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LETTER N° 2

From 07 to 13 of January

07

Senegal

Constitutional referendum. Result : Turn out was about 66%. Senegalese voters, massively voted yes. Within a few days, after the promulgation of the new Constitution, president Abdoulaye Wade will have full powers to decide about the fate of the country. As far as jurists are concerned, Senegal will thus go go through an exceptional phasis corresponding to a " time of constitutional dictatorship in today's Law States ".As a matter of fact in 1962, former president Léopold Sedar Senghor called for an identical process in order to restore his authority which Mamadou Dia had jeopardized.

07

Ghana

John Agyekum Kufuor takes office as president.

He was City Manager and Chief Legal Officer of the Kumasi City Council from 1967 to 1969. He was a member of the Constituent Assembly that wrote the 1969 Second Republican Constitution and the Progress Party's parliamentarian for Atwima Nwabiaga constituency. He was appointed the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government the late Dr Kofi Abrefa Busia. He was again a member of the Constituent Assembly that wrote the 1979 Third Republican Constitution. He entered parliament for the Atwima Nwabiaga constituency on the ticket of the Popular Front Party (PFP).

07

Lebanon

Former president Charles Hélou dies.

Charles Hélou (1911&endash; 2001), Lebanese political leader. After working as a newspaper publisher, he was appointed (1947) Lebanon's representative to the Vatican. He served (1954&endash;55) as minister of justice and health in the government of Camille Chamoun. Helou served as Lebanon's president from 1964 to 1970.

08

Northern Mariana Islands

Commonwealth Day (8 January 1978).

08

United States

Bob Holden (democrat) is inaugurated as governor of Missouri.

Born in Kansas City on August 24, 1949, Bob Holden grew up on a farm in south central Missouri near Birch Tree. In 1973, he graduated from Southwest Missouri State University with a degree in political science.

09

Belgium

Former prime minister (1966-68, 1978-79) Paul Vanden Boeynants dies.

Paul Vanden Boeynants was born on 22 May 1919 in the Brussels' municipality of Forest. He was active in the meat industry. From 1949 to 1979 he was a P.S.C. representative (Brussels district), then still a unitarian party. He was chairman of the party from 1961 to 1966. He has been Minister of the Self-employed several times. From 1966 to 1968 he was Prime Minister.also led the department of National Defence from 1972 to 1979. From October 1978 to the beginning of April 1979 he was Prime Minister of the government that ultimately resigned from office. On 8 October 1979 he was elected chairman of the P.S.C. and stayed at the head of the party until 1981. Paul Vanden Boeynants, named "VDB" by the journalists, became Minister of State in 1969. In 1995 he decided to leave politics.

09

Germany


Andrea Fischer Health Minister resigned amid persistent allegations that she mishandled the country's growing mad cow disease crisis.

 

 

 

 

Agriculture Minister Karl-Heinz Funke also was to resign, government sources said on condition of anonymity.

09

Germany

Chancellor Schroeder designated the green party boss Renate Kuenast as a successor of Secretary of Agriculture Karl-Heinz Spark (SPD), at the same time appointed the deputy SPD faction leader Ulla Schmidt as the new health minister.

10

Serbia

(Republika Srpska)

President Plavsic was the Dean of the Department of Biology at the University of Sarajevo. From 1990-1992, she was a member of Bosnia-Hercegovina's collective presidency. In March of 1992, after the Croats and Muslims declared independence from Yugoslavia, she visited the Serb village of Sijekovac in Posavina (Northern Bosnia). During this time it was attack by joint Croat and Muslim units, where a dozen Serbs were killed, the first massacre of Serbs in the civil war. She visited despite the on-going attacks and was labeled the "Iron Lady". In April of 1992, she left the collective presidency and became one of the two Vice Presidents of Republika Srpska. After President Karadzic resigned from the presidency of Republika Srpska in July of 1996, he was succeeded by Dr. Plavsic and has remained in the office since then.

Biljana Plasvic, has voluntarily surrendered to the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. She is still convinced of her innocence. If past ICTY trials are anything to go by, it may be a long time before a decision emerges.

11

Ghana

New Ministers appointed in Ghana.Hackman Owusu-Agyemang as foreign minister, Yaw Osafo Maado as finance minister, Alhaji Malik Yakubu Alhassan as interior minister, and Kwame Add-Kufuor as defense minister.

11

Canada

(Quebec)

Quebec Prime Minister Lucien Bouchard resigns. Premier since January 29, 1996 Bouchard was born on December 22, 1938 in Saint-Coeur-de-Marie, Lake-Saint-Jean, Quebec. Studied arts in de Jonquière College and obtained in 1959, a degree of arts(Baccalauréat ès arts). In 1964, obtained a B.A degree in Social Sciences and a B.LL (Law)in Laval University and gets admission to Quebec Bar.

11

Brazil

Foreign Minister Luiz Felipe Palmeira Lampreia resigns ; President Fernando Henrique Cardoso appoints Luiz Felipe Seixas Correia as acting foreign minister.

12

Peru

Two Peruvian cabinet ministers resigned on from the interim government in a show of neutrality ahead of April elections aimed at ending a year-long political crisis. Minister of the Presidency Juan Inchaustegui and Minister Luis Ortegas Minister of Transportation.

13

Serbie

(Republika Srpska)

Parliament confirms Mladen Ivanic as prime minister (61-15). Ivanic was born on September 1, 1958 in Sanski Most, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Leader of RS Party of Democratic Progress.

13

Serbie

(Republika Srpska)

Prime Minister Mladen Ivanic appointed Fuad Turalic as Minister Foreign Trade. It is the first time a Muslim has been appointed to a cabinet post in the government of the Serb part of Bosnia-Hercegovina, Republika Srpska (RS).

13

Group of 77

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for active participation of the group of developing countries in international meetings. Annan made the remark while addressing a ceremony held on the occasion of Iran's assumption of the chairmanship of the Group of 77 (G77). Terming the G77 as an important body, the secretary-general expressed his satisfaction with the Islamic Republic's assumption of chairmanship over the group. The new chairman is Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Kamal Kharrazi.