LETTER N° 11

From 12 to 18 March

12 El Salvador		In parliamentary elections, the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front wins 31 of 84 seats, the Nationalist Republican Alliance 29, the Party of National Conciliation 13, and the Christian Democratic Party 6.
12 Spain		In parliamentary elections, Prime Minister José María Aznar's Popular Party wins 183 of 350 seats (44.6% of the vote), the Socialists 125 (34.1%), the United Left 8 (5.5%), and regional parties 34. Turnout is 70%.
12 Kyrgyzstan		Parliamentary elections - 2nd round.
12 Tajikistan		Tajikistan, Parliamentary elections - 2nd round.
13 Romania		President Emil Constantinescu names Sorin Frunzaverde as defense minister.
13 United States	awaiting	Former New York governor (1973-75) Malcolm Wilson dies.
15 Zanzibar	awaiting	Former Zanzibar president (1985-90) Idris Abdul Wakil dies.
16 Nepal		Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai resigns. Girija Prasad Koirala is appointed prime minister on March 20 and sworn in on March 22. He also takes the defense portfolio, while Chakra Bastola becomes foreign minister, Mahesh Acharya finance minister, and Govinda Raj Joshi home affairs minister.
16 United Kingdom Scotland		Scottish Parliament by election in Ayr constituency. The Conservatives have snatched Ayr from Labour, giving them their first directly-elected seat in the Scottish Parliament. The Tories' candidate John Scott polled 12,580 votes and won with a majority of 3,344. The Scottish National Party came second with 9,236, beating Labour into third place on 7,054 votes.
18 Taiwan		Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party wins presidential elections with 39.3% of the vote, defeating independent James Soong (36.8%) and Lien Chan of the Nationalist Party (23.1%). Turnout is 82.7%. Chen will be sworn in on May 20.