LETTER N° 51

From 17 to 23 of December

17 Honduras		Internal elections for the Partido Nacional. Results : Luis Consenza is elected as a substitute for Ricardo Maduro.
17 Ivory Coast		Parliamentary runoff election in Logouale constituency. Results : Mamadou Die, an independent candidate won with 52,16% of the vote.
17 Bhutan		National holiday : National Day (17 December1907) (Ugyen WANGCHUCK became first hereditary king)
18 Niger		National holiday : Republic Day (18 December 1958). Niger was incorporated into French West Africa in 1896. There were frequent rebellions, but when order was restored in 1922, the French made the area a colony. In 1958, the voters approved the French constitution and voted to make the territory an autonomous republic within the French community.The republic adopted a constitution in 1959 but the next year withdrew from the community, proclaiming its independence.
19 Cambodia		Former prime minister (1967-68) Son Sann dies.
19 United States		Former New York City mayor (1966-74) John Vliet Lindsay dies.
20 Denmark		Foreign Minister Niels Helveg Petersen resigns.
20 Kazakhstan		Bulat Iskakov is appointed interior minister.
20 Romania		Ion Iliescu takes office of President of Romania. He appoints Adrian Nastase, an ex-foreign minister as Prime Minister .
21 United Kingdom		Parliamentary byelection in Falkirk West. Results : That Labour's Eric Joyce has won the by-election but with a hugely reduced majority. Labour's 43,54% , SNP 39,93%, Tory 8, 31%, SSP 5,07% and Lib Dems 3,15%
21 Moldova		Second round of the election to president. Results : The Moldovan parliament's fourth attempt to pick a president foundered after the center-right majority boycotted the vote to block a Communist candidate and demanded a compromise candidate instead.
21 Denmark		Mogens Lykketoft becomes foreign minister.
21 Belgium		Former foreign minister (1973-77) Renaat van Elslande dies.
21 United States		President-elect George W. Bush resigns as governor of Texas. Lieutenant Governor Rick Perry succeeds him.
22 Trinidad and Tobago		A new cabinet is sworn in, including Mervyn Assam as foreign minister and Gerard Yetming as finance minister.
23 Serbia		Parliamentary elections. Results : The Democratic Opposition of Serbia alliance, which won federal Yugoslav polls completed the rout to the Serbian parliament, winning around 65,4% of the vote. DOS will have 178 deputies in the 250-seat parliament. Milosevic's Socialist Party trailed in a distant second with about 13%winning just 36 seats .The ultra-nationalist Radicals should hold about 22 seats.The Yugoslav Left (JUL) party of Milosevic's wife Mirjana Markovic won just 0.37 percent of the vote. Turnout was at 58.7 %.
23 Japan		National holiday : Birthday of the Emperor (Akihito born in 23 December 1933).