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LETTER N° 46

From 12 to 18 of November

12
Czech Republic

Senate and regional elections. Results : The Social Democrats (CSSD), who have run the country since 1998 under a tenuous agreement with the opposition Civic Democrats (ODS), were thumped on Nov. 13 when only five of the party's candidates madeit to runoffs in first-round voting for 27 Senate seats, a third of the upper house total. By contrast, the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia, capitalizing on widespread voter disaffection, sent eight candidates to the second round. The biggest winners were the ODS, considered the nation's most popular party, with 18 candidates, and the increasingly popular four-party coalition, a center-right group, with19.

12
Mexico

(Jalisco)

Gubernatorial election. Result : PAN's (National Action Party)Francisco Ramirez Acuna is the new governor elected in Jalisco por the next 6-year-term 2001-2007, ahead with 53, 641 votes of PRI's candidate Jorge Arana.

12
India

Election for the Congress Party's presidency. Results : Indian opposition leader Sonia Gandhi has been comfortably re-elected as the president of the Congress party. Ms Gandhi - the widow of India's former prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi - won 7,448 votes out of the 7,771 votes polled by the party's national electoral college.

12
India

(Jharkhand)

The new state of Jharkhand is created from part of Bihar. Prabhat Kumar becomes governor and Babu Lal Marandi chief minister.

16
Germany

Germany's Transport Minister Reinhard Klimmt resigns.

16
Gambia

Municipal elections. Results : no results avalaible.

16
Mali

(ECOWAS/CEDEAO)

Malian Chief of State Alpha Oumar Konaré, has launched in Bamako, the first Parliament of the Economic Comunity of West African States (ECOWAS -Economic Community Of West African States), with executive secretary of the organization Lansana Kouyaté. The ECOWAS MPs will have to think up the rules of this 120 -member Parliament and to elect a comittee.

16
Slovenia

Parliament approves Janez Drnovsek as prime minister.

18
Papua New Guinea

Parliamentary and gubernatorial byelections in East New Britain for two leaders to represent them in Parliament for the remainder of this electoral term. The by-elections were prompted by the death of Pomio M. Alois Koki in August this year and the subsequent resignation of his brother, East New Britain Governor Francis Koimanrea, to contest the vacancy. Polling ends on December 2.

18
Latvia

National holiday : Independence Day (18 November 1918)

The region had been dominated since the time of the Livonian knights by German merchants, settled there by the Hanseatic League, and by a German landowning aristocracy, which reduced the Letts to servitude. Under the Russian regime these German "Baltic barons" retained their power, and German remained the official language until 1885, when it was replaced by Russian. Between 1817 and 1819 the serfs were emancipated, and in the middle of the 19th cent. a national revival began. By the end of the 19th cent. there was great agricultural and industrial prosperity. In the Russian Revolution of 1905 the Letts played a prominent role, and bloody reprisals were meted out. Latvia was devastated in World War I, but the collapse of Russia and Germany made Latvian independence possible in 1918. Soviet troops and German volunteer bands were expelled. Peace with Russia followed in 1920.

18
Oman

National holiday : National Day (8 November 1940)

Much of the coast of Oman was controlled by Portugal from 1508 to 1659, when the Ottoman Empire took possession. The Ottoman Turks were driven out in 1741 by Ahmad ibn Said of Yemen, who founded the present royal line. In the late 18th cent., Oman began its close ties with Great Britain, which still continue. In the early 19th cent., Oman was the most powerful state in Arabia, controlling Zanzibar and much of the coast of Iran and Baluchistan. Zanzibar was lost in 1856, and the last Omani hold on the Baluchistan coast, Gwadar, was ceded to Pakistan in 1958. The sultan of Oman has had frequent clashes with the imam (leader) of the interior ethnic groups. In 1957 the groups revolted but were suppressed with British aid. Several Arab countries supporting the imam charged in the 1960s that the sultan's regime was oppressive and that the British were exercising colonial influence in Oman.

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12 Czech Republic		Senate and regional elections. Results : The Social Democrats (CSSD), who have run the country since 1998 under a tenuous agreement with the opposition Civic Democrats (ODS), were thumped on Nov. 13 when only five of the party's candidates madeit to runoffs in first-round voting for 27 Senate seats, a third of the upper house total. By contrast, the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia, capitalizing on widespread voter disaffection, sent eight candidates to the second round. The biggest winners were the ODS, considered the nation's most popular party, with 18 candidates, and the increasingly popular four-party coalition, a center-right group, with19.
12 Mexico (Jalisco)		Gubernatorial election. Result : PAN's (National Action Party)Francisco Ramirez Acuna is the new governor elected in Jalisco por the next 6-year-term 2001-2007, ahead with 53, 641 votes of PRI's candidate Jorge Arana.
12 India		Election for the Congress Party's presidency. Results : Indian opposition leader Sonia Gandhi has been comfortably re-elected as the president of the Congress party. Ms Gandhi - the widow of India's former prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi - won 7,448 votes out of the 7,771 votes polled by the party's national electoral college.
12 India (Jharkhand)		The new state of Jharkhand is created from part of Bihar. Prabhat Kumar becomes governor and Babu Lal Marandi chief minister.
16 Germany		Germany's Transport Minister Reinhard Klimmt resigns.
16 Gambia		Municipal elections. Results : no results avalaible.
16 Mali (ECOWAS/CEDEAO)		Malian Chief of State Alpha Oumar Konaré, has launched in Bamako, the first Parliament of the Economic Comunity of West African States (ECOWAS -Economic Community Of West African States), with executive secretary of the organization Lansana Kouyaté. The ECOWAS MPs will have to think up the rules of this 120 -member Parliament and to elect a comittee.
16 Slovenia		Parliament approves Janez Drnovsek as prime minister.
18 Papua New Guinea		Parliamentary and gubernatorial byelections in East New Britain for two leaders to represent them in Parliament for the remainder of this electoral term. The by-elections were prompted by the death of Pomio M. Alois Koki in August this year and the subsequent resignation of his brother, East New Britain Governor Francis Koimanrea, to contest the vacancy. Polling ends on December 2.
18 Latvia		National holiday : Independence Day (18 November 1918) The region had been dominated since the time of the Livonian knights by German merchants, settled there by the Hanseatic League, and by a German landowning aristocracy, which reduced the Letts to servitude. Under the Russian regime these German "Baltic barons" retained their power, and German remained the official language until 1885, when it was replaced by Russian. Between 1817 and 1819 the serfs were emancipated, and in the middle of the 19th cent. a national revival began. By the end of the 19th cent. there was great agricultural and industrial prosperity. In the Russian Revolution of 1905 the Letts played a prominent role, and bloody reprisals were meted out. Latvia was devastated in World War I, but the collapse of Russia and Germany made Latvian independence possible in 1918. Soviet troops and German volunteer bands were expelled. Peace with Russia followed in 1920.
18 Oman		National holiday : National Day (8 November 1940) Much of the coast of Oman was controlled by Portugal from 1508 to 1659, when the Ottoman Empire took possession. The Ottoman Turks were driven out in 1741 by Ahmad ibn Said of Yemen, who founded the present royal line. In the late 18th cent., Oman began its close ties with Great Britain, which still continue. In the early 19th cent., Oman was the most powerful state in Arabia, controlling Zanzibar and much of the coast of Iran and Baluchistan. Zanzibar was lost in 1856, and the last Omani hold on the Baluchistan coast, Gwadar, was ceded to Pakistan in 1958. The sultan of Oman has had frequent clashes with the imam (leader) of the interior ethnic groups. In 1957 the groups revolted but were suppressed with British aid. Several Arab countries supporting the imam charged in the 1960s that the sultan's regime was oppressive and that the British were exercising colonial influence in Oman.