 85 of 114 seats (61.6% of the vote) and the Union for Progress and Revival 20 (26.6%). Turnout is 72.5%.