July 1998

1

Trimble

United Kingdom: David Trimble of the Ulster Unionist Party is elected first minister of Northern Ireland.

2

Taiwan: Former foreign minister (1978-79) Chiang Yen-shih dies.

3

Loum

Senegal: President Abdou Diouf names Mamadou Lamine Loum as new prime minister. The following day Loum names his cabinet, including Jacques Baudin as foreign minister and Mohamed El Moustapha Diagne as finance minister.

6

Orbán

Hungary: Parliament approves Viktor Orbán as new prime minister (222-119). The new cabinet is sworn in on July 8; it includes János Martonyi as foreign minister, János Szabó as defense minister, Zsigmond Járai as finance minister, and Sándor Pintér as interior minister.

7

Mozambique: Almerino Manhenje becomes interior minister.
Nigeria: Moshood Abiola, the presumed winner of the canceled 1993 presidential election, dies.

8

Malta: Prime Minister Alfred Sant's government loses a confidence vote in Parliament.

9

Slovakia: The country remains without a president as the latest candidate, Otto Tomecek, nominated by the government, gets only 86 votes instead of the required 90 in two separate votes in parliament.

11

Mexico: Former Coahuila governor (1975-81) Óscar Flores Tapia dies.

12

Obuchi

Ecuador: In the presidential election runoff, Jamil Mahuad wins 51.2% of the vote against 48.8% for Álvaro Noboa.
Japan: In elections to half of the 252 seats in the (upper) House of Councillors, the Liberal-Democratic Party wins 44 seats, the Democratic Party 27, and the Communist Party 15. Turnout is 58.8%. On July 13 Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto resigns. He is succeeded on July 30 by Keizo Obuchi. Masahiko Komura becomes foreign minister, Fukushiro Nukaga defense minister, Kiichi Miyazawa finance minister, and Mamoru Nishida interior minister.
Mauritania: In a cabinet reshuffle, Cheikh El Avia Ould Mohamed Khouna replaces Mohamed El Hacen Ould Lebatt as foreign minister, and Dah Ould Abdel Jelil replaces Ahmed Ould Minnih as interior minister.

13

Botswana: Ian Khama is sworn in as vice-president.
Greece: Former prime minister (1967) Konstantinos Kollias dies.
Switzerland: Former president of the Council of State of Vaud (1959, 1964) Louis Guisan dies.

14

Germany: Former first secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Sachsen state (1952) and Leipzig district (1952) Karl Schirdewan dies.

15

Haiti: President René Préval names Jacques Édouard Alexis as his new candidate for prime minister. Legislators have rejected Préval's nominees three times before.
Martinique: Dominique Bellion is named prefect.
Mayotte: Pierre Bayle is named prefect.
Réunion: Jean Daubigny is named prefect.

17

Zeman

Czech Republic: President Václav Havel names Social Democrat leader Milos Zeman prime minister. On July 22 a cabinet is named that includes Jan Kavan as foreign minister, Vladimir Vetchý as defense minister, Václav Grulich as interior minister, and Ivo Svoboda as finance minister.

18

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: Former governor-general (1989-96) Sir David Jack dies.

21

Italy: Prime Minister Romano Prodi wins confidence votes in the Senate (176-119) and, the following day, in the Chamber of Deputies (324-269).

22

Indonesia: Former governor of Jakarta (1977-82) Tjokropranolo dies.
Iran: Parliament confirms President Mohammad Khatami's choice for interior minister, Abdolvahed Mousavi-Lari, by a vote of 177-67 with 22 abstentions.

23

Madagascar: President Didier Ratsiraka names Tantely Andrianarivo as prime minister. On July 31 the new cabinet is announced, including Lila Ratsifandrihamanana as foreign minister.

24

Mongolia: Parliament votes to oust the government of Prime Minister Tsakhiagiyn Elbegdorj.

26

Cambodia: In parliamentary elections, the Cambodian People's Party wins 41.4% of the vote (64 of 122 seats in the National Assembly), FUNCINPEC 31.7% (43 seats), and the Sam Rainsy Party 14.3% (15 seats).
North Korea: In parliamentary elections (turnout 99.85%), 443 of the 687 deputies in the Supreme People's Assembly are replaced. Communist Party leader Kim Jong Il is among the elected, a move seen as paving the way for him to officially become president.

D'Souza

29

Uruguay: Former president (1967-72) Jorge Pacheco Areco dies.

30

India: Goa Governor J.F.R. Jacob dismisses the government of Pratapsing Rane and appoints Wilfred D'Souza chief minister of the state.