May 1998

2

Padmanabhan

India: Anandam Padmanabhan takes office as governor of Mizoram.

3

Croatia: Defense Minister Gojko Susak dies. On May 14 Prime Minister Zlatko Matesa names Andrija Hebrang as defense minister.

4

Latvia: Andrejs Krastins becomes interior minister.

6

The Netherlands: In parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Wim Kok's Labour Party wins 45 seats, the right liberals (VVD) 39, the Christian Democrats 29, the left liberals (D66) 14, Green Left 11, and the Socialist Party 5.
Thailand: Former prime minister (1988-91) Chatichai Choonhavan dies.

8

Rodríguez

Benin: Prime Minister Adrien Houngbédji resigns. On May 14, President Mathieu Kérékou names a new cabinet, scrapping the post of prime minister. Antoine Idji Kolawolé becomes foreign minister; Pierre Osho, defense minister; Abdoulaye Bio Tchané, finance minister; Daniel Tawéma, interior minister.
Costa Rica: Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Echeverría takes office as president. The new government includes Roberto Rojas López as foreign minister and Leonel Baruch Goldberg as finance minister.
Oman: Former British consul-general (1960-63) John Fleetwood Stewart Phillips dies.

10

Hungary: In the first round of parliamentary elections, the Socialists lead with about 32% of the vote, followed by Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Party with about 28%, the rightist Smallholders with about 14%, and the Free Democrats with about 8%.
Paraguay: In presidential elections, Raúl Cubas Grau of the Colorado Party is elected president with 55.4% of the vote, defeating Domingo Laíno of the Democratic Alliance with 43.9%. In the elections to the Chamber of Deputies, the Colorados win 53.8% of the vote (45 seats), while the Democratic Alliance wins 42.7% (35); in the elections to the Chamber of Senators, the Colorados win 51.7% (24 seats) and the Democratic Alliance 42.1% (20).

11

Philippines: Presidential elections are won by Vice President Joseph Estrada of the LAMMP (Struggle of the Nationalist Filipino Masses) with 46.4% of the vote, ahead of Jose de Venecia of Lakas (17.1%), Raul Roco (11.9%), Lito Osmeña (8.6%), Manila mayor Alfredo Lim (7.4%), and Renato de Villa (4.6%). Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo wins the vice-presidential vote with 50.2%, ahead of Edgardo Angara (24.5%), Oscar Orbos (12.3%), and Sergio Osmeña III (8.9%). In parliamentary elections, Lakas wins 115 of 208 seats in the lower house, and the LAMMP 80.
San Marino: Giordano Bruno Reffi, former co-regent (1974, 1977-78) and secretary of state for foreign and political affairs (1978-86), dies.

Thériault

14

Canada: Camille Thériault (Liberal) becomes premier of New Brunswick.
Malaysia: The sultan of Terengganu, Tuanku Mahmud al-Muktafi Billah Shah ibni al-Marhum Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah, dies. He is succeeded the following day by Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin ibni al-Marhum Sultan Mahmud.

Camelia-Römer

Netherlands Antilles: Susanne Camelia-Römer becomes prime minister.
Yemen: President Ali Abdullah Saleh appoints acting prime minister Abdul Karim al-Iryani officially to the post.

15

Kallsberg

Faeroe Islands: Anfinn Kallsberg becomes prime minister.
India: Former Tripura chief minister (1977) Radhika Ranjan Gupta dies.
Russia: Former Chechen foreign minister (1996-97) Ruslan Chimayev is assassinated.
Turkey: Former prime minister (1973-74) Naim Talu dies.
Uganda: In a cabinet reshuffle, President Yoweri Museveni appoints Gerald Ssendaula as finance minister, replacing Jehoash Mayanja Nkangi.

16

Dominican Republic: In parliamentary elections, the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) wins 83 of 149 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, followed by the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) with 50 and the Social Christian Reformist Party (PRSC) with 16. In the Senate, the PRD wins 24 of 30 seats, the PLD 4, and the PRSC 2.

17

Madagascar: President Didier Ratsiraka's Arema party wins 62 of 150 seats in parliamentary elections; two allied parties win a combined 26 seats. Former prime minister Norbert Ratsirahonana's Avi party wins 13 seats, while independent candidates win 36.

18

Bulatovic

Yugoslavia: Prime Minister Radoje Kontic is toppled in a vote of no confidence. On May 19 President Slobodan Milosevic appoints the former president of Montenegro, Momir Bulatovic, to hold the office. In the new government formed on May 20, Dragisa Pesic becomes finance minister.

19

Japan: Former prime minister (1989) Sosuke Uno dies.

20

United States: Former New Mexico governor (1962-63) Tom Bolack dies.

21

Habibie

Indonesia: President Suharto resigns. Vice President B.J. Habibie is sworn in as president. On May 22 Habibie names a new cabinet. Bambang Subianto replaces Fuad Bawazier as finance minister and Lt.Gen. Syarwan Hamid replaces R. Hartono as interior minister; Foreign Minister Ali Alatas and Defense Minister Gen. Wiranto are retained.
Lithuania: President Valdas Adamkus accepts the resignation of Interior Minister Vidmantas Ziemelis and appoints Justice Minister Vytautas Pakalniskis as acting interior minister. The next day Stasys Sedbaras is appointed as new interior minister.
Moldova: Parliament approves a new government, including Victor Catan as interior minister and Anatol Arapu as finance minister.

23

Mosisili

Lesotho: The Lesotho Congress for Democracy wins 79 of 80 seats in parliamentary elections; the Basotho National Party wins 1 seat. Pakalitha Mosisili is elected as prime minister on May 28 and sworn in the next day.

24

Hungary: The second round of parliamentary elections is held, and Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Party, led by Viktor Orbán, emerges as winner with 38.3% of the vote. It will have 148 of 386 seats, compared to 134 for the Socialists, 48 for the Smallholders, and 24 for the Free Democrats.
India: Rajasthan governor Darbara Singh dies. Navrang Lal Tibrewal becomes acting governor on May 25.
Senegal: In parliamentary elections, the Socialist Party of Senegal wins 50.2% of the vote and 93 of 140 seats, followed by the Senegalese Democratic Party with 19.1% and 23 seats.

27

Clement

Germany: Wolfgang Clement replaces Johannes Rau as minister-president of Nordrhein-Westfalen.

29

United States: Former Republican presidential candidate (1964) Barry Goldwater dies.

30

Comoros: President Mohamed Taki appoints a new government, but leaves the post of prime minister vacant. Salim Himidi is the new foreign minister.

31

Colombia: In presidential elections, Horacio Serpa Uribe of the Liberal Party wins 34.4% of the vote, ahead of Andrés Pastrana Arango of the Conservative Party with 34% and independent candidate Noemí Sanín with 26.5%. Turnout is about 54%.
Ecuador: In presidential elections, Quito mayor Jamil Mahuad of the Popular Democrat Party wins 34.9% of the vote, followed by Álvaro Noboa of the Roldosist Party with 26.6%, former president Rodrigo Borja Cevallos of the Democratic Left Party with 16.1%, Freddy Ehlers of the New Country Party with 14.7%, and former vice president Rosalía Arteaga with 5.1%. Turnout is about 60%.
San Marino: In parliamentary elections, the Christian Democratic Party wins 25 of 60 seats (40.8% of the vote), the Socialist Party 14 (23.2%), the Progressive Democratic Party 11 (18.6%), and the Popular Alliance 6 (9.8%). Turnout is 75.3%.
Yugoslavia: In parliamentary elections in Montenegro, the Coalition for a Better Life led by republican president Milo Djukanovic wins about 49.5% of the vote and about 40 seats in the 78-member parliament, while the Socialist People's Party of Momir Bulatovic wins about 36.1% (about 30 seats); the Liberal Alliance wins about 6%. Turnout is 71%.