vips

LETTER N° 41

From 07 to 13 October

07
Mexico

(Chiapas)

Municipal and local elections. Results :

With 95 percent of the votes counted, the Institutional Revolutionary Party won 72 out of 118 mayorships and 21 of 40 local congressional seats. The leftist Democratic Revolution Party won 20 mayorships and two legislative seats, while the conservative National Action Party of President Vicente Fox, which governs the state of Chiapas, won 11 and one, respectively.

07
Italy

Referendum on giving more powers to the regions. Results :

The Interior Ministry said 64.2 percent of those who cast ballots voting approved the reform, while 35.8 percent rejected it, with all 60,374 precincts reporting. Officials put turnout for the referendum at 34 percent of the 49.4 million people eligible to vote, but no quorum was needed for the results to be valid. Italians were asked to vote for or against a law passed in March in one of the center-left government's final acts before it was ousted by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's conservative coalition. The reform gives Italy's 20 regions additional powers over taxes, education and environmental policy, as well as other areas not reserved for the central state, which controls national police forces, defense, treasury and foreign policy.

07
India

(Gujarat)

Narendra Modi is sworn in as chief minister of Gujarat, following the resignation of Keshubhai Patel.

08
Estonia

Arnold Rüütel takes office as president.

Profile : Arnold Rüütel was born on May 10, 1928, at Saaremaa. After graduating from vocational school of agriculture he began his working career as Head of the Agronomic Department of the Agriculture Division of Saaremaa. In 1957 he started working at the Estonian Institute of Cattle Breeding and Veterinary Science, first, as Head Zootechnician and Director of the Experimental Base of the Institute, and later as the Assistant Director of the Institute. n 1963-1969 he worked as Director of the Tartu Model State Farm. In 1969, Arnold Rüütel was elected the Rector of the Estonian Agricultural Academy. Since 1977, Arnold Rüütel has worked in various high state offices, first in political structures and later in executive and legislative institutions. In 1983 he was elected as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR. In 1991-1992 he was Member of the Constitutional Assembly, and in the elections of 1992, he ran for Presidency and got the votes of 43 per cent of the people. In 1995, at the election of the Riigikogu, the Parliament of the Republic of Estonia, he received the greatest number of votes. In the Riigikogu he was elected as Vice-President of the Riigikogu. Since From 1994 to 2001, Arnold Rüütel was the Chairman of the Right-Centrist Estonian Country People's Party, one of the largest in Estonia. On September 21, 2001, Arnold Rüütel was elected the President of the Republic of Estonia by the Electoral Body.

08
Ethiopia

Parliament in joint session elects Girma Wolde-Giyorgis as president. He takes office the same day.

Lieutenant Girma Wolde Giorgis, who is unknown to much of Ethiopia's population, was unanimously elected by both houses of parliament. Lieutenant Wolde Giorgis, a 76-year-old independent member of parliament and businessman, will replace Dr Negasso Gidada, who has ended his six-year term.

09 - 10
OIC

Qatar hosts OIC foreign ministers

The emergency meeting of the foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Countries wants to produce a document that represents a collective position on President George W. Bush's blueprint for an international coalition to combat terrorism. To win the unreserved and unified cooperation of Islamic countries Washington, accused by the Arabs of blindly favoring Israel to the detriment of the Palestinians, will be expected to become an even-handed broker in fruitful negotiations to end the conflict. The ministers also want a collective position on United Nations Security Council resolution 1373, which requires UN member countries to freeze suspected terrorist bank accounts in their territories. Arab and Muslim states regard the resolution as inadequate because it fails to make a distinction between terrorism and the innate right to resist foreign occupation.

10
Tunisia

Tunisian President Zein al- Abidin Bin Ali made a partial Cabinet reshuffle on the Tunisian government which is headed by Muhammad al-Ghanoushe since November 1999.

According to this reshuffle Naziha Razzouk was appointed the minister of labor and vocational structure in succession to Mrs Faeyza al-Kafi, While Naziha Bin Bader was appointed as a minister for family and women affairs to replace former minister Naziha Razzouk. The reshuffle also covered the ministry of health to be run by al-Habib Bin Mubarak in succession to Abdul Karim al-Zubeidi who was, appointed as a minister for scientific research and technology. Ibrahim al- Bakkari who was a minister of technology and scientific research was appointed as a minister of state at the minister of the industry.

11
Poland

In Warsaw, Polish prime minister-designate Leszek Miller has presented his leftist coalition cabinet made up of the ex-communist social democrats (SLD/UP) and the Peasants' Party (PSL). The new government is assured of a comfortable majority in the Sejm, the Polish parliament: the idea is for the ministers to take the oath of office and start work on October 19.

12
NOBEL

The United Nations and its Secretary-General Kofi Annan won the Nobel Peace Prize today for "their work for a better organized and more peaceful world."

Nobel site

13
Africa Prize

Bishop receives Africa Prize for Leadership

At a ceremony attended by African leaders, Rt. Rev. Bishop Dennis de Jong of Zambia receives Africa's top prize for his HIV/AIDS work. The Bishop, from the Catholic diocese of Lusaka, created the Integrated AIDS Programme in 1993 to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and provide care to those already infected or orphaned from AIDS. This 14th edition of the prize honors leaders in the fight against HIV/AIDS from Tanzania, Zambia, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is guest speaker. The Ugandan leader is the 1998 Africa Prize laureate, and the only African president who has reduced the incidence of HIV/AIDS in his country.

13
Dominican Republic

Top honour for former Dominican Republic president.

A Former Dominican Republic president has been awarded a special medal by its current president. Ninety-two-year-old Juan Bosch has been commended for his achievements and honesty. The Great Ribbon Merit Order was presented by Hipolito Mejia to Mr Bosch's wife, Carmen Quidiello. The medal is one of the country's highest honours and is customarily given to presidents in office. It was the first time the prize has been given to a former president. Mr Bosch is suffering from neurological and respiratory problems. Juan Bosch was elected in 1962 after dictator Rafael Trujillo's assassination. He was ousted a year later by soldiers who accused him of being a communist. He described himself instead as a Marxist. Despite an uprising in 1965 by leftist soldiers who demanded he be restored to power and six bids at becoming president again, Juan Bosch never returned to the presidency, but led several political parties.

VIPS VISITS

11-12
Mexico's Fox Visits Czech Republic

Mexican President Vicente Fox talked here with his Czech counterpart Vaclav Havel Thursday on terrorism and trans-national crime and issues concerning the development of bilateral cooperation. The two heads of state also discussed the establishment of new international order and the construction of world organizations including the United Nations. The two countries signed a treaty on cultural cooperation. After his stay here, Fox will proceed to visit Germany, France, Spain and Italy before attending the October 20-21 summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Shanghai, Chkna.

THIS WEEK'S STORY

October 11, 1962

POPE OPENS VATICAN II

Pope John XXIII convenes an ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church - the first in 92 years. In summoning the ecumenical council - a general meeting of the bishops of the church - the pope hoped to bring spiritual rebirth to Catholicism and cultivate greater unity with the other branches of Christianity.

Pope John reached the papacy from simple, peasant beginnings. Born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli in 1881, he was the son of an Italian tenant farmer. He was ordained a priest in 1904, and worked as a professor, part-time historian, biographer, and diplomat. For the first 54 years of his church career he was known as a good-natured conformist who obediently followed orders, and this reputation had more to do with his steady rise than did his intellectual abilities. As papal envoy to Turkey during World War II, he saved thousands of Jewish lives by helping arrange their escape to Palestine. Roncalli's first high-profile post came in 1944, when he was named papal nuncio to Charles de Gaulle's newly liberated France. It was a delicate post ; Roncalli's predecessor had collaborated with France's Vichy government, leading to a post-occupation backlash against the Catholic leadership in France. Roncalli carried out the assignment with grace and in 1953 was made a cardinal. Although he was popular, few imagined he would ever be elected pope. After Pope Pius XII died in 1958, however, Roncalli was elected leader of the Roman Catholic Church on the 12th ballot. At 77 years of age, he was regarded as an "interim" pope by the Vatican Curia, someone who would follow the status quo for a few years while a younger prelate was bred to succeed him. However, Pope John XXIII soon surprised the Vatican's conservative leadership by taking steps to modernize the church. He met with political and religious leaders from around the world and was the first modern pope to travel freely in Rome, breaking with the tradition that made the pope a "prisoner of the Vatican." He had a warm personality, and spoke with peasants as freely as he did with the foreign dignitaries he invited to Rome. Adored by the Catholic masses, he gradually became a kind of father figure for Catholics around the world. The high point of his reign was the Second Vatican Council, nicknamed Vatican II, which opened on October 11, 1962. In calling the ecumenical council, he sought a "New Pentecost," a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit. He sought reconciliation for the world's divided Christianity and invited Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Protestant observers to attend the proceedings. Pope John XXIII died in June 1963, but the council continued under his successor, Paul VI, until 1965. That year, Pope Paul began the process that could lead to John XXIII's canonization as a saint. In 2000, Pope John Paul II beatified John XXIII, bringing him a step closer to sainthood.

ALSO SEE

Chiefs of State and Heads of Government Foreign Affairs World Parliaments Federated States and Provinces World Governments International Organizations

07 Mexico (Chiapas)		Municipal and local elections. Results : With 95 percent of the votes counted, the Institutional Revolutionary Party won 72 out of 118 mayorships and 21 of 40 local congressional seats. The leftist Democratic Revolution Party won 20 mayorships and two legislative seats, while the conservative National Action Party of President Vicente Fox, which governs the state of Chiapas, won 11 and one, respectively.
07 Italy		Referendum on giving more powers to the regions. Results : The Interior Ministry said 64.2 percent of those who cast ballots voting approved the reform, while 35.8 percent rejected it, with all 60,374 precincts reporting. Officials put turnout for the referendum at 34 percent of the 49.4 million people eligible to vote, but no quorum was needed for the results to be valid. Italians were asked to vote for or against a law passed in March in one of the center-left government's final acts before it was ousted by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's conservative coalition. The reform gives Italy's 20 regions additional powers over taxes, education and environmental policy, as well as other areas not reserved for the central state, which controls national police forces, defense, treasury and foreign policy.
07 India (Gujarat)		Narendra Modi is sworn in as chief minister of Gujarat, following the resignation of Keshubhai Patel.
08 Estonia		Arnold Rüütel takes office as president. Profile : Arnold Rüütel was born on May 10, 1928, at Saaremaa. After graduating from vocational school of agriculture he began his working career as Head of the Agronomic Department of the Agriculture Division of Saaremaa. In 1957 he started working at the Estonian Institute of Cattle Breeding and Veterinary Science, first, as Head Zootechnician and Director of the Experimental Base of the Institute, and later as the Assistant Director of the Institute. n 1963-1969 he worked as Director of the Tartu Model State Farm. In 1969, Arnold Rüütel was elected the Rector of the Estonian Agricultural Academy. Since 1977, Arnold Rüütel has worked in various high state offices, first in political structures and later in executive and legislative institutions. In 1983 he was elected as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR. In 1991-1992 he was Member of the Constitutional Assembly, and in the elections of 1992, he ran for Presidency and got the votes of 43 per cent of the people. In 1995, at the election of the Riigikogu, the Parliament of the Republic of Estonia, he received the greatest number of votes. In the Riigikogu he was elected as Vice-President of the Riigikogu. Since From 1994 to 2001, Arnold Rüütel was the Chairman of the Right-Centrist Estonian Country People's Party, one of the largest in Estonia. On September 21, 2001, Arnold Rüütel was elected the President of the Republic of Estonia by the Electoral Body.
08 Ethiopia		Parliament in joint session elects Girma Wolde-Giyorgis as president. He takes office the same day. Lieutenant Girma Wolde Giorgis, who is unknown to much of Ethiopia's population, was unanimously elected by both houses of parliament. Lieutenant Wolde Giorgis, a 76-year-old independent member of parliament and businessman, will replace Dr Negasso Gidada, who has ended his six-year term.
09 - 10 OIC		Qatar hosts OIC foreign ministers The emergency meeting of the foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Countries wants to produce a document that represents a collective position on President George W. Bush's blueprint for an international coalition to combat terrorism. To win the unreserved and unified cooperation of Islamic countries Washington, accused by the Arabs of blindly favoring Israel to the detriment of the Palestinians, will be expected to become an even-handed broker in fruitful negotiations to end the conflict. The ministers also want a collective position on United Nations Security Council resolution 1373, which requires UN member countries to freeze suspected terrorist bank accounts in their territories. Arab and Muslim states regard the resolution as inadequate because it fails to make a distinction between terrorism and the innate right to resist foreign occupation.
10 Tunisia		Tunisian President Zein al- Abidin Bin Ali made a partial Cabinet reshuffle on the Tunisian government which is headed by Muhammad al-Ghanoushe since November 1999. According to this reshuffle Naziha Razzouk was appointed the minister of labor and vocational structure in succession to Mrs Faeyza al-Kafi, While Naziha Bin Bader was appointed as a minister for family and women affairs to replace former minister Naziha Razzouk. The reshuffle also covered the ministry of health to be run by al-Habib Bin Mubarak in succession to Abdul Karim al-Zubeidi who was, appointed as a minister for scientific research and technology. Ibrahim al- Bakkari who was a minister of technology and scientific research was appointed as a minister of state at the minister of the industry.
11 Poland		In Warsaw, Polish prime minister-designate Leszek Miller has presented his leftist coalition cabinet made up of the ex-communist social democrats (SLD/UP) and the Peasants' Party (PSL). The new government is assured of a comfortable majority in the Sejm, the Polish parliament: the idea is for the ministers to take the oath of office and start work on October 19.
12 NOBEL		The United Nations and its Secretary-General Kofi Annan won the Nobel Peace Prize today for "their work for a better organized and more peaceful world." Nobel site
13 Africa Prize		Bishop receives Africa Prize for Leadership At a ceremony attended by African leaders, Rt. Rev. Bishop Dennis de Jong of Zambia receives Africa's top prize for his HIV/AIDS work. The Bishop, from the Catholic diocese of Lusaka, created the Integrated AIDS Programme in 1993 to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and provide care to those already infected or orphaned from AIDS. This 14th edition of the prize honors leaders in the fight against HIV/AIDS from Tanzania, Zambia, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is guest speaker. The Ugandan leader is the 1998 Africa Prize laureate, and the only African president who has reduced the incidence of HIV/AIDS in his country.
13 Dominican Republic		Top honour for former Dominican Republic president. A Former Dominican Republic president has been awarded a special medal by its current president. Ninety-two-year-old Juan Bosch has been commended for his achievements and honesty. The Great Ribbon Merit Order was presented by Hipolito Mejia to Mr Bosch's wife, Carmen Quidiello. The medal is one of the country's highest honours and is customarily given to presidents in office. It was the first time the prize has been given to a former president. Mr Bosch is suffering from neurological and respiratory problems. Juan Bosch was elected in 1962 after dictator Rafael Trujillo's assassination. He was ousted a year later by soldiers who accused him of being a communist. He described himself instead as a Marxist. Despite an uprising in 1965 by leftist soldiers who demanded he be restored to power and six bids at becoming president again, Juan Bosch never returned to the presidency, but led several political parties.