Rulers

January 2005

1

Mexico: Jesús Aguilar Padilla takes office as governor of Sinaloa.

Lüthi

Albicker

Lyon

Profos
Switzerland: Samuel Schmid takes office as president. Ruth Lüthi becomes president of the Council of State of Fribourg, Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf president of the government of Graubünden, Claude Hêche president of the government of Jura, Max Pfister Schultheiss of Luzern, Heinz Albicker president of the government of Schaffhausen, Walter Straumann Landammann of Solothurn, Anne-Catherine Lyon president of the Council of State of Vaud, and Brigitte Profos Landammann of Zug.

2

Croatia: In presidential elections, incumbent Stipe Mesic wins 49% of the vote, Jadranka Kosor 20.2%, and Boris Miksic 17.8%. Turnout is 51%. A runoff is held on January 16, and Mesic defeats Kosor 66%-34%.

Acevedo
Puerto Rico: Aníbal Acevedo Vilá takes office as governor.
United States: Mufi Hannemann takes office as mayor of Honolulu.

3

Congo (Kinshasa): In a cabinet reshuffle, Adolphe Onusumba is named defense minister.
Nicaragua: Mario Arana Sevilla is sworn in as finance minister.

Rotfeld
Poland: Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz announces his resignation. On January 5 Adam Daniel Rotfeld is sworn in as foreign minister.
United States: Brian Schweitzer is inaugurated as governor of Montana and Jon Huntsman, Jr., as governor of Utah.

4

Croatia: Foreign Minister Miomir Zuzul resigns.
South Korea: Oh Young Kyo is named interior minister in a cabinet reshuffle.

5

Antigua and Barbuda: Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer announces a cabinet reshuffle in which he takes over the foreign affairs portfolio from Harold Lovell.
Indonesia: Sudarsono Harjosukarto is sworn in as acting governor of Jambi.
San Marino: Former captain-regent (1960-61, 1968-69) Pietro Giancecchi dies.
Ukraine: President Leonid Kuchma accepts Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych's resignation and appoints First Deputy Prime Minister Mykola Azarov as acting prime minister.

6


Kwong
Canada: The lieutenant governor of Alberta, Lois Hole, dies. On January 19 Normie Kwong is appointed as new lieutenant governor. He is installed on January 20.
Canada: Former premier of New Brunswick (1960-70) Louis J. Robichaud dies.
Serbia and Montenegro: Former chairman of the Executive Council (1963-67) and president of the Presidency (1981-82) of Kosovo and president of the Presidium of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (1984-85) Ali Sukrija dies.
United States: John Lynch is inaugurated as governor of New Hampshire.

7


Mvouba
Congo (Brazzaville): In a cabinet reshuffle, Isidore Mvouba is named to the new honorific post of prime minister (which does not exist in the constitution). Pacifique Issoïbeka is named as new finance minister.
Guatemala: Gen. Carlos Aldana is sworn in as defense minister.
Somalia: Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Ghedi announces his new cabinet, which is immediately sworn in. As in his previous government, Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail is foreign minister, Abdirahman Mahmud Ali defense minister, Salim Aliyow Ibrow finance minister, and Hussein Aydid interior minister. The parliament votes its confidence (168-79) on January 13.

8

Bosnia and Herzegovina: The president of the Republika Srpska, Dragan Cavic, proposes Pero Bukejlovic as his new prime minister.
Somalia: The parliament of Puntland elects a new president. Gen. Mohamud Muse Hersi "Adde" is elected with 35 votes in the third round, against 30 for incumbent Mohamed Abdi Hashi. "Adde" is sworn in immediately.

9

Palestine: Mahmoud Abbas wins presidential elections with 62.5% of the vote, while Mustafa Barghouti wins 19.5%. Turnout is close to 70%. Abbas is sworn in on January 15.
Turkmenistan: In the second round of parliamentary elections, runoffs are held in 7 of the 50 districts.
Uzbekistan: The second round of parliamentary elections is held, and the Liberal-Democratic Party will hold a total of 41 of 120 seats, followed by the People's Democratic Party with 33.

10

Fiji: Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi is sworn in as vice president.
Israel: The Knesset approves (58-56 with 6 abstentions) Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new government and the new ministers are immediately sworn in. Among them are Shimon Peres as deputy prime minister and Ophir Pines-Paz as interior minister.
Peru: Interior Minister Javier Reátegui resigns. On January 14 Félix Murazzo is sworn in as new interior minister.
Saint-Pierre and Miquelon: Albert Dupuy takes office as prefect.
United States: Mitch Daniels is inaugurated as governor of Indiana and Matt Blunt as governor of Missouri.
Zambia: In a cabinet reshuffle, Home Affairs Minister Ronnie Shikapwasha and Foreign Minister Kalombo Mwansa exchange their portfolios.

11

Ghana: President John Agyekum Kufuor nominates Kwadwo Baah Wiredu as finance minister and Papa Owusu Ankomah as interior minister.
United States: President George W. Bush names Michael Chertoff for the post of secretary of homeland security.

12

Georgia: In presidential elections in Abkhazia, Sergey Bagapsh is elected with 90.1% of the votes against 4.5% for Yakub Lakoba. Turnout is 58.5%. Bagapsh is to be inaugurated on February 12; Aleksandr Ankvab is to be appointed as the next prime minister.
United States: Christine Gregoire is sworn in as governor of Washington.

13

Uganda: Ezra Suruma is appointed finance minister and Sam Kutesa foreign minister.

14

Bahrain: Sheikh Ahmad ibn Muhammad Al Khalifa is appointed finance minister in a cabinet reshuffle.

Morozov
Russia: Sergey Morozov is inaugurated as governor of Ulyanovsk oblast.

15

Mexico: Héctor Ortiz Ortiz takes office as governor of Tlaxcala.
Serbia and Montenegro: Former chairman of the Executive Council (1963-67) and president of the People's Assembly (1967-73) of Vojvodina Ilija Rajacic dies.

17

China: Former premier (1980-87) and general secretary of the Communist Party (1987-89) Zhao Ziyang dies.
Mayotte: Jean-Paul Kihl takes office as prefect.
United States: Joe Manchin is sworn in as governor of West Virginia.

18

Wallis and Futuna: Xavier de Furst takes office as administrator-superior.

19

Peru: Prime Minister Carlos Ferrero Costa (43 for, 42 against) and Defense Minister Roberto Chiabra (41 for, 44 against) survive censure motions in parliament (61 votes were needed for the adoption of the motions).

Kardanov
Russia: In Karachayevo-Cherkessia, Prime Minister Ruslan Kazanokov is dismissed and Alik Kardanov becomes acting prime minister. Kardanov is approved by parliament on January 28.

20

Malaysia: Former head of state of Penang (1989-2001) Tun Hamdan Sheikh Tahir dies.
The Netherlands: Former queen's commissioner of Limburg (1990-93) Emiel Mastenbroek dies.
Norway: Former prime minister (1965-71) Per Borten dies.
United States: The Senate confirms Mike Johanns as agriculture secretary and Margaret Spellings as education secretary. Johanns resigns as governor of Nebraska, where he is succeeded by Lieutenant Governor Dave Heineman, who is sworn in the next day. Johanns is also sworn in as secretary on January 21, while Spellings is sworn in on January 31.

21

French Southern and Antarctic Lands: Michel Champon takes office as administrator-superior.

22

China: Song Xiuyan is elected governor of Qinghai.
Maldives: In parliamentary elections, all candidates for the 42 seats run officially as independents. Turnout is 71.3%.

23

Russia: In gubernatorial elections in Nenets autonomous okrug, Aleksey Barinov (United Russia party) wins 22.4% of the vote, Igor Koshin 20.7%, Leonid Sablin (Communist) 18.1%, Aleksandr Shmakov (official candidate of the United Russia party) 16.2%, and 8.1% vote against all candidates. Turnout is 63%. A runoff is to be held February 6.

Tymoshenko
Ukraine: Viktor Yushchenko is sworn in as president. The next day he names Yuliya Tymoshenko as acting prime minister.

24

Taiwan: Premier Yu Shyi-kun's cabinet resigns. The next day President Chen Shui-bian names Frank Hsieh as premier. His cabinet is to take office February 1.
United States: The Senate confirms Carlos Gutierrez as commerce secretary.

26

Philippines: President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo names Cesar Purisima as finance secretary, to take office February 15.

Rice
United States: The Senate confirms (85-13) Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state and she is sworn in the same day. Mike Leavitt is confirmed and sworn in as secretary of health and human services. Jim Nicholson is confirmed as secretary of veterans affairs.

29

China: Wang Min is elected governor of Jilin.

30

Iraq: In parliamentary elections, the United Iraqi Alliance wins 48.1% of the votes (140 of 275 seats), the Kurdish Unity List 25.7% (75), Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's Iraqi List 13.8% (40), and President Ghazi al-Yawer's Iraqiyun (Iraqis) list 1.7% (5). Turnout is 59%. In the regional elections in Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Democratic List (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and Kurdistan Democratic Party) wins 89.5% of the votes (104 of 111 seats), the Islamic Group of Kurdistan 4.9% (6), and the Kurdistan Toilers Party 1.2% (1). A unified government for the autonomous region is to be installed instead of the two current administrations of the PUK and the KDP.

31

African Union: Olusegun Obasanjo's term as chairman, which was due to expire in July, is extended to January 2006.
Haiti: In a cabinet reshuffle, Interior Minister Hérard Abraham is named foreign minister, and Michel Bernardin is to replace him as interior minister.
Russia: In accordance with a new law scrapping gubernatorial elections and allowing the president to nominate governors, President Vladimir Putin nominates incumbent Sergey Darkin to be governor of Primorsky kray. Darkin still has to be confirmed by the Primorsky Legislative Assembly.
United States: The Senate confirms Samuel Bodman as energy secretary.