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LETTER N° 47

From 19 to 25 of November

19

Czech Republic

Senate elections 2nd round. Results : The Four-Party Coalition won 17 of the 27 seats contested in elections to the upper house, and now control 39 of the 81 seats in the Senate. The right-of-centre Civic Democrats just won eight seats. The ruling Social Democrats took just one seat, and now have just 15 Senators. The Communist Party, which did well in regional elections, failed to win any seats, and continue to command three mandates in the upper house.

The turn out was of 21,6%.

19

Russia

(Kaliningrad oblast)

Gubernatorial runoff election. Results : Admiral Yegorov, commander of Russia's Baltic Fleet easily won election as Kaliningrad governor receiving some 56%of the vote, compared with around 34% for incumbent Governor Leonid Gorbenko.

19

France

(U.D.F.)

Elections of the head of the UDF party (Union for the French Democracy). François Bayrou, only candidate, was re-elected at the head of the UDF with 99,21% of the votes.

19

Russia

(Ust-Ordynsk Buryat Atonomous Okrug)

Valerii Maleev was re-elected okrug chief executive receiving some 54% backing.

19

Monaco

National holiday : National Day (19 November).

Monaco was ruled by the Genovese Grimaldi family from the 13th cent. In 1731 the male line died out, but the French Goyon-Matignon family, which succeeded by marriage, assumed the name Grimaldi. Monaco was under Spanish protection from 1542 to 1641, under French protection from 1641 to 1793, annexed to France in 1793, and under Sardinian protection from 1815 to 1861. The districts of Menton and Roquebrune (long part of Monaco) were incorporated (1848) into Sardinia, which in turn ceded them to France in 1860. Monaco again came under French protection in 1861. Until 1911, when the first constitution was promulgated, the prince was an absolute ruler.

20

Peru

President Alberto Fujimori has formally presented his resignation to the leader of Peru's opposition-controlled Congress - a man who appears almost assured of guiding the transition to new elections. Rather than accepting the resignation, Congress on November 21 declares Fujimori "morally unfit," removing him from the presidency effective November 22.

21

Malawi

Local government elections, for 2,000 councillors in 39 assemblies . Malawian President Muluzi's UDF(United Democratic Front ) is expected to win more than half of the 860 wards across the country. Results : Nelson Chuti, candidate of the main opposition party - MCP (Malawian Congressist Party)- won the election in the central ward of Dedza (250 km North of Blantyre) with 7.473 votes against 7.350 to UDF candidate Henry Kadzakumanja.

The UDF scored a landslide victory scooping 610 seats out of the contested 860 wards. Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was beaten into third place by its junior opposition alliance partner, the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD), which won 120seats. The MCP managed a meagre 84 seats. Low turn out.

21

United Kingdom

Parliamentary byelections in the Glasgow Anniesland,West Bromwich and Preston constituencies. Results : Labour wins three by-elections, in West Bromwich West, Preston, and Glasgow Anniesland.

21

Spain

Former Socialist Health Minister Ernest Lluch, well known in Spain for his reforms of the public health service in the early 1980s, was shot dead in Barcelona.

21

Germany

The Christian Democrats overwhelmingly elected Laurenz Meyer, 52, as their new deputy leader, confirming him in an office he took over in October.

21

Japan

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori survives a no-confidence vote (237-190).

21/24

Singapore

ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) summet + 3 (China - Japon - South Korea) whith Chefs of State and Government . Also ; 3rd Meeting of the ACCSQ Working Group on Regulations and Accreditation and Study Visit to Developed Accreditation Bodies ; ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting ; ASEAN Economic Ministers' Meeting ; 5th e-ASEAN Task Force (EATF) and 21st Meeting of the ASEAN Sub-Committee on Food Science and Technology.

22

Lebanon

National holiday : Independence Day (22 November 1943, from League of Nations mandate under French administration)

The French, being Catholic, separated Lebanon (home of most of the Maronite Catholics) from Syria, thus creating a new state. There was much discontent and, among the Muslims, a desire for independence within a wider Arab state. In 1926 the mandate was given a republican constitution. A treaty with France in 1936 provided for independence after a three-year transition period, but it was not ratified by France. In World War II the French Vichy government controlled Lebanon until a British&endash;Free French force conquered June&endash;July, 1941) the Lebanese coast. The Free French proclaimed Lebanon an independent republic. Elections were held in 1943, and, after considerable controversy, Lebanon became independent on Jan. 1, 1944.

22

Peru

Valentín Paniagua Corazao, succeeds to the presidency. He names former UN secretary-general Javier Pérez de Cuéllar as prime minister.

23

India

(Uttar Pradesh)

Voters here went to the polls in the second and final phase of civil elections. Results : The State Election Commission has taken a decision for repolling in 35 polling stations . Reports of division of Muslim votes among the SP, BSP and the Congress candidates in the first phase of the civic polls are indications that this time the minority community has not gone for the SP en bloc.

24

Portugal

(Council of Europe)

Marguerite Barankitse, who set up and runs a network of child shelters in Burundi, and Mário Soares, former President of Portugal, were today awarded the 2000 North-South Prize during a ceremony held in the Senate Room of the Portuguese Parliament in Lisbon.

24

Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

(European Union)

UE-Balkans Summit (in Zagreb). Jacques Chirac, Gerhard Schröder and Javier Solana, chief executive of the European Diplomacy meet with the presidents of Croatia, de Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro and Serbia.

24/26

France

(Parti Socialiste)

PS Congress (Socialist Party) taking place on November 24, 25 and 26, 2000, in Grenoble. Despite interal contestations, Former Secretary General of the Party François Hollande should be re-elected at the head of the party.

25

Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

National holiday : "Republic Day" Bosnia and Herzegovina - BiH National Day, 25 November.

In Oct., 1991, following the secession of Slovenia, Croatia, and Macedonia, the Croats and Muslims of Bosnia and Hercegovina, fearing Serbian domination, voted for a declaration of independence from Yugoslavia. In 1992, the sovereignty of Bosnia and Hercegovina was recognized by the European Community and the United States, and it entered the United Nations.

25

Suriname

National holiday : Independence Day (25 November 1975, from Netherlands)

In 1954, Suriname officially became an internally autonomous part of the kingdom of the Netherlands, and in 1975 it became independent. Just prior to independence, some 100,000 Surinamese, mainly of Asian descent, migrated to the Netherlands.

25

Serbia

Extraodinary Congresss of Serbian Socialist Party . An attempt to solve internal problems within the party and its political path. Former president Milosevic re-elcted at the head of the party.

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