vips

LETTER N° 46

From 11 to 17 November

11
Mexico

Sinaloa state, Municipal and local elections. Results :

The candidates to Mayorship of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) leads with 14 of the 18 municipalities of Sinaloa,according to the last release of the Programa de Resultados Electorales Preliminares (PREP).

11
Mexico

Puebla state, Municipal and local elections. Results :

According to the last release of the Programa de Resultados Electorales Preliminares (PREP), the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) gets 140 municipal presidencies, the PAN 46, the PRD 19, the Partido del Trabajo 2, the PVEM 5 and Convergencia por la Democracia 3.

11
Mexico

Tlaxcala state, Municipal and local elections. Results :

Acccording to the results of the voting in 19 electoral constituencies, the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) will maintain its majority in the local Congress.

11
Mexico

Michoacan state, Gubernatorial, municipal and local elections. Results :

Lazaro Cardenas' triumph could galvanise the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), the struggling leftist party founded by his father. With votes in from 94 percent of polling stations, Cardenas had a comfortable lead with 41.6 percent of the vote. His main rival, Alfredo Anaya of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) that ruled Mexico for seven decades before losing the presidency last year, trailed Cardenas with 36.8 percent.

11
Bulgaria

Presidential election. Results :

Petur Stoyanov and Georgi Purvanov (Socialist) each obtain about 35% of the vote. Turnout is about 39%. A runoff will be held November 18.

11
Guinea

Referendum to allow a third term for President Lansana Conteh. Results :

Some 98 percent of voters at a referendum supported the amendment of Guinea's constitution, while 1.64 per cent said "no", according to the official result. The participation rate reported by the government was 87 percent, media and humanitarian sources said.

Of the six articles submitted to the vote, articles 24 and 89 appeared to be most controversial. Article 24 changes the presidential mandate from five to seven years, with effect from the end of President Lansana Conte's mandate in 2003, and allow presidents to stay in office indefinitely. Article 89, which relates to decentralisation, stipulates that local government officials will be nominated by the president, instead of being elected. This could have a negative impact on relations between Guinea and organisations like the World Bank and the IMF because decentralisation has become an important criteria in their evaluation of financial aid, the diplomat said. Guinea's constitution was last amended in 1993, after 10 years of military rule under Conte who took power after the death of Guinea's first president, Ahmed Sekou Toure.

12
Australia

The Assembly of the Australian Capital Territory elects Labor leader Jon Stanhope as new chief minister.

Profile : Born 29 April 1951, Gundagai, N.S.W. Education : Bachelor of Laws, ANU. Previous Experience : Senior Adviser (Native Title) to Federal Labor Leader, Kim Beazley. Senior Adviser and Chief of Staff in the last Federal Parliament to Attorney General Michael Lavarch. Deputy Administrator and Official Secretary of Norfolk Island. Secretary of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. Legal officer for 15 years in various Commonwealth departments. Married to Robyn, a palliative care nurse, for 25 years. Three adult sons and a teenage daughter.

12
Ukraine

Volodymyr Shkidchenko is named as new defense minister.

Profile : Born on January 1 1948 in Chita, in a military servicemen's family. Ukrainian. In 1966 graduated from a High School in Belgorod-Dnistovskyi, Odesa Military District. From 1966 till 1970 studied at Moscow Physics Technical Institute. Services at following posts : 02.1970-07.1972 &endash; Cadet of Odesa Higher Artillery Command Military School named after M.V. Frunze. 07.1972-09.1972 - Fire Platoon Leader. 09.1972-09.1973 - Artillery Battery Commander. 09.1973-02.1975 - Chief of Staff &endash; Deputy Artillery Division Commander 02.1975-08.1976 - Artillery Division Commander. 08.1976-06.1979 - Student of Military Academy named M.V. Frunze. 06.1979-04.1983 - Deputy Commander of Motor Rifle Division Commander 04.1983-01.1985 - Strengthened Area. Commandeer 01.1985-07.1986 - Chief of Staff - Deputy Division Commander. 07.1986-07.1988 &endash; Student of SA General HQ Military Commander named after K.Ye. Voroshylov. 07.1988-12.1991 - Motor Rifle Division Commander. 12.1991-03.1992 - First Deputy of Army Commander. In UKR Armed Forces : 03.1992-07.1993 &endash; Commander of Army. 07.1993-12.1993 - First Deputy Chief of Main Staff , UKR AF 12.1993-02.1998 - Commander of Odesa Military District troops. 02.1998-09.1998 - Commander of Southern Operational Command. Since 30. 09.1998 - Chief of General Staff, UKR AF - First Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Awarded the decoration of the President of Ukraine "Order of Bohdan Khmelnyts'kyi", 2nd 3rd grade. Married to Shkidchenko (Okhramovych) Nataliya Anatoliyivna. Lives in Kyiv.

12
Somalia

President Abdiqasim Salad Hassan appoints Hassan Abshir Farah as new prime minister.

Profile : Mr. Farah was born in Nugaal region on June 20, 1945. He went on to the Cairo Military Academy for three years, where he graduated as an officer in 1967. He holds law degree from the Somali National University. He speaks Somali, Arabic, Italian and English languages. In addition to his life-long commitment to public service, H.E Hassan Abshir Farah is a known enthusiast of sport - particularly football (Soccer) and basketball. He enjoys playing tennis and reading books. H.E Hassan Abshir Farah is married with five children. The new Prime Minister has extensive experience in both the political and the security affairs of the Horn of Africa region. In the early seventies and mid-eighties he served as the Mayor of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. During this period, he also served as a Governor of Bakol and Middle Shabelle regions. In diplomatic posts, he served as an ambassador to Japan and Germany and non-residence ambassador to Korea and Austria. In 1998 he was the co-sponsor of the Puntland constitutional conference, which facilitated the creation of the Puntland State of Somalia and later became the Minister of Internal affairs and Security for the Puntland State until May 17, 2000, when he resigned his post. On June 15, 2000 he was elected as the Chairman of the Internationally sponsored Somali Peace Conference in the neighboring Djibouti, which resulted the formation of the Somali Transitional Government. He was the Minister of Mineral Resources and Water for the previous Transitional Government.

13
Bahamas

Dame Ivy Dumont becomes acting governor-general after Sir Orville Alton Turnquest retired from the office.

Profile : Born on October 2, 1930, at Rose's Long Island, Dame Ivy received her early education at Roses' and Buckley's, Long Island. She attended the Government High School in New Providence from 1942 to 1948, furthering her education by attending a number of well-accredited institutions of higher learning. She achieved high standards in education and also basic accounting and personnel administration. She served as deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Works and Utilities from 1975 to 1978. Dame Ivy served eight years as a Cabinet Minister in the Free National Movement administration, first appointed on Aug. 24, 1992 as Minister of Health and Environment, and in 1997 she was placed in charge of the Ministry of Education and Youth. She is married to Reginald Dean Dumont, a retired police officer and prices control inspector. They have two children, Cheddi and Edda.

14
Bangladesh

Professor A.Q.M. Badruddoza Chowdhury founding secretary-general of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was sworn-in as Bangladesh's 13th President. Chowdhury, who was Foreign Minister in the newly-formed government led by Begum Khaleda Zia, was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice Mahmudul Amin Chowdhury at an impressive ceremony held at the Darbar Hall of the Bangabhavan, the Presidential Palace.

14
Somalia

Jama Ali Jama is elected and immediately sworn in as president of Puntland.

The general conference of the constituent regions of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, on elected a new president. The conference, which has been in session in Garowe, the regional capital, since 26 August, elected Jama Ali Jama, as Puntland's new president, Ugas Bashir Ugas Abdi, one of the traditional elders attending the conference, said. Ahmad Mahmud Gunle was elected as vice-president, Ugas Bashir said.

Jama Ali Jama is a former army colonel who spent time in the jails of the late dictator, Muhammad Siyad Barre, for his communist links. A member of the Usman Mahmud sub-clan of the dominant Majerten clan, he originates from Qardo, in Bari Region of Puntland. The contest which had been expected to go into three rounds if no candidate got 235 votes from the 468 delegates, ended in the first round, Ugas Bashir said. "We were surprised by Ali Jama's strength. He got 283 votes in the first round, making him the outright winner." Ugas Bashir told IRIN that the election of Ali Jama was "a new beginning for Puntland, and marks the end of the confusion that hung over us in the past four months".

15
Russia

Moscow, City Duma election. Results : Next week.

15
Georgia

Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze had directed the new staff of the government to parliament for affirmation, several hours before expiration of the term envisaged by the Constitution of the country. The President proposes to affirm the country's government in the following composition : State Minister - Levan Dzneladze, Defense Minister - David Tevzadze, Minister of State Security - Valery Khaburzania, Interior Minister - Koba Narchemashvili, Foreign Minister - Irakli Menagarishvili ; Justice Minister - Roland Giligashvili Finance Minister - Zurab Nogaideli, Minister of Economy, Industry and Trading - George Gachechiladze, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources - Nino Chkhobadze, Minister of the State Property Management - George Pruidze, Minister of Tax Income - Zurab Soselia, Minister of Agriculture and Food - David Kirvalidze, Minister of Urbanization and Building - Merab Chkhenkeli, Minister of Fuel and Energy - David Mirtskhulava, Minister of Transport and Communications - Merab Adeishvili, Minister of Special Affairs - Malkhaz Kakabadze, the Minister of Culture - Sesili Gogiberidze, Minister of Refugees Affairs and Settlement - Valery Vashakidze, Minister of Education - Alexander Kartozia, Minister of Labor, Healthcare and Social Affairs - Avtandil Dzhorbenadze. The discussion of the new government would begin in parliament next week.

16
Germany

Chancellor Gerhard Schröder wins a confidence vote in the Bundestag (336-326).

Schroeder won a parliamentary confidence vote with 336 votes, just two more than the minimum of 334 he needed, after a number of pacifist rebels from his junior coalition partner, the Greens, backed down and reluctantly supported him. Schroeder had called the vote in a gamble to ensure he got majority backing from his own coalition to support the United States with up to 3,900 troops - a central plank of his policy to give Germany a bigger world role. The crisis was sparked by Germany's constitutional obligation to request parliament's approval for troop deployments, a legacy of its militaristic past.

17
Kosovo

Provincial general election. Results :

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which organized and monitored balloting, says overall voter turnout was 65 percent for ethnic Albanians and 46 percent for Serbs living in Kosovo. The organization says 57 percent of the voters cast ballots in Serbia and Montenego. Preliminary data shows the Democratic League of Kosovo has won about 50 percent of the vote. Authorities say official results could be released Monday.

Under the authority of the U.N. Kosovo mission, the 120-member assembly will choose a president and form a provincial government. The elections generated tension between Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority and Serbs. Ethnic Albanian nationalists have said the assembly is a first step toward independence for Kosovo.

17
South Africa

Former Western Cape Premier Gerald Morkel was unanimously elected provincial Democratic Alliance leader at the party's founding congress in Stellenbosch.

Profile : Born : 03 February 1941, Hatfield, Cape Town. Political career : Member of Parliament, Retreat Constituency (1984). Spokesperson for the Labour Party on Environmental Affairs, as well as Public Works and Planning (1984). Re-elected as Member of Parliament, Retreat Constituency (1989). Chairperson of the Labour Party, Peninsula region (1988-1991). Resigned as Member of the Labour Party and joined the National Party (June 1991). Member of the Executive Council of the National Party, Cape Province (1991). Minister of Budgetary and Auxiliary Services in the Ministers' Council, portfolio later also included Housing and Agriculture (3 February 1992). MEC of Housing, Western Cape Provincial Government (April 1994 elections). Leader of the House, Western Cape Provincial Government (1994-1998). MEC of Police Services, Western Cape Provincial Government (1 April 1996) Re-appointed MEC of Community Safety, Western Cape Provincial Government (January 1998). Portfolio of Environmental Affairs incorporated (16 February 1998). Leader of the National Party, Western Cape (23 April 1998) Premier of the Western Cape Provincial Government since1998.

THIS WEEK'S STORY

November 17, 1839

La Scala 1850

Verdi's first Opera Opens

Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi's first opera, Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio, debuts in Milan. The premiere was held at La Scala, Italy's most prestigious theater. Oberto was received favorably, and the next day the composer was commissioned by Bartolomeo Merelli, the impresario at La Scala, to write three more operas. In 1842, after some personal and professional setbacks, the opera Nabucco made Verdi an overnight celebrity. He would go on to compose such classic operas as Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, La Traviata, Aïda, and Otello.

Giuseppe Verdi was born in Le Roncole in the former duchy of Parma in 1813. His father was a tavern keeper and grocer, and Verdi demonstrated a natural gift for music early. He studied music in the neighboring town of Busseto and at the age of 18 was sent to Milan by a sponsor to enter the Milan Conservatory. He was rejected for being overage but stayed in Milan and studied under Vincenzo Lavigna, a composer and former harpsichordist at La Scala. In 1834, Verdi returned to Busseto and became musical director of the Philharmonic Society. Five years later, Verdi, at 26 years of age, saw his first opera debut at La Scala, the finest theater in Italy. Oberto was followed by Un giorno di regno (King for a Day, 1840), a comic opera that was a critical and commercial failure. Verdi, lamenting its poor reception and also the recent deaths of his wife and two children, decided to give up composing. A year later, however, the director of La Scala convinced him to write an opera based on the story of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II. Nabucco (1842) was a sensational success, followed by I Lombardi (The Lombards, 1843) and Ernani (1844). Rigoletto (1851) is considered his first masterpiece, and Il Trovatore (The Troubadour, 1853) and La Traviata (The Fallen Woman, 1853) brought him international fame and cemented his reputation as a major composer of opera. Verdi's melodic and dramatic style was further developed in Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball, 1859) and La forza del destino (The Power of Destiny, 1862). Aïda (1871), commissioned by the khedive of Egypt and first performed in Cairo, is his most famous work. Late expressions of his genius are Otello (Othello, 1887), completed at age 73, and Falstaff, which premiered in 1893 when Verdi was 80. Falstaff was Verdi's last opera and is considered one of the greatest comic operas. Verdi died in Milan in 1901. He was greatly honored in his lifetime and is credited with transforming Italian opera into true musical drama.

ALSO SEE

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

11 Mexico		Sinaloa state, Municipal and local elections. Results : The candidates to Mayorship of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) leads with 14 of the 18 municipalities of Sinaloa,according to the last release of the Programa de Resultados Electorales Preliminares (PREP).
11 Mexico		Puebla state, Municipal and local elections. Results : According to the last release of the Programa de Resultados Electorales Preliminares (PREP), the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) gets 140 municipal presidencies, the PAN 46, the PRD 19, the Partido del Trabajo 2, the PVEM 5 and Convergencia por la Democracia 3.
11 Mexico		Tlaxcala state, Municipal and local elections. Results : Acccording to the results of the voting in 19 electoral constituencies, the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) will maintain its majority in the local Congress.
11 Mexico		Michoacan state, Gubernatorial, municipal and local elections. Results : Lazaro Cardenas' triumph could galvanise the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), the struggling leftist party founded by his father. With votes in from 94 percent of polling stations, Cardenas had a comfortable lead with 41.6 percent of the vote. His main rival, Alfredo Anaya of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) that ruled Mexico for seven decades before losing the presidency last year, trailed Cardenas with 36.8 percent.
11 Bulgaria		Presidential election. Results : Petur Stoyanov and Georgi Purvanov (Socialist) each obtain about 35% of the vote. Turnout is about 39%. A runoff will be held November 18.
11 Guinea		Referendum to allow a third term for President Lansana Conteh. Results : Some 98 percent of voters at a referendum supported the amendment of Guinea's constitution, while 1.64 per cent said "no", according to the official result. The participation rate reported by the government was 87 percent, media and humanitarian sources said. Of the six articles submitted to the vote, articles 24 and 89 appeared to be most controversial. Article 24 changes the presidential mandate from five to seven years, with effect from the end of President Lansana Conte's mandate in 2003, and allow presidents to stay in office indefinitely. Article 89, which relates to decentralisation, stipulates that local government officials will be nominated by the president, instead of being elected. This could have a negative impact on relations between Guinea and organisations like the World Bank and the IMF because decentralisation has become an important criteria in their evaluation of financial aid, the diplomat said. Guinea's constitution was last amended in 1993, after 10 years of military rule under Conte who took power after the death of Guinea's first president, Ahmed Sekou Toure.
12 Australia		The Assembly of the Australian Capital Territory elects Labor leader Jon Stanhope as new chief minister. Profile : Born 29 April 1951, Gundagai, N.S.W. Education : Bachelor of Laws, ANU. Previous Experience : Senior Adviser (Native Title) to Federal Labor Leader, Kim Beazley. Senior Adviser and Chief of Staff in the last Federal Parliament to Attorney General Michael Lavarch. Deputy Administrator and Official Secretary of Norfolk Island. Secretary of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. Legal officer for 15 years in various Commonwealth departments. Married to Robyn, a palliative care nurse, for 25 years. Three adult sons and a teenage daughter.
12 Ukraine		Volodymyr Shkidchenko is named as new defense minister. Profile : Born on January 1 1948 in Chita, in a military servicemen's family. Ukrainian. In 1966 graduated from a High School in Belgorod-Dnistovskyi, Odesa Military District. From 1966 till 1970 studied at Moscow Physics Technical Institute. Services at following posts : 02.1970-07.1972 &endash; Cadet of Odesa Higher Artillery Command Military School named after M.V. Frunze. 07.1972-09.1972 - Fire Platoon Leader. 09.1972-09.1973 - Artillery Battery Commander. 09.1973-02.1975 - Chief of Staff &endash; Deputy Artillery Division Commander 02.1975-08.1976 - Artillery Division Commander. 08.1976-06.1979 - Student of Military Academy named M.V. Frunze. 06.1979-04.1983 - Deputy Commander of Motor Rifle Division Commander 04.1983-01.1985 - Strengthened Area. Commandeer 01.1985-07.1986 - Chief of Staff - Deputy Division Commander. 07.1986-07.1988 &endash; Student of SA General HQ Military Commander named after K.Ye. Voroshylov. 07.1988-12.1991 - Motor Rifle Division Commander. 12.1991-03.1992 - First Deputy of Army Commander. In UKR Armed Forces : 03.1992-07.1993 &endash; Commander of Army. 07.1993-12.1993 - First Deputy Chief of Main Staff , UKR AF 12.1993-02.1998 - Commander of Odesa Military District troops. 02.1998-09.1998 - Commander of Southern Operational Command. Since 30. 09.1998 - Chief of General Staff, UKR AF - First Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Awarded the decoration of the President of Ukraine "Order of Bohdan Khmelnyts'kyi", 2nd 3rd grade. Married to Shkidchenko (Okhramovych) Nataliya Anatoliyivna. Lives in Kyiv.
12 Somalia		President Abdiqasim Salad Hassan appoints Hassan Abshir Farah as new prime minister. Profile : Mr. Farah was born in Nugaal region on June 20, 1945. He went on to the Cairo Military Academy for three years, where he graduated as an officer in 1967. He holds law degree from the Somali National University. He speaks Somali, Arabic, Italian and English languages. In addition to his life-long commitment to public service, H.E Hassan Abshir Farah is a known enthusiast of sport - particularly football (Soccer) and basketball. He enjoys playing tennis and reading books. H.E Hassan Abshir Farah is married with five children. The new Prime Minister has extensive experience in both the political and the security affairs of the Horn of Africa region. In the early seventies and mid-eighties he served as the Mayor of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. During this period, he also served as a Governor of Bakol and Middle Shabelle regions. In diplomatic posts, he served as an ambassador to Japan and Germany and non-residence ambassador to Korea and Austria. In 1998 he was the co-sponsor of the Puntland constitutional conference, which facilitated the creation of the Puntland State of Somalia and later became the Minister of Internal affairs and Security for the Puntland State until May 17, 2000, when he resigned his post. On June 15, 2000 he was elected as the Chairman of the Internationally sponsored Somali Peace Conference in the neighboring Djibouti, which resulted the formation of the Somali Transitional Government. He was the Minister of Mineral Resources and Water for the previous Transitional Government.
13 Bahamas		Dame Ivy Dumont becomes acting governor-general after Sir Orville Alton Turnquest retired from the office. Profile : Born on October 2, 1930, at Rose's Long Island, Dame Ivy received her early education at Roses' and Buckley's, Long Island. She attended the Government High School in New Providence from 1942 to 1948, furthering her education by attending a number of well-accredited institutions of higher learning. She achieved high standards in education and also basic accounting and personnel administration. She served as deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Works and Utilities from 1975 to 1978. Dame Ivy served eight years as a Cabinet Minister in the Free National Movement administration, first appointed on Aug. 24, 1992 as Minister of Health and Environment, and in 1997 she was placed in charge of the Ministry of Education and Youth. She is married to Reginald Dean Dumont, a retired police officer and prices control inspector. They have two children, Cheddi and Edda.
14 Bangladesh		Professor A.Q.M. Badruddoza Chowdhury founding secretary-general of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was sworn-in as Bangladesh's 13th President. Chowdhury, who was Foreign Minister in the newly-formed government led by Begum Khaleda Zia, was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice Mahmudul Amin Chowdhury at an impressive ceremony held at the Darbar Hall of the Bangabhavan, the Presidential Palace.
14 Somalia		Jama Ali Jama is elected and immediately sworn in as president of Puntland. The general conference of the constituent regions of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, on elected a new president. The conference, which has been in session in Garowe, the regional capital, since 26 August, elected Jama Ali Jama, as Puntland's new president, Ugas Bashir Ugas Abdi, one of the traditional elders attending the conference, said. Ahmad Mahmud Gunle was elected as vice-president, Ugas Bashir said. Jama Ali Jama is a former army colonel who spent time in the jails of the late dictator, Muhammad Siyad Barre, for his communist links. A member of the Usman Mahmud sub-clan of the dominant Majerten clan, he originates from Qardo, in Bari Region of Puntland. The contest which had been expected to go into three rounds if no candidate got 235 votes from the 468 delegates, ended in the first round, Ugas Bashir said. "We were surprised by Ali Jama's strength. He got 283 votes in the first round, making him the outright winner." Ugas Bashir told IRIN that the election of Ali Jama was "a new beginning for Puntland, and marks the end of the confusion that hung over us in the past four months".
15 Russia		Moscow, City Duma election. Results : Next week.
15 Georgia		Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze had directed the new staff of the government to parliament for affirmation, several hours before expiration of the term envisaged by the Constitution of the country. The President proposes to affirm the country's government in the following composition : State Minister - Levan Dzneladze, Defense Minister - David Tevzadze, Minister of State Security - Valery Khaburzania, Interior Minister - Koba Narchemashvili, Foreign Minister - Irakli Menagarishvili ; Justice Minister - Roland Giligashvili Finance Minister - Zurab Nogaideli, Minister of Economy, Industry and Trading - George Gachechiladze, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources - Nino Chkhobadze, Minister of the State Property Management - George Pruidze, Minister of Tax Income - Zurab Soselia, Minister of Agriculture and Food - David Kirvalidze, Minister of Urbanization and Building - Merab Chkhenkeli, Minister of Fuel and Energy - David Mirtskhulava, Minister of Transport and Communications - Merab Adeishvili, Minister of Special Affairs - Malkhaz Kakabadze, the Minister of Culture - Sesili Gogiberidze, Minister of Refugees Affairs and Settlement - Valery Vashakidze, Minister of Education - Alexander Kartozia, Minister of Labor, Healthcare and Social Affairs - Avtandil Dzhorbenadze. The discussion of the new government would begin in parliament next week.
16 Germany		Chancellor Gerhard Schröder wins a confidence vote in the Bundestag (336-326). Schroeder won a parliamentary confidence vote with 336 votes, just two more than the minimum of 334 he needed, after a number of pacifist rebels from his junior coalition partner, the Greens, backed down and reluctantly supported him. Schroeder had called the vote in a gamble to ensure he got majority backing from his own coalition to support the United States with up to 3,900 troops - a central plank of his policy to give Germany a bigger world role. The crisis was sparked by Germany's constitutional obligation to request parliament's approval for troop deployments, a legacy of its militaristic past.
17 Kosovo		Provincial general election. Results : The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which organized and monitored balloting, says overall voter turnout was 65 percent for ethnic Albanians and 46 percent for Serbs living in Kosovo. The organization says 57 percent of the voters cast ballots in Serbia and Montenego. Preliminary data shows the Democratic League of Kosovo has won about 50 percent of the vote. Authorities say official results could be released Monday. Under the authority of the U.N. Kosovo mission, the 120-member assembly will choose a president and form a provincial government. The elections generated tension between Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority and Serbs. Ethnic Albanian nationalists have said the assembly is a first step toward independence for Kosovo.
17 South Africa		Former Western Cape Premier Gerald Morkel was unanimously elected provincial Democratic Alliance leader at the party's founding congress in Stellenbosch. Profile : Born : 03 February 1941, Hatfield, Cape Town. Political career : Member of Parliament, Retreat Constituency (1984). Spokesperson for the Labour Party on Environmental Affairs, as well as Public Works and Planning (1984). Re-elected as Member of Parliament, Retreat Constituency (1989). Chairperson of the Labour Party, Peninsula region (1988-1991). Resigned as Member of the Labour Party and joined the National Party (June 1991). Member of the Executive Council of the National Party, Cape Province (1991). Minister of Budgetary and Auxiliary Services in the Ministers' Council, portfolio later also included Housing and Agriculture (3 February 1992). MEC of Housing, Western Cape Provincial Government (April 1994 elections). Leader of the House, Western Cape Provincial Government (1994-1998). MEC of Police Services, Western Cape Provincial Government (1 April 1996) Re-appointed MEC of Community Safety, Western Cape Provincial Government (January 1998). Portfolio of Environmental Affairs incorporated (16 February 1998). Leader of the National Party, Western Cape (23 April 1998) Premier of the Western Cape Provincial Government since1998.