September 1998

1

Montealegre

Nicaragua: In a cabinet reshuffle, Eduardo Montealegre becomes foreign minister, Jaime Cuadra Somarriba interior minister, and Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Barrios defense minister.
Panama: Foreign Minister Ricardo Alberto Arias resigns. He is to be replaced by Jorge Eduardo Ritter.
Togo: Prime Minister Kwassi Klutse unveils his new government. It includes Joseph Kokou Koffigoh as foreign minister. Finance Minister Barry Moussa Barqué and Interior Minister Gen. Seyi Memene retain their posts.

2

Malaysia: Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad sacks Anwar Ibrahim from his posts as deputy prime minister and finance minister. On September 7 Mahathir appoints himself finance minister.
Mongolia: Prime minister candidate Rinchinnyamyn Amarjargal is rejected by parliament, winning only 35 of 71 votes.

5

Paek

North Korea: Parliament abolishes the post of president that had been vacant since 1994. It reelects Kim Jong Il as chairman of the National Defense Commission and makes that post "the highest post of the state." It also revives the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly and elects Kim Yong Nam as its chairman. Hong Song Nam is confirmed as prime minister. Paek Nam Sun becomes foreign minister. On September 8 Kim Il Chol is appointed defense minister.

Fenech Adami

Malta: The Nationalist Party wins 51.8% of votes (35 of 65 seats) in parliamentary elections, defeating the ruling Labour Party, which wins 46.9% (30 seats). Turnout is 95%. On September 6 Nationalist Party leader Eddie Fenech Adami is sworn in as prime minister. On September 8 he appoints his cabinet, including Guido de Marco as foreign minister, John Dalli as finance minister, and Tonio Borg as interior minister.

7

India: Kizhakeyil Mathai Chandy, former lieutenant governor of Pondicherry (1982-83) and governor of Gujarat (1983-84) and Madhya Pradesh (1984-89), dies.

Ivanov

Russia: Acting Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin is rejected a second time by the Duma (273-138). On September 11 the Duma elects Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov as prime minister (317-63). Primakov names Igor Ivanov as foreign minister.

8

New Zealand: Prime Minister Jenny Shipley wins a parliamentary confidence vote (62-58) for her new minority government.

11

Jersey: Former bailiff (1975-85) Sir Frank Ereaut dies.

12

Malaysia: Former head of state of Penang (1981-89) Tun Awang Hassan dies.

13

Bosnia and Herzegovina: In elections held September 12 and 13, Alija Izetbegovic is reelected to the Muslim seat on the collective presidency, winning 512,000 votes against 36,000 for Fikret Abdic. The Croat seat is won by Ante Jelavic (189,000 votes), ahead of Gradimir Gojer (114,000) and incumbent Kresimir Zubak (41,000). Zivko Radisic wins the Serb seat with 360,000 votes, defeating incumbent Momcilo Krajisnik (314,000). In parliamentary elections, the Coalition for a Single and Democratic Bosnia wins 17 of 42 seats, the Croatian Democratic Union 6, the Sloga Coalition 4, the Serb Democratic Party 4, the Social Democratic Party 4, others 7. In the Republika Srpska presidential election, Nikola Poplasen wins 323,000 votes, defeating incumbent Biljana Plavsic (287,000).
Germany: In state elections in Bayern, the Christian Social Union of Minister-President Edmund Stoiber wins 52.9% of the vote, the Social Democratic Party 28.7%, Greens 5.7%, Free Voters 3.7%, Republicans 3.6%, the Ecological-Democratic Party 1.8%, and the Free Democratic Party 1.7%. Turnout is 70%.
United States: Former Alabama governor (1963-67, 1971-79, 1983-87) George C. Wallace dies.

14

Bacon

Australia: Jim Bacon takes office as premier of Tasmania.
China: Former president (1988-93) Yang Shangkun dies.

17

Turkmenistan: In a cabinet reshuffle, Kurbanmukhamed Kasymov is appointed defense minister and Poran Berdiyev interior minister.

20

Sweden: In parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Göran Persson's Social Democratic Party wins 36.6% of the vote (131 of 349 seats), the Moderate Party 22.7% (82), the Left Party 12% (43), the Christian Democrats 11.8% (42), the Centre Party 5.1% (18), the Liberal Party 4.7% (17), and the Green Party 4.5% (16). Turnout is 78.6%.

21

Zambia: In a cabinet reshuffle, Katele Kalumba is appointed home affairs minister, replacing Peter Machungwa.

23

Romania: Daniel Daianu is replaced as finance minister by Decebal Traian Remes.

24

Jordan: The government of Prime Minister Fayez Tarawneh wins a parliamentary confidence vote (64-12).

26

Belgium: King Albert accepts the resignation of Interior Minister Louis Tobback. Luc Van den Bossche is named to replace him.
Slovakia: In parliamentary elections held September 25 and 26, the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia wins 27% of the vote (43 of 150 seats), the Slovak Democratic Coalition 26.3% (42), the Party of the Democratic Left 14.7% (23), the Hungarian Coalition Party 9.1% (15), the Slovak National Party 9.1% (14), and the Party of Civic Understanding 8% (13). Turnout is 84.2%.

27

Germany: In parliamentary elections, Chancellor Helmut Kohl's Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) wins 35.2% of the vote (245 of 669 seats), the Social Democratic Party (SPD) led by Gerhard Schröder 40.9% (298), the Greens 6.7% (47), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) 6.2% (43), and the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) 5.1% (36). Turnout is 82.3%. In simultaneous state elections in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Minister-President Berndt Seite's CDU wins 30.2% of the vote (24 of 71 seats), while the SPD wins 34.3% (27), the PDS 24.4% (20), the German People's Union 2.9%, the Greens 2.7%, and the FDP 1.6%. Turnout is 80.4%.

28

Albania: Prime Minister Fatos Nano resigns. Pandeli Majko is named to succeed him.
Brazil: Former governor of Amazonas (1975-79) Henoch da Silva Reis dies.

30

Estonia: Foreign Minister Toomas Hendrik Ilves resigns.