March 1999 Rulers

March 1999

2

Brazil: Former acting governor of Maranhão (1982-83) Ivar Figueiredo Saldanha dies.

Liba

Canada: Peter M. Liba is sworn in as lieutenant governor of Manitoba.
Federated States of Micronesia: In parliamentary elections, only nonpartisans are elected.
Taiwan: Parliament rejects (142-83) a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Vincent Siew.

3

Moldova: Parliament confirms Ion Sturza as prime minister with 51 of 101 votes, but on March 6 the constitutional court rules that 52 votes would have been necessary. In another vote on March 12, Sturza is approved with 52 votes.

4

Anguilla: In parliamentary elections, all incumbents are returned, leaving the Anguilla National Alliance (42.8% of the vote) with 3 of the 7 seats and the Anguilla Democratic Party (32.9%) and the Anguilla United Party (14.7%) with 2 each. Turnout is 74%.
Jordan: King Abdullah dismisses Prime Minister Fayez Tarawneh and appoints Abdul Rauf al-Rawabdeh to replace him.
Switzerland: Former president (1982) Fritz Honegger dies.
Turks and Caicos Islands: In parliamentary elections, the People's Democratic Movement wins 52.8% of the vote and 9 of 13 seats in the Legislative Council, and the Progressive National Party 40.3% and 4 seats.

5

Bosnia and Hercegovina: International peace coordinator Carlos Westendorp dismisses Republika Srpska President Nikola Poplasen, who does not accept the decision.
Slovenia: Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek nominates Borut Suklje as interior minister.

6

Algeria: Former co-president of the Central Committee of Public Safety (1958) Chérif Sid Cara dies.
Angola: Former foreign minister (1992-99) Venâncio da Silva Moura dies.

Hamad

Bahrain: Emir Sheikh `Isa ibn Sulman Al Khalifah dies. He is succeeded by his son, Sheikh Hamad ibn `Isa Al Khalifah.

7

Austria: In state elections in Kärnten, the far-right Freedom Party wins 42.1% of the vote, followed by the Social Democrats with 32.1% and the People's Party (ÖVP) with 20.7%. Turnout is 81%. In Salzburg and Tirol the ÖVP remains the strongest party.
El Salvador: In presidential elections, Francisco Flores of the ruling Republican Nationalist Alliance (ARENA) wins (with 51.4% of the vote) over Facundo Guardado of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (29%). Turnout is under 40%. Flores is to take office June 1.
Equatorial Guinea: In parliamentary elections, the ruling Democratic Party wins 85.5% of the vote (75 of 80 seats), the Popular Union 6.4% (4), and the Convergence for Social Democracy 5.3% (1). Turnout is 94.9%.

Laar

Kallas

Estonia: In parliamentary elections, the Centre Party of Edgar Savisaar is the largest vote-getter (23.4%), winning 28 seats in the 101-member Riigikogu. Their allies, the Country People's Party, wins 7 seats (7.3%). Three centre-right parties win a total of 53 seats: Pro Patria 18 (16.1%), Reform 18 (15.9%), and the Moderates 17 (15.2%). Turnout is 55%. On March 19 Mart Laar (Pro Patria) is nominated for the post of prime minister. He is sworn in on March 25. Toomas Hendrik Ilves becomes foreign minister, Jüri Luik defense minister, Siim Kallas finance minister, and Jüri Mõis interior minister.
Nigeria: In parliamentary elections held February 20 and March 7, the People's Democratic Party wins 206 of 360 seats in the House of Representatives and 59 of 109 in the Senate. The All People's Party wins 74 and 29, the Alliance for Democracy 68 and 20.

8

Sidimé

Guinea: President Lansana Conté dismisses Prime Minister Sidya Touré and replaces him with Lamine Sidimé. On March 12 a new cabinet is named. Interior Minister Zainoul Abidine Sanoussi is moved to foreign affairs. Moussa Solano becomes minister for territorial administration and decentralization, the new name for the interior ministry.
India: Federal rule in Bihar is revoked, and Rabri Devi is reinstated as chief minister the following day.

9

Antigua and Barbuda: In parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Lester Bird's Antigua Labour Party wins 12 of 17 seats (52.9% of the vote), the United Progressive Party 4 (44.4%), and the Barbuda People's Movement 1 (1.3%).

11

Bangladesh: In a cabinet reshuffle, Mohammad Nasim replaces Rafiqul Islam as home affairs minister.
Germany: Finance Minister Oskar Lafontaine resigns. On March 12 Hans Eichel is chosen to take over the post in April when he leaves office as minister-president of Hessen. In the meantime, Economics Minister Werner Müller stands in as acting finance minister. Lafontaine formally leaves office March 18.
Tonga: In parliamentary elections, pro-democracy candidates win 5 of the 9 popularly elected seats.

12

Gibraltar: Former governor (1978-82) Sir William Jackson dies.

13

India: Bihar Governor Sunder Singh Bhandari is shifted to Gujarat, and Brij Mohan Lal becomes governor of Bihar.

Osu

Malaysia: Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad's Barisan Nasional coalition wins elections in Sabah, taking 31 of the 48 seats in the state assembly. Datuk Seri Osu Sukam is sworn in as chief minister on March 14.

14

Congo (Kinshasa): President Laurent Kabila names a new government, including Abdoulaye Yerodia Ndombasi as foreign minister.
Zambia: Former foreign minister (1996-97) Lawrence Shimba dies.

15

Norway: Eldbjørg Løwer becomes defense minister in a cabinet reshuffle.

16

European Union: The entire Commission, including its president Jacques Santer, resigns. On March 24 former Italian prime minister Romano Prodi is nominated to succeed Santer.

17

Ghana: The Okyenhene (ruler of Akyem Abuakwa), Osagyefo Kuntunkununku II, dies. The Adontenhene, Osabarima Kena Ampaw II, becomes regent.

J. Bani

Vanuatu: The election of a new president fails when no candidate receives the necessary two-thirds majority in the Electoral College. The government-backed candidate, Hosea Bani, receives 28 votes, and the opposition-backed Hary Tevi 22. In a second vote on March 24, John Bani is elected president with 43 votes.

18

Cyprus: Interior Minister Dinos Michailidis resigns. On March 22 Finance Minister Christodoulos Christodoulou becomes interior minister, and Takis Kliridis becomes finance minister.

19

Lakatani

Niue: In parliamentary elections, Premier Frank F. Lui loses his seat. On March 26 Sani Lakatani of the Niue People's Party is elected premier, defeating O'Love Jacobsen by a vote of 14 to 6.
Samoa: Former prime minister (1982-85, 1988-98) Tofilau Eti Alesana dies.

21

Finland: In parliamentary elections, the Social Democrats (with 22.9% of the vote) win 51 of 200 seats, followed by the Centre Party (22.4%) with 48, the Conservatives (21%) with 46, and the Left Wing League (10.9%) with 20.
Togo: In parliamentary elections boycotted by most of the opposition, President Gnassingbé Eyadéma's Togolese People's Rally wins 79 of 81 seats. Turnout is 66%.

22

Brazil: Former acting governor of Alagoas (1982-83) Theobaldo Vasconcelos Barbosa dies.
Turkey: Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit survives a no-confidence vote in parliament. Only 236 deputies vote for the censure motion, well short of the 276 needed to topple Ecevit.

González

23

Bosnia and Hercegovina: Brcko Mayor Borko Reljic resigns.
Paraguay: Vice President Luis María Argaña is assassinated. Interior Minister Rubén Arias Mendoza resigns, and President Raúl Cubas names his brother Carlos Cubas as interior minister. On March 28 President Cubas resigns and is succeeded by the president of the Senate, Luis Ángel González Macchi, who names Walter Bower as interior minister. Later he names Miguel Abdón Saguier as foreign minister and Nelson Argaña, son of the slain vice president, as defense minister.
Uruguay: Former foreign minister (1955-56) Santiago Rompani dies.

24

Cyprus: The former prime minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (1978), Osman Örek, dies.

Borg

Malta: Foreign Minister Guido de Marco resigns and is replaced by Joe Borg. On March 29 parliament ratifies the government's nomination of de Marco as president (35-28).
Switzerland: Former president of the government of Graubünden (1954) Arno Theus and former president of the Council of State of Vaud (1966, 1972, 1976, 1980) Édouard Debétaz die.

25

Alexis

Haiti: President René Préval appoints a new government by decree; it is formally installed the next day. Jacques-Édouard Alexis is prime minister; Finance Minister Fred Joseph and Foreign Minister Fritz Longchamp are retained from the former government.

26

Canada: Daniel Joseph Marion becomes commissioner of the Northwest Territories.

27

Australia: The Labor Party wins elections in New South Wales, taking 55 of 93 seats, against 20 for the Liberal Party, 13 for the National Party, and 5 for independents.

29

Mauritius: Former governor-general (1978-83) Sir Dayendranath Burrenchobay dies.
São Tomé and Príncipe: Adelino Castelo David is sworn in as finance minister, replacing Afonso Varela.

30

Benin: In parliamentary elections, the Party for the Rebirth of Benin wins 22.7% of the vote (27 of 83 seats), the Democratic Renewal Party 12.2% (11), the Social Democratic Party 9.3% (9), the African Movement for Democracy and Progress 9.2% (6), and the Action Front for Renewal and Development 5.5% (10).