vips

2002

LETTER N° 10

From 15 to 31 Mach

17
Portugal

Parliamentary election.

However, the close result gave the centre-right Social Democrats only 102 seats in the 230-seat parliament, or 40,12% of the vote, so it will need support of another party to govern the country. The likely coalition partner is the right-wing Popular Party, which captured 14 seats and 8,75% of the vote, giving the two right-wing parties a slim majority in parliament. The Socialists captured 37,85% of the vote and 95 seats in parliament, a loss of 20 seats.

17
Mali

Prime Minister Mande Sidibe resigns. He is replaced by Modibo Keita.

Profile : Born in Bamako on January 13,1953. 1983 Ph D in Social Science from Tübingen University (Germany)(Cum Laude). Specialization : a theory of apprenticeship, didactical, a theory of Science, transference of technologies, of scientific and pedagogical knowledge and savoir-faire. On January 1e , 1984 he served in the Civil Service of Mali cas a Professor of Higher Education to the École Normale Supérieure de Bamako. Oct. 1er, 1986 -Personal leave.From Jan. 1993 to Dec.1994 "Responsible with the Boutique de Gestion, d'Echanges et de Conseils - Promotion de l'Artisanat" within a Program supporting handscraft with a Swiss Cooperation in Mali (launched the Boutique de gestion in Bamako). Jan.1995 Consulting ato the C.E.D, which soons became a grouping of consulting partners.Languages : Bambara, French, German and English.

17
Republic of Tuva

(Russia)

In elections in Tuva, President Sherig-ool Oorzhak receives 53.6% of the vote, followed by Sholban Kara-ool with 21.9% and Aleksandr Kashin with 7.5%. Turnout is 65.6%.

Tuva profile : The Republic of Tyva is located in the middle of Asia, in the southern part of Eastern Siberia. Most of its land lies in the basin of the Upper Yenisei River. It shares borders with Krasnoyarsk and Altai krais, Irkutsk Oblast, the republics of Khakasiya and Buryatiya, and Mongolia. The ethnic Tyvans make up a majority of the republican population (64%), while theRussians are the second largest ethnic group in the republic (32%). Until the 20th century, Tyva used to be a protectorate of neighboring states, and the first Tyvan nation-state, the People's Republic of Tannu-Tuva, was created in 1921. In 1944, it merged with the Soviet Union and became an autonomous oblast within the Russian Federation. By the beginning of the 1950s, the majority of the Tyvans' cattle-breeding homesteads were collectivized, a step that destroyed the people's traditional nomadic life-style.

Oorzhak profile : Before being elected republican president for the first time in March 1992, Oorzhak had 20 years of experience in agricultural management and party work. He was elected to the Russian Federation Congress of People's Deputies in 1990 and to the Federation Council in 1993. He was also a member of Tyvan republican parliament and served as the head of the republican government.

21
Portugal

President Jorge Sampaio asks Social Democrat leader José Manuel Durão Barroso to form the new government.

Profile : Born 23 March 1956. Education : B.L L; Master's degree in political scince. Profession : University professor (on leave). Political career : Deputy State Secretáry to the Minister of Home Administration in the Xth Constitutionnal Government ; State Foreign Secretáy dand for Cooperation in the XI and XIIth Constitutionnal Governments ; Foreign Minister (Nov. 1992 - Oct. 1995) ; MP. in the IV, V, VI and VIIth Legislatures. Chairman of the National Political Commission of the PSD.

25
Sri Lanka

Local council elections - stage 2.

The governing coalition, far ahead in local elections, scored another victory by winning control of eight councils in the eastern Ampara province, ballots showed. Of Sri Lanka's 311 local councils, Wickremesinghe's coalition has won control of 225, while Kumaratunga's party has won four and a Marxist party won one.

25
São Tomé and Príncipe

President Fradique de Menezes names Gabriel Costa prime minister.

Profile : Gabriel Costa, first native to assume such a position.Born on Dec. 11, 1954 , a professionnal lawyer. BL. L and a magistrate educated in France, Gabriel Costa, served as a MP in the first Assembly following the proclaiming of national independênce in 1975, as a representative for the JMLSTP (Juventude Movimento Libertação de São Tomé e Príncipe)(Youth and Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Principe), a polítical right hand for the party of independence's youth, which has been so far ruled by Pinto da Costa. From 1991 to 1995, while he also served as a MP, he assumed the position of Councellor for Legal and Polítical Affairs to President Miguel Trovoada. He kept serving as anadvisor while he assumed the charge of Head of the Cabinet of the President of the Repúblic until 1996.Afterwards he served as a member of the government as the State Minister of Justice, and Administration Reform and Local Administration. After the collapse of the Government of national Unition ruled by the MLSTP/PSD, following the 1998 elections, Gabriel Costa was a lawyer until his nomination in 1998 as a Special Representative of the Executive of the CPLP for Guiné Bissau. In 2000 he was appointed as an ambassador to Portugal, Marroco and Spain.

31
Ukraine

Parliamentary election.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced official results of the proportional vote in which 225 parliamentary mandates were contested. Our Ukraine obtained 23.52 percent of the vote (70 seats), the Communist Party 20.04 percent (59 seats), For a United Ukraine 11.98 percent (36 seats), the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 7.21 percent (21 seats), the Socialist Party 6.93 percent (21 seats), and the Social Democratic Party-united 6.24 percent (18 seats). CEC Chairman Mykhaylo Ryabets said that, according to preliminary results, out of the 225 mandates contested in one-seat constituencies, For a United Ukraine is expected to get 66, Our Ukraine 42, the Communist Party seven, the Social Democratic Party-united five, the Democratic Party-Democratic Union Bloc four, the Socialist Party three, the Party of National Economic Development one, and the Ukrainian Naval Party one, while 93 mandates will go to candidates who ran on an independent ticket.

31
Pahang

(Malaysa)

State election.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's ruling coalition won a state by-election with a dramatically increased majority, indicating growing support from Malaysia's large ethnic Chinese minority. The voting in Pahang state was considered an important test of whether the government has sustained a rebound after losing ground to opponents in 1999, when public anger peaked over the criminal trials of Mahathir's popular ex-deputy Anwar Ibrahim, who is now serving a 15-year prison term. Government-allied Yum Ah Ha from the Gerakan party, a member of the National Front coalition, trounced the opposition candidate by 2,204 votes in Pahang's Ketari constituency, Malaysia's election commission said. Choong Siew Onn of the opposition Democratic Action Party captured less than 5,000 of the 12,251 ballots cast. During the last election in 1999, Gerakan narrowly defeated the Action Party by 231 votes.

31
Nizhnii Novgorod Oblast

(Russia

Legislative elections.

Vladimir Basov, a lecturer at the Volga-Vyatskoi Academy of Government Service, won a State Duma by-election held in a single-mandate district in Nizhnii Novgorod Oblast. Basov won 35.66 percent of the votes, compared to 20.38 percent for his closest competitor Alina Radchenko, the coordinator for the noncommercial partnership for Associations of Entrepreneurial Organizations in Russia in Nizhnii Novgorod Oblast.

17 Portugal		Parliamentary election. However, the close result gave the centre-right Social Democrats only 102 seats in the 230-seat parliament, or 40,12% of the vote, so it will need support of another party to govern the country. The likely coalition partner is the right-wing Popular Party, which captured 14 seats and 8,75% of the vote, giving the two right-wing parties a slim majority in parliament. The Socialists captured 37,85% of the vote and 95 seats in parliament, a loss of 20 seats.
17 Mali		Prime Minister Mande Sidibe resigns. He is replaced by Modibo Keita. Profile : Born in Bamako on January 13,1953. 1983 Ph D in Social Science from Tübingen University (Germany)(Cum Laude). Specialization : a theory of apprenticeship, didactical, a theory of Science, transference of technologies, of scientific and pedagogical knowledge and savoir-faire. On January 1e , 1984 he served in the Civil Service of Mali cas a Professor of Higher Education to the École Normale Supérieure de Bamako. Oct. 1er, 1986 -Personal leave.From Jan. 1993 to Dec.1994 "Responsible with the Boutique de Gestion, d'Echanges et de Conseils - Promotion de l'Artisanat" within a Program supporting handscraft with a Swiss Cooperation in Mali (launched the Boutique de gestion in Bamako). Jan.1995 Consulting ato the C.E.D, which soons became a grouping of consulting partners.Languages : Bambara, French, German and English.
17 Republic of Tuva (Russia)		In elections in Tuva, President Sherig-ool Oorzhak receives 53.6% of the vote, followed by Sholban Kara-ool with 21.9% and Aleksandr Kashin with 7.5%. Turnout is 65.6%. Tuva profile : The Republic of Tyva is located in the middle of Asia, in the southern part of Eastern Siberia. Most of its land lies in the basin of the Upper Yenisei River. It shares borders with Krasnoyarsk and Altai krais, Irkutsk Oblast, the republics of Khakasiya and Buryatiya, and Mongolia. The ethnic Tyvans make up a majority of the republican population (64%), while theRussians are the second largest ethnic group in the republic (32%). Until the 20th century, Tyva used to be a protectorate of neighboring states, and the first Tyvan nation-state, the People's Republic of Tannu-Tuva, was created in 1921. In 1944, it merged with the Soviet Union and became an autonomous oblast within the Russian Federation. By the beginning of the 1950s, the majority of the Tyvans' cattle-breeding homesteads were collectivized, a step that destroyed the people's traditional nomadic life-style. Oorzhak profile : Before being elected republican president for the first time in March 1992, Oorzhak had 20 years of experience in agricultural management and party work. He was elected to the Russian Federation Congress of People's Deputies in 1990 and to the Federation Council in 1993. He was also a member of Tyvan republican parliament and served as the head of the republican government.
21 Portugal		President Jorge Sampaio asks Social Democrat leader José Manuel Durão Barroso to form the new government. Profile : Born 23 March 1956. Education : B.L L; Master's degree in political scince. Profession : University professor (on leave). Political career : Deputy State Secretáry to the Minister of Home Administration in the Xth Constitutionnal Government ; State Foreign Secretáy dand for Cooperation in the XI and XIIth Constitutionnal Governments ; Foreign Minister (Nov. 1992 - Oct. 1995) ; MP. in the IV, V, VI and VIIth Legislatures. Chairman of the National Political Commission of the PSD.
25 Sri Lanka		Local council elections - stage 2. The governing coalition, far ahead in local elections, scored another victory by winning control of eight councils in the eastern Ampara province, ballots showed. Of Sri Lanka's 311 local councils, Wickremesinghe's coalition has won control of 225, while Kumaratunga's party has won four and a Marxist party won one.
25 São Tomé and Príncipe		President Fradique de Menezes names Gabriel Costa prime minister. Profile : Gabriel Costa, first native to assume such a position.Born on Dec. 11, 1954 , a professionnal lawyer. BL. L and a magistrate educated in France, Gabriel Costa, served as a MP in the first Assembly following the proclaiming of national independênce in 1975, as a representative for the JMLSTP (Juventude Movimento Libertação de São Tomé e Príncipe)(Youth and Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Principe), a polítical right hand for the party of independence's youth, which has been so far ruled by Pinto da Costa. From 1991 to 1995, while he also served as a MP, he assumed the position of Councellor for Legal and Polítical Affairs to President Miguel Trovoada. He kept serving as anadvisor while he assumed the charge of Head of the Cabinet of the President of the Repúblic until 1996.Afterwards he served as a member of the government as the State Minister of Justice, and Administration Reform and Local Administration. After the collapse of the Government of national Unition ruled by the MLSTP/PSD, following the 1998 elections, Gabriel Costa was a lawyer until his nomination in 1998 as a Special Representative of the Executive of the CPLP for Guiné Bissau. In 2000 he was appointed as an ambassador to Portugal, Marroco and Spain.
31 Ukraine		Parliamentary election. The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced official results of the proportional vote in which 225 parliamentary mandates were contested. Our Ukraine obtained 23.52 percent of the vote (70 seats), the Communist Party 20.04 percent (59 seats), For a United Ukraine 11.98 percent (36 seats), the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 7.21 percent (21 seats), the Socialist Party 6.93 percent (21 seats), and the Social Democratic Party-united 6.24 percent (18 seats). CEC Chairman Mykhaylo Ryabets said that, according to preliminary results, out of the 225 mandates contested in one-seat constituencies, For a United Ukraine is expected to get 66, Our Ukraine 42, the Communist Party seven, the Social Democratic Party-united five, the Democratic Party-Democratic Union Bloc four, the Socialist Party three, the Party of National Economic Development one, and the Ukrainian Naval Party one, while 93 mandates will go to candidates who ran on an independent ticket.
31 Pahang (Malaysa)		State election. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's ruling coalition won a state by-election with a dramatically increased majority, indicating growing support from Malaysia's large ethnic Chinese minority. The voting in Pahang state was considered an important test of whether the government has sustained a rebound after losing ground to opponents in 1999, when public anger peaked over the criminal trials of Mahathir's popular ex-deputy Anwar Ibrahim, who is now serving a 15-year prison term. Government-allied Yum Ah Ha from the Gerakan party, a member of the National Front coalition, trounced the opposition candidate by 2,204 votes in Pahang's Ketari constituency, Malaysia's election commission said. Choong Siew Onn of the opposition Democratic Action Party captured less than 5,000 of the 12,251 ballots cast. During the last election in 1999, Gerakan narrowly defeated the Action Party by 231 votes.
31 Nizhnii Novgorod Oblast (Russia		Legislative elections. Vladimir Basov, a lecturer at the Volga-Vyatskoi Academy of Government Service, won a State Duma by-election held in a single-mandate district in Nizhnii Novgorod Oblast. Basov won 35.66 percent of the votes, compared to 20.38 percent for his closest competitor Alina Radchenko, the coordinator for the noncommercial partnership for Associations of Entrepreneurial Organizations in Russia in Nizhnii Novgorod Oblast.