Rulers
January 2004
1
Bolivia: Former foreign minister (1983-84) José Ortiz Mercado dies.
Pachachi |
Iraq: Adnan Pachachi becomes president of the Governing Council.
Pakistan: President Pervez Musharraf wins confidence votes in both houses of parliament and in the four provincial assemblies. The 100-member Senate votes 56-1 in his favour and the 342-member lower house 191-0.
Schmid |
Switzerland: Joseph Deiss takes office as president, Samuel Schmid as vice president, Christoph Blocher as justice minister, and Hans-Rudolf Merz as finance minister. Michel Pittet becomes president of the Council of State of Fribourg, Klaus Huber president of the government of Graubünden, Jean-François Roth president of the government of Jura, Kurt Meyer Schultheiss of Luzern, Erhard Meister president of the government of Schaffhausen, Ruth Gisi Landammann of Solothurn, and Jacqueline Maurer-Mayor president of the Council of State of Vaud.
2
Gibraltar: Former governor (1973-78) Sir John Grandy dies.
United States: Bill White takes office as mayor of Houston.
3
Australia: Former South Australia premier (1979) Des Corcoran dies.
4
Saakashvili |
Georgia: Presidential elections are won by Mikheil Saakashvili with 96.3% of the votes, followed by Temur Shashiashvili with 1.9%. Turnout is 88%. Saakashvili is sworn in on January 25.
5
Belize: In a cabinet reshuffle, Foreign Minister Godfrey Smith takes over the additional portfolio of defense.
India: Nagendra Nath Jha is sworn in as lieutenant governor of Pondicherry and Ram Kapse as lieutenant governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Madagascar: In a cabinet reshuffle, Petera Behajaina becomes defense minister and Gen. Soja interior minister.
Marshall Islands: Parliament reelects Kessai Note as president, with 20 votes against 9 for Justin deBrum.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization: Jaap de Hoop Scheffer takes office as secretary-general.
6
Skerrit |
Dominica: Prime Minister Pierre Charles dies. Osborne Riviere becomes acting prime minister. The next day Roosevelt Skerrit is nominated for the post; he is sworn in on January 8. On January 9 Skerrit also takes over the finance ministry.
Nigeria: Former governor of Imo (1979-83, 1989-90) Sam Mbakwe dies.
7
Hungary: Finance Minister Csaba László is dismissed. He is to be replaced by Tibor Draskovics.
Venezuela: Gen. Jorge Luis García Carneiro is named to replace José Luis Prieto as defense minister.
8
United States: Gavin Newsom is sworn in as mayor of San Francisco.
9
Bermuda: Finance Minister Eugene Cox dies. His daughter Paula Cox replaces him on January 22.
Papua New Guinea: The Supreme Court postpones the swearing-in of Governor-General-elect Sir Pato Kakaraya, which was scheduled for January 20, until it determines the constitutional validity of the nomination.
10
Argentina: Jorge Colazo takes office as governor of Tierra del Fuego.
11
Zambia: Former foreign minister (1981-86) Lameck Goma dies.
12
India: Former chief minister of Karnataka (1983-88) Ramakrishna Hegde dies.
Saint Lucia: Calixte George becomes home affairs minister after the dismissal of Sarah Flood-Beaubrun.
Blanco |
United States: Kathleen Blanco is sworn in as governor of Louisiana.
13
Talat | 
Barbour |
Cyprus: The president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Rauf Denktas, approves a new cabinet headed by Mehmet Ali Talat and including Serdar Denktas as foreign minister, Özkan Murat as interior minister, and Ahmet Uzun as finance minister.
United States: Haley Barbour is sworn in as governor of Mississippi.
14
Guatemala: Óscar Berger Perdomo is inaugurated as president. Eduardo Stein Barillas becomes vice president, Jorge Briz Abularach foreign minister, Gen. César Augusto Méndez defense minister, Arturo Soto interior minister, and Antonieta Bonilla finance minister.
Khurana | 
Shaklein |
India: Madan Lal Khurana is sworn in as governor of Rajasthan.
Martinique: Yves Dassonville is named to replace Michel Cadot as prefect.
Russia: Nikolay Shaklein is sworn in as governor of Kirov oblast.
Tunisia: In a cabinet reshuffle, Mounir Jaďdane replaces Taoufik Baccar as finance minister.
15
India: Former governor of Bihar (1990-91) Mohammad Yunus Saleem dies.
Ban |
South Korea: Foreign Minister Yoon Young Kwan resigns. The next day Ban Ki Moon is named foreign minister.
Syria: Former prime minister (1951, 1961-62) Maaruf al-Dawalibi dies.
16
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Susan R. Johnson is appointed as Brcko supervisor.
Finland: Former prime minister (1972-75, 1977-79, 1982-87) Kalevi Sorsa dies.
17
Burkina Faso: In a cabinet reshuffle, Yéro Boly replaces Gen. Kouamé Lougué as defense minister.
18
Switzerland: Former Landammann of Appenzell Ausserrhoden (1981-84) Rudolf Reutlinger dies.
20
Faeroe Islands: In parliamentary elections, the Union Party wins 23.7% of the vote (7 of 32 seats), the Social Democrats 21.8% (7), the Republicans 21.7% (8), the People's Party 20.6% (7), the Centre Party 5.2% (2), and the Independence Party 4.6% (1).
France: Former president of the Regional Council of Pays de la Loire (1974-98) Olivier Guichard dies.
Poland: Prime Minister Leszek Miller appoints Józef Oleksy as interior minister.
21
Congo (Kinshasa): Valentin Senga becomes interior minister in a cabinet reshuffle.
26
Madagascar: Martin Mory Maur is named governor of Toliara; he is installed on January 28.
Spain: The chief councillor of Catalonia, Josep Lluís Carod-Rovira, resigns. The president of the Generalitat, Pasqual Maragall, accepts the resignation on January 27.
27
Philippines: Former premier (1986), foreign secretary (1986-87), and vice president (1986-92) Salvador Laurel dies.
28
Japan: Former foreign minister (1996-97) Yukihiko Ikeda dies.
United States: President George W. Bush nominates Alphonso Jackson (current acting secretary) to become secretary of housing and urban development.
29
Russia: Khusein Chechenov, prime minister of Kabardino-Balkariya, resigns.
United States: Former Kentucky governor (1967-71) Louie B. Nunn dies.
30
Italy: Former president of Sardegna (1972) Salvator Angelo Spano dies.
Peru: Vice President Raúl Diez Canseco resigns.
