June 1996

1

Barbados: Sir Clifford Husbands takes office as governor-general.
Czech Republic: In elections held May 31 and June 1, Prime Minister Václav Klaus' Civic Democratic Party (ODS) wins 29.62% (68 seats), followed by the Social Democrats (CSSD) with 26.44% (61 seats), the Communist Party (KSCM) with 10.33% (22 seats), the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) with 8.08% (18 seats), the Republicans (SPR-RSC) with 8.01% (18 seats), and the Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) with 6.36% (13 seats). The ruling coalition of ODS, KDU-CSL, and ODA thus loses its majority in the 200-seat parliament. Turnout is 76.4%.

Gowda

Chidambaram

India: H.D. Deve Gowda is sworn in as prime minister. He will also hold the home affairs, agriculture, personnel and science portfolios. His cabinet includes Inder Kumar Gujral as foreign minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav as defense minister, and Palaniappan Chidambaram as finance minister. On June 12 the government wins a vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha. The opposition does not challenge the voice vote to call for a count. Gowda's United Front has the support of the Congress Party.
Saint Lucia: George Mallet takes office as governor-general.

Antrobus

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: Sir Charles Antrobus takes office as governor-general.

2

Albania: A second round of the general election is held, boycotted by most of the opposition. Final results give the ruling Democratic Party 122 seats in the 140-seat parliament (87% of the vote).
Austria: In state elections in Burgenland, the SPÖ gets 44.5% (17 seats), the ÖVP 36% (14 seats), the FPÖ 14.6% (5 seats), the Greens 2.5%, and the Liberal Forum 1.4%. Turnout is 81%.
Chad: President Idriss Déby wins 43.9% in the first round of presidential elections, followed by Wadal Abdelkader Kamougue (12.3%), Saleh Kebzabo (8.6%), and Jean Alingué Bawoyeu (8.3%). Turnout is 67.5%.
Pakistan: Former governor of West Pakistan (1970) and Punjab (1970-71) Atiqur Rahman dies.

3

Angola: President José Eduardo dos Santos fires Prime Minister Marcolino Moco and replaces him with Fernando José de França Dias Van-Dúnem.
Uganda: Former chairman of the Military Council (1985-86) Tito Okello dies.

4

Papua New Guinea: In a cabinet reshuffle, Kilroy Genia replaces Prime Minister Sir Julius Chan as foreign minister.

5

Association of Southeast Asian Nations: Former secretary-general (1976-78) Hartono Dharsono dies.

6

Central African Republic: Jean-Paul Ngoupandé is named prime minister. He takes office June 11. In the new government announced on June 17, Michel Gbezera-Bria is foreign minister, while Ngoupandé also holds the finance portfolio.
Turkey: Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz resigns, preempting a censure motion. The next day President Süleyman Demirel asks the leader of the Welfare Party, Necmettin Erbakan, to form a government.

7

Gabon: Prime Minister Paulin Obame-Nguema submits his resignation. President Omar Bongo rejects it and asks him to remain in office until after elections.
Switzerland: Former president of the Council of State of Vaud (1970) Jean-Pierre Pradervand dies.

8

Taiwan: President Lee Teng-hui reshuffles his cabinet. The new foreign minister is John H. Chang; Chang Pin-kung is the new economics minister; Paul Chiu, finance minister.

9

Cambodia: Former acting prime minister (1962) Nhiek Tioulong dies.
Switzerland: Former Landammann of Uri (1952-54, 1956-60, 1966-68) Ludwig Danioth dies.

10

Sanusi

Malaysia: Sanusi Junid is named as new chief minister of Kedah, to succeed Osman Aroff, who leaves office June 16.

12

Bangladesh: The Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina Wajed comes out first in general elections, winning 135 seats, followed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party led by former prime minister Khaleda Zia with 104 seats. The Jatiya Party of former president Hossain Mohammad Ershad gets 29 seats, the Jamaat-e-Islami 3, and two smaller parties 1 each. Another 26 seats are decided in a second round of polling on June 19. Of those the Awami League and the BNP win 12 each, and Jatiya 2.
Yugoslavia: Tomica Raicevic becomes finance minister in a government reshuffle.

13

Tunisia: Abdallah Kallel becomes defense minister, succeeding Abdelaziz Ben Dhia.

16

Russia: In the first round of presidential elections, incumbent Boris Yeltsin receives 35.3% of the vote, followed by Gennady Zyuganov with 32%, Aleksandr Lebed with 14.5%, Grigory Yavlinsky with 7.3%, Vladimir Zhirinovsky with 5.7%, Svyatoslav Fyodorov with 0.9%, and former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev with 0.5%. Turnout is 69.8%.

18

Netanyahu

Levy

Israel: Benjamin Netanyahu is sworn in as prime minister. Parliament approves his government by a vote of 62 to 50. Foreign minister: David Levy; defense: Yitzhak Mordechai; finance: Dan Meridor; interior: Eli Suissa; commerce and industry: Natan Sharansky.
Latvia: Parliament reelects President Guntis Ulmanis with 53 of 100 votes. Parliament speaker Ilga Kreituse receives 25 votes, Imants Liepa 14, and Alfreds Rubiks 5.
Panama: Ricardo Alberto Arias becomes foreign minister.
Russia: President Boris Yeltsin sacks his defense minister, Pavel Grachev. Mikhail Kolesnikov is appointed as acting defense minister.
Ukraine: Finance Minister Petro Hermanchuk is replaced by Valentyn Koronevsky.

20

Bolivia: Former president (1979) Wálter Guevara Arze dies.
Nigeria: The administrator of Kano, Mohammed Abdullahi Wase, is killed in a plane crash.

22

United States: Former secretary of education (1981-85) Terrel H. Bell dies.

Wajed

23

Bangladesh: Sheikh Hasina Wajed is sworn in as prime minister. She will also be defense minister. Foreign minister: Abdus Samad Azad; finance minister: Shah A.M.S. Kibria.
Greece: Former prime minister (1981-89, 1993-96) Andreas Papandreou dies.

26

Hekmatyar

Afghanistan: Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is sworn in as prime minister.

27

Uganda: In elections for 196 members of a 276-seat parliament, 156 elected deputies are supporters of President Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Movement. Turnout is 59.3%.

28

Erbakan

Çiller

Turkey: Necmettin Erbakan becomes prime minister, heading a coalition of his Welfare Party and the True Path Party of former prime minister Tansu Çiller, who becomes deputy prime minister and foreign minister and who is to replace Erbakan as prime minister in 1998. Turhan Tayan becomes defense minister, Mehmet Agar interior minister, and Abdüllatif Sener finance minister.
Venezuela: Gen. Pedro Nicolás Valencia is appointed defense minister, succeeding Gen. Moisés Orozco.

29

Iceland: Former finance minister Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson wins presidential elections with 41.4% of the vote, ahead of Pétur Hafstein with 29.6%, Gudrún Agnarsdóttir with 26.3%, and Ástthór Magnússon with 2.6%. Turnout is 85.9%.
India: Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda appoints Indrajit Gupta of the Communist Party as home (interior) minister.

30

Dominican Republic: Leonel Fernández wins the presidential election runoff with 51.25%, compared to 48.75% for José Francisco Peña Gómez. Turnout is 76.8%.
Mongolia: In general elections, the opposition Democratic Union Coalition wins 50 out of 76 parliamentary seats (47% of the vote), with the ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party dropping to 25 (40.5%). A small independent party wins the remaining seat. Turnout is 87.3%.
São Tomé and Príncipe: In the first round of presidential elections, incumbent Miguel Trovoada leads with 41%, followed by former president Manuel Pinto da Costa with 39%, former foreign minister Alda Bandeira with 15% and former prime minister Carlos da Graça with 5%. Turnout is about 70%.