August 2009

1

Botswana: Kenneth Matambo becomes acting finance minister while the substantive minister, Baledzi Gaolathe, is on sick leave.
Cape Verde: Former governor (1969-74) António Adriano Faria Lopes dos Santos (also governor of Macau 1962-66) dies.
India: The governor-designate of Gujarat, Devendra Nath Dwivedi, dies.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization: Anders Fogh Rasmussen takes office as secretary-general.
Philippines: Former president (1986-92) Corazon Aquino dies.

Kubuabola

3

Fiji: Ratu Inoke Kubuabola is sworn in as foreign minister.

Brovtsev

Georgia: In separatist South Ossetia, President Eduard Kokoyty dismisses Prime Minister Aslanbek Bulatsev. The candidacy of Vadim Brovtsev as new prime minister is approved by the parliament on August 5.
Panama: Former governor of the Panama Canal Zone (1967-71) Walter P. Leber dies.

4

Lee

Canada: Philip S. Lee takes office as lieutenant governor of Manitoba.

5

Costa Rica: Finance Minister Guillermo Zúñiga resigns and Jenny Phillips is sworn in as finance minister.

Mouknass

Mauritania: Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz is sworn in as president. On August 11 he appoints a new government, retaining Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf as prime minister. Naha Mint Mouknass becomes foreign minister, Hamadi Ould Hamadi defense minister, Mohamed Ould Boilil interior minister, and Kane Ousmane finance minister.

6

Croatia: Former president of the Executive Committee (1967-69) and secretary of the Central Committee of the League of Communists (1969-71) Savka Dabcevic-Kucar dies.

Alva

India: Margaret Alva is sworn in as governor of Uttarakhand.

7

Colombia: Gabriel Silva Luján takes office as defense minister.
Pakistan: Shaukat Tarin is sworn in as finance minister.

8

Namibia: Former administrator of South West Africa (1983-85) Willie van Niekerk dies.

11

United States: Jon Huntsman, Jr., resigns as governor of Utah and Lieutenant Governor Gary Herbert is sworn in as governor.

14

Gabon: Defense Minister Ali Bongo Ondimba is removed from office. On August 15 Interior Minister Jean-François Ndongou takes over the defense portfolio.
Turks and Caicos Islands: Britain suspends self-government, putting Governor Gordon Wetherell in direct charge of the islands. On August 18 an Advisory Council is sworn in including Joseph Connolly, Edith Cox, Theo Durham, Carlton Mills, Eugene Otuonye, Doreen Quelch-Missick, and John Smith, besides five ex-officio members (Governor Wetherell, Deputy Governor Mahala Wynns, Chief Executive Martin Stanley, Attorney General Kurt DeFreitas, and Permanent Secretary, Finance, Delton Jones).

15

Belize: Former foreign minister (1984-85) Vernon Harrison Courtenay dies.

16

United States: Former governor of Missouri (1965-73) Warren E. Hearnes dies.
Vanuatu: The term of President Kalkot Mataskelekele ends and the speaker of parliament, Maxime Carlot Korman, becomes acting president.

17

Derache

Mayotte: Hubert Derache takes office as prefect.

18

South Korea: Former president (1998-2003) Kim Dae Jung dies.
Niger: Prime Minister Seyni Oumarou's government resigns. On August 19, it is reappointed without changes.
Somalia: In a cabinet reshuffle, Ali Ahmed Jama Jangali is appointed foreign minister and Abdallah Boss Ahmed defense minister.

19

Iran: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad submits his cabinet nominations to parliament, with Ahmad Vahidi as defense minister and Mostafa Mohammad Najjar as interior minister, while Manouchehr Mottaki is to remain as foreign minister and Shamseddin Hosseini as economy and finance minister. Each nominee will have to receive a vote of confidence from the parliament.

20

Afghanistan: In presidential elections, incumbent Hamid Karzai wins 54.6% of the vote and Abdullah Abdullah 27.7%. Turnout is 38.7%.
Sri Lanka: Shashindra Rajapakse is sworn in as chief minister of Uva.

21

Russia: In Kabardino-Balkariya, President Arsen Kanokov accepts the resignation of Prime Minister Andrey Yarin and appoints Aleksandr Merkulov as acting prime minister. Merkulov is confirmed by the local parliament on August 31.

22

France: The president of the Regional Council of Alsace, Adrien Zeller, dies. Bernard Stoessel continues as acting president.

23

The Netherlands: Former queen's commissioner of Groningen (1970-80) Edzo Toxopeus dies.

25

Mali: Former prime minister (2000-02) Mandé Sidibé dies.

26

Moldova: Prime Minister Zinaida Greceanîi and her cabinet resign.

27

Canada: The premier of Manitoba, Gary Doer, announces his resignation, effective in late October.
Georgia: In a cabinet reshuffle, Bacho Akhalaia is appointed defense minister.

30

Gabon: In presidential elections, Ali Bongo Ondimba (Gabonese Democratic Party) is elected with 41.8% of the vote, while Pierre Mamboundou (Union of the Gabonese People) wins 25.6% and André Mba Obame (independent) 25.3%.
Germany: In state elections in Saarland, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) wins 34.5% of the vote (19 of 51 seats), the Social Democratic Party (SPD) 24.5% (13), the Left 21.3% (11), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) 9.2% (5), and the Greens 5.9% (3); turnout is 67.6%. In Sachsen, the CDU wins 40.2% (58 of 132 seats), the Left 20.6% (29), the SPD 10.4% (14), the FDP 10% (14), the Greens 6.4% (9), and the National Democratic Party 5.6% (8); turnout is 52.2%. In Thüringen, the CDU wins 31.2% (30 of 88 seats), the Left 27.4% (27), the SPD 18.5% (18), the FDP 7.6% (7), and the Greens 6.2% (6); turnout is 56.2%.
Japan: In parliamentary elections, the Democratic Party of Japan wins 42.4% of the vote (308 of 480 seats), the Liberal-Democratic Party 26.7% (119), the New Komeito Party 11.5% (21), the Japanese Communist Party 7% (9), and the Social Democratic Party 4.3% (7). Turnout is 69.3%. Democratic Party leader Yukio Hatoyama is expected to be elected as prime minister by the new parliament on September 16.

31

Vaz

Uruguay: In a cabinet reshuffle, Pedro Vaz is appointed foreign minister and Gonzalo Fernández defense minister.