§ 6. TAKING OFFICE OR STEPPING DOWN

Kiev – Parliament voted Thursday to hold President-elect Viktor Yushchenko’s inauguration this coming Sunday, setting the stage for the transition to a new government for Ukraine following months of divisive political crisis.

President Vladimir Putin, who had supported his opponent Viktor Yanukovych during the election campaign, congratulated Yushchenko, whose office swiftly announced he would visit Moscow just a day after the inauguration. Yushchenko had indicated earlier that his first foreign visit as president would be to Russia, but the timing suggested a strong desire to smooth relations with Ukraine's giant, economically critical neighbor even as he pushes for closer integration with Western Europe.

Yushchenko's spokeswoman said the visit to Moscow would be followed a day later by a trip to Strasbourg, France, to address the European Parliament.

The inauguration is³⁵ to begin with Yushchenko taking the oath of office in the Verkhovna Rada, the parliament, followed by a military ceremony at Mariinsky Palace, the presidential ceremonial building.

Then, in what is likely to be the emotional highlight of the day, Yushchenko will make a speech at Independence Square, the center of the huge demonstrations that broke out after the Nov. 21 election in which he was declared the loser.

The November election results were annulled ³⁶by the Supreme Court amid evidence of massive vote fraud, and Yushchenko won the Dec. 26 rerun.

Before dawn Thursday, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal of last month's election by Yanukovych, saying there was insufficient evidence to support his claim that millions of citizens were deprived of their right to vote.

Yanukovych representative Nestor Shufrich said the loser’s camp would appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, an attempt to undermine Yushchenko’s standing among the Western European countries he aims to court for integration into the European Union.
2. New leader of Greece offers agenda

Athens: Prime Minister-elect Costas Caramanlis on Monday began forming a conservative administration that will try to balance pledges to make government smaller with promises of generous social spending.

"I want to underline that the people trusted us with their confidence," Caramanlis said after President Costis Stephanopoulos gave him the mandate to form a government. "Our responsibilities are very great, and we are obliged to respond to their expectations. We start work immediately."

A few moments earlier, Costas Simitis, the Socialist prime minister, offered his resignation to Stephanopoulos. He will stay on as caretaker until a new government is sworn in on Wednesday. Caramanlis said he would announce his new cabinet on Tuesday.

Caramanlis has pledged an administration smaller than the Socialist cabinet that has governed Greece for the past 11 years. Made up of 19 ministries and 50 cabinet members, that government was considered unwieldy.

Caramanlis has promised to slash red tape, reduce and simplify taxes, and cut an unemployment rate of about 9 percent. He has also pledged more funds for social welfare, education and health.

Other promises include cleaning up public finances, tainted by allegations of corruption under the Socialists, by appointing corporate-style managers at government agencies and creating an independent authority to oversee state contracts.

Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore's incoming prime minister, yesterday dashed hopes of a sweeping cabinet reshuffle as he opted for keeping old guard officials.

Analysts said the new cabinet might be seen as a transition one before Mr Lee seeks his own electoral mandate as early as next year.

Mr Lee, 52, who will be sworn in tomorrow, has faced criticism that his rise was helped by his being the son of Lee Kuan Yew, the city-state's founding father.

"Lee may have decided to hold off on an extensive cabinet reshuffle until he proves he has popular backing with a convincing election victory," said an analyst.

Although the long-ruling People's Action party is virtually certain to win the next election, attention will focus on the percentage of votes the new government receives. The last election produced 75 per cent support for the PAP government under Goh Chok Tong, Mr Lee's popular predecessor.

In an apparent effort to defuse suggestions that Singapore is being governed by a Lee dynasty, the elder Mr Lee, 80, has stepped down as senior minister and will be replaced by Mr Goh. But he will remain in the cabinet as "minister mentor" and rank third in the hierarchy.

Mr Goh will also take over as central bank governor from his successor, who will retain his finance ministry portfolio in addition to being prime minister.

Although most political analysts expect no big policy changes, challenges facing the new government faces include increased competition from China and India for foreign direct investment, a declining birth rate and a better-educated population that might be less willing to accept Singapore's tough political and social controls.
4. Hungary coalition close to collapse over cabinet dispute

Hungary's ruling coalition was on the verge of collapse last night after Peter Medgyessy, prime minister, moved to sack a member of his cabinet belonging to the junior coalition partner, the liberal Free Democrat party.

The Free Democrats refused to accept the dismissal of Istvan Csillag, economy minister, or to nominate a replacement, saying they would demand negotiations today with the Socialist party, the senior partners in the centre-left government.

Mr Medgyessy held talks with the Free Democrats yesterday where the liberal party made clear its backing of Mr Csillag. Still Mr Medgyessy demanded the resignation in a press conference. Gabor Kuncze, Free Democrat president, responded by saying his confidence in the prime minister had been shaken.

It would³⁸, however, represent the first failure to maintain a majority since the collapse of communism in 1989.

"Hungarian voters have never faced this type of crisis before," said Krisztian Szabados of Political Capital, a political consulting company in Budapest. "If the coalition falls it would damage the credibility of both parties."

Ruling as a minority government would also significantly hurt the Socialists' ability to pass legislation.

The announcement by Mr Medgyessy, who is a member of neither party, was part of a wider government shake-up that had been in the works since the Socialists were defeated in June's European elections by the conservative Fidesz party.

The economy portfolio is considered a key position because it controls a substantial budget.
Optional texts
5. Aznar hangs up his legislative boots

King Juan Carlos dissolved Spain's parliament last night, ending eight years of rightwing government by the prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, and sounding the starting gun for a March general election.

The exit of Mr Aznar, who has kept his promise not to run for more than two consecutive terms of office, will be a loss to both Tony Blair and George Bush, for whom he has been a close European ally.

The friendship with Mr Blair goes back to 1998, when his family went on holiday with the Aznars in Spain's Donana national park. Despite apparently coming from opposite sides of the political spectrum, the two men hit it off and their advisers declared that there was "chemistry" at work.

That chemistry showed in several joint attempts to push economic reform of the European Union, and in the formation of an informal alliance against the combined weight of France and Germany.

It reached its highest point in the run up to the Iraq war, when Mr Aznar stood side by side with Mr Blair and Mr Bush in arguing that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, and that Iraq should be invaded if he did not give them up. Like Mr Blair and Mr Bush, the Spanish leader has since been unrepentant about the failure to uncover any such weapons.

Mr Aznar remains acting prime minister until a new government is formed. His successor as party leader is the deputy prime minister Mariano Kajoy.
6. Hollow victory for Germany's Thatcher brings
chaos to Europe

Germany faced political paralysis last night after its voters failed to give Angela Merkel the resounding victory she needed to form a strong conservative government.

The results were a huge disappointment for Frau Merkel, who had hoped to poll over 40 per cent but who fought a lacklustre campaign. The woman once hailed as Germany's Margaret Thatcher was a lonely victor, visibly depressed when she faced her supporters. She conceded that she had "obviously wished for a better result", but stressed that Herr Schröder's party had been voted out of power and said she would negotiate with every other party except the Left Party. Herr Schröder, who had seemed to be heading for a crushing defeat just a few weeks ago, called the result a personal defeat for Frau Merkel and claimed that his barnstorming campaign had achieved what had seemed "completely impossible".

Yesterday's results came as a blow to those like Tony Blair who were quietly hoping that a convincing Merkel victory would reshape Europe and reinvigorate the continent's largest economy. Germany has the slowest growth in the EU and over five million unemployed.

Even if she is able to form a "Grand Coalition", her ability to overhaul Germany's cumbersome labour laws, her desire to build closer relations with the United States and her willingness to embrace reform of the European Union would be greatly curtailed by her left-of-centre partners.

Critics describe such an alignment – tried only once before, in 1966 – as a recipe for disaster.

The confused result – in essence a vote against any drastic change – is forcing all parties to reshuffle their cards. The initiative, however, remains with Frau Merkel. Her party was 1.5 per cent ahead of the Social Democrats and she has priority in forming a new government.

Tony Blair insisted yesterday that he intends to stay on as Prime Minister for a full third term if he wins the election.

He hinted that when the time came he would announce his impending departure and then stay in his job while the party elected his successor. "Under Labour rules there is nothing that says you cannot serve a full term, but we have to have a transition and a handover," he said.

The view at Westminster remains that Mr Blair will go in the second half of the next Parliament. The timing will be designed to give his successor, almost certainly Gordon Brown, enough leeway to get his feet under the table but also to enjoy a voter honeymoon before the next election.

In an interview on the ВВС Radio 4 Today programme, Mr Blair conceded that there would be a handover period for his successor to take control but appeared reluctant to say when that would be. He admitted that his reputation had suffered "wear and tear" from criticism over Iraq but said that he wanted to remain as the party leader to push the party's agenda forward.
Active Vocabulary

1. President-elect –	вновь избранный президент
to be sworn into office / to be sworn in –	давать присягу при вступлении в должность
syn. to take the oath of office
inauguration –	инаугурация, церемония вступления в должность
2. to offer/ tender one’s resignation –	подать прошение об отставке
to announce a new cabinet –	объявить состав нового кабинета
agenda –	повестка дня; программа (партии, правительства)
3. cabinet reshuffle –	перестановка, изменения в составе кабинета министров
syn. shake-up
transition (transitional) cabinet/government –	правительство переходного периода
to seek a mandate –	добиваться получения мандата
to retain a portfolio –	сохранить должность министра
4. to collapse/to crumble over sth –	распадаться, разваливаться из-за ч-л
to sack sb –	снять с поста, отстранить от должности, уволить
syn. to dismiss, to fire
to dismiss the Cabinet – ant. to appoint a Cabinet	отправить в отставку, распустить кабинет министров
n. dismissal/sacking –	отстранение от должности, увольнение
minority government –	правительство меньшинства
5. to dissolve a parliament –	распустить парламент
n. dissolution –	роспуск
two consecutive terms of office –	два срока пребывания в должности подряд
acting prime minister –	исполняющий обязанности премьер-министра
6. horse-trading –	политическая сделка; переговоры между партнерами по коалиции
lackluster campaign –	тусклая, скучная кампания

to barnstorm –	выезжать в агитационную поездку на места; произносить речи на местных собраниях
7..to hand over power –	передавать власть
handover –	передача (полномочий, дел и т.д.)
honeymoon –	зд. первоначальный гармоничный период новых отношений

II. Translate the sentences paying attention to the underlined words, words and word combinations in italics.
A. a)

1. 
   In Britain, with its first-past-the-post system, Ms Merkel would now be forming her government, and grooming herself as a German version of Margaret Thatcher.
   
2. 
   Mr Ivanov has long been a contender but Mr Medvedev may now be the favourite. Compared with Mr Ivanov (who speaks good English but has the soul of a cold warrior), Mr Medvedev (who has a reputation as a pragmatic administrator), would be more palatable to the West.
   
3. 
   Should they win, CDU chairwoman Angela Merkel would be the next chancellor.
   
4. 
   Gerhard Schröder, the German Chancellor, was dealt a devastating blow in Hamburg's city-state elections yesterday, the first ballot box test in a year that looks set to be his annus horribilis.
   
5. 
   With Bolivia’s political paries weak and discredited and new radical Indian movements fractured among themselves, it is not clear who can govern Bolivia should Senor Mesa go.
   
6. 
   Blair's popularity has been further eroded by his close relationship with U.S. President George W. Bush and the perception that he slavishly follows Washington's foreign policy without exerting any real influence.
   
7. 
   Junichiro Koizumi, the Prime Minister, dissolved parliament last month after his proposal to privatise postal services was voted down in the upper house of the Japanese Diet.
   
8. 
   Mr Tung, 67, was handpicked by Beijing to become Hong Kong's first leader after the colony was returned to China in 1997, but the former shipping tycoon quickly lost public support. He was hit by successive recessions caused by the Asian financial slump.
   
9. 
   Most allegations of this type are centred on minority communities, especially in large urban areas. Other allegations made have related to apparent dual or multiple voting and votes being cast by electors known to be away from the UK.
   
10. 
    Speculation that he might be forced to stand down was fuelled by a report that suggested he had pledged to resign if he felt he had become a liability to the Labour Party.
    
11. 
    Mr Koizumi has promised to step down should his coalition fail to win the required 241 seats to govern unchallenged.
    
12. 
    Asked whether he had been sacked by the Chinese leadership he said: "That is not the case at all."
    
13. 
    Charismatic and sometimes brash, Schröder often seemed to navigate without a vision. He announced with fanfare his plan for economic and social reforms, known as Agenda 2010, but failed to articulate why Germans should endure cutbacks to their generous social welfare state.
    

1. 
   Incoming Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong opted to keep old guard officials, dashing hopes of a cabinet reshuffle.
   
2. 
   However, many fear that the new generation of politicians taking over from Mr Shevardnadze lack the experience to rein in separatist conflicts raging on the territory of the tiny Caucasian state.
   
3. 
   Kim Jong-il, North Korea's dictator, yesterday staged a rare cabinet reshuffle, replacing several top officials with younger men in an apparent attempt to strengthen his power base.
   
4. 
   The president acted after prime minister Leszek Miller said last week that he planned to resign on May 2, the day after Poland joins the European Union, following the splintering of his unpopular ruling Democratic Left Alliance (SLD).
   
5. 
   Mr Martin, who came to power in December after edging his predecessor Jean Chrétien out of the Liberal leadership, has been itching to secure his own mandate.
   
6. 
   In his letter of resignation, read at a news conference Sunday morning by Neptune, Aristide said he had chosen to resign to prevent further bloodshed in an armed uprising that has killed as many as 100 people and to ensure that the new government would conform with the Haitian Constitution.
   
7. 
   Sri Lanka's political parties were urged by the country's President last night to join her in forming a national government in her ongoing power struggle with Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Prime Minister, which threatens the country's fragile peace process.
   
8. 
   The prime minister, whose Congress-led coalition took power in May in an unexpected victory over its Hindu nationalist-led predecessor, struck a marked change in tone from Atal Behari Vajpayee, the former prime minister.
   
9. 
   Eduard Shevardnadze resigned as President of Georgia after mass protests accused him of economic mismanagement and vote-rigging. Other ministers resigned too.
   
10. 
    The Liberian Government and two rebel groups agreed at talks in Ghana to allow aid into all parts of Liberia and to ensure the safety of aid workers. Negotiations on the interim government stalled after the rebels were told that they could not have any of the top four posts.
    
11. 
    Under a US-backed plan, Mr Latortue was to name some cabinet members yesterday to help form a transitional government, uniting former enemies from Mr Aristide's party with an opposition coalition. But the only names put forward as sure winners so far are anti-Aristide.
    

12. 
    Argentina’s new political map fell into sharp focus this week as votes were counted in the last of a batch of regional elections and senators-elect were preparing to be sworn into office today.
    

14. The irony that the Chancellor, who has long been impatient to take over from Mr Blair, advised him against an early decision to quit has not been lost on senior ministers or Mr Brown's close allies.

1. 
   Parliament will this week become the scene of frantic forse-trading with more than half the government's legislative programme likely to be lost as the opposition parties exploit Tony Blair's determination to go the the polls on May 5.
   
2. 
   Germany's president, Horst Köhler, set the stage last night for early elections on September 18 when he announced he would dissolve parliament following a vote of no confidence in the government of the chancellor, Gerhard Schröder.
   
3. 
   Bitter personal rivalries between the leaders of Ukraine's "orange revolution" forced Viktor Yushchenko to sack his government yesterday, plunging the country into fresh political crisis.
   
4. 
   Mr Yushchenko said he had asked his old friend and ally Yuri Yekhanurov, a veteran government official with a record of avoiding political confrontations, to take over as acting prime minister and form a new cabinet.
   
5. 
   After announcing the cabinet's dismissal, Mr Yushchenko admitted his failure to reconcile the two rival camps in his administration.
   
6. 
   After a short honeymoon, the ruling coalition will begin its horse-trading, haggling over ministerial posts.
   
7. 
   Speculation is rife that Blair will visit Buckingham Palace and ask Queen Elizabeth II to dissolve Parliament, triggering a four-week campaign ending with a vote on May 5.
   

8. 
   Yanukovych is the choice of outgoing President Leonid Kuchma to succeed him, and has received the implicit backing of President Putin in several high-profile public appearances.
   
9. 
   Carlos Mesa, Bolivia’s new president, went straight to work assembling a new cabinet yesterday, less than 48 hours after Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozoda tendered his resignation and fled the country for Miami.
   
10. 
    The current president, Johannes Rau, 73, a longtime Social Democrat, is at the end of his five-year term of office. His successor will be elected May 23.
    
11. 
    Mariamo Rajoy, the Spanish deputy prime minister and government spokesman, was confirmed yesterday as the Popular party candidate for prime minister, formally ratifying the nomination made by José Maria Aznar, who will step down after general elections in March.
    
12. 
    The Christian Democrat mayor, Ole von Beust, called early elections after his government collapsed in December because of in-fighting with its coalition partner.
    
13. 
    Mr Macapagal, who moved from the vice-presidency to the top job in 2001 when her predecessor, Joseph Estrada, was ousted in a corruption scandal, has fuelled the political debate by refusing to confirm a previous promise not to stand for president in elections next May.
    
14. 
    President Jacques Chirac refused to be hurried yesterday into a reshuffle of the Raffarin government in the wake of Sunday's disastrous performance in France's regional elections, which saw sweeping gains by the leftwing opposition.
    
15. 
    Ahmed Qurei, the veteran politician nominated to take over as Palestinian prime minister, yesterday demanded international guarantees of support for the peace process before be accepted the post.
    
16. 
    The commission was set up by the old US-led occupation authority that predated Iyad Allawi’s interim Government.
    
17. 
    Haiti's new prime minister met political leaders yesterday to form a new cabinet as a rift deepened over Jamaica playing host to Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the ousted president whose return to the Caribbean threatened more violent protests.
    
18. 
    To avoid a showdown that could have led to the immediate collapse of Mr Abbas’s government, parliament bowed to US pressure and dropped plans for a vote of confidence.
    
19. 
    The shakeup, ordered by President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, will reorganize the government into a three-tier system of ministries, services and agencies.
    
20. 
    The chief justice of the Haitian Supreme Court, Boniface Alexandre, was sworn in as the head of a transitional government until elections in 2005, following a succession process that is outlined in Haiti's Constitution, and Prime Minister Yvon Neptune will retain his post until new elections are held.
    

1. 
   Italy has had a hybrid system, in which three-quarters of the seats in both chambers are won on a "first-past-the-post" basis, with the remainder decided by proportional representation. The pr vote is subject to a 4% threshold meant to keep tiny parties out of parliament (they tend to get in all the same, because, in the horse-trading to form broad alliances of right and left, bigger parties win over smaller ones by giving them safe seats decided by majority vote).
   
2. 
   Mr Bush recently accepted the resignation of Mr Scowcroft, an increasingly outspoken critic of administration policies, as head of his foreign intelligence advisory board. It is not clear whether the president removed him or the former general decided to go.
   
3. 
   The Republican-controlled Senate was convening later, with confirmation of the first of Bush’s second-term Cabinet offices on the agenda.
   
4. 
   A. A., the Liberal Alliance candidate, proclaimed himself president-elect of Nicaragua yesterday, after early returns from Sunday’s general election put him ahead of D. O. by a substantial margin.
   
5. 
   If Mr Rajoy does not win an absolute majority the Socialists could in theory try to form a coalition with a wide range of parties, including the communist-led coalition of left-wing parties and the Basque and Catalan separatists.
   
6. 
   Defense Minister Serjei Ivanov, a hard-liner, retained his job. A collegue of Putin from their days in the security services, Ivanov is seen as a possible heir to the presidency in 2008, when Putin is required to step down after two terms of office.
   
7. 
   Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada was expected last night to stand down as president of Bolivia, after bowing to a massive popular revolt which threatened to tip the country into anarchy. Government officials said the president, who took office just over a year ago, had formally said farewell to army commanders and close political allies.
   
8. 
   Initial results of an opinion poll in southern Iraq suggest that Iyad Allawi, the secular leaning interim prime minister, could prove an unexpected rival to an Islamist-backed list for the votes of the country's Shia majority.
   
9. 
   Newly sworn in, Bush offered an implied rebuttal to critics of his foreign policy and the war in Iraq.
   
10. 
    S. A. was sworn in yesterday as Bangladesh’s 14^th president, pledging to strengthen democracy and bring together the country’s bitter political rivals.
    
    11. 
        After the reshuffle that abolished some ministries and merged others, 17 ministers now sit in on Cabinet meetings, compared with 30 previously.
        
    12. 
        Voting is compulsory in Greece, the poorest EU member state which the outgoing Socialist prime minister, Costas Simitis, steered into the eurozone in 2001.
        
    13. 
        Mr Roh cited the scandal as the main reason for his decision last week to call a referendum on his leadership and resign if he failed to secure a confidence vote.
        
    14. 
        Provincial governors and several members of Mr Khatami's cabinet have threatened to resign if the ban is not lifted.
        
    15. 
        Naoto Kan, leader of the Democratic party of Japan, the country's main opposition party, has resigned in a severe setback for a party that had just begun to emerge as a credible second force in Japanese politics.
        
    16. 
        John Redwood was unexpectedly brought back into frontline politics last night by a reshuffle in which Michael Howard shifted his Shadow Cabinet to the right.
        
    17. 
        Vojislav Kostunica, the law professor who won the Yugoslav presidency with Mr Milosevic's ousting but later lost it in Yugoslavia's final dissolution, is a strong contender to be the next prime minister.
        
    18. 
        The incoming Czech government, due to ask for a vote of confidence on Tuesday, plans piecemeal rather than radical reform according to Martin Jahn, the new deputy premier for the economy.
        
    19. 
        Mr Kim replaced his prime minister, two of his three deputy premiers and five ministers in what South Korean reports said was the most far-reaching government shake-up for five years.
        
    20. 
        Anneli Jaatteenmaki, the former prime minister of Finland who stepped down in June, denied any wrongdoing as she went on trial on Wednesday on charges of illegally obtaining secret documents that she used to win the election last year.
        
    21. 
        Analysts are unsure how the next government will be formed. Three consecutive failed presidential elections have left Serbia without the leader who, by tradition and law, designates the next prime minister.
        
    22. 
        After offering his resignation to President Ciampi, Signor Berlusconi, looking drawn, said that consultations on reshuffling his coaliton would begin today and should be completed by midday tomorrow. The new Government will then face a vote of confidence in Parliament.
        

The parliament (...) between pro-European Union parties and those who reject a UN-proposed reunification plan. Each camp has 25 seats. Mr Denktas (...) the UN plan this year. If (...) cannot be formed, new elections will have (...) within 60 days.

The moves come amid concerns about the increased concentration of power among family members of Lee Kuan Yew, modern Singapore's founding father.

Mr Goh is expected (…) by Lee Hsien Loong, Kuan Yew's son, while his wife, Ho Ching, is already head of Temasek Holdings, the powerful state investment agency that controls most of the city-state's leading companies and is emerging as a formidable investor in the region.

Mr Goh told Singapore's Straits Times newspaper that he wanted to introduce a system where (…) affiliated to the long-ruling People's Action party (PAP), which holds all but two (…), must first (…) the prime minister before he (…).

Mr Goh has been popular in Singapore, but informal internet (…) suggest that public support for Mr Lee is lukewarm because he is regarded as an aloof figure who lacks a populist touch.

The prime minister said he would conduct (…) before he (…), which some analysts believe indicates that he wants (…) influence in the new government under Mr Lee.

Mr Goh is also expected (…) to the advisory post of senior minister in the new government, a post that is also held by Lee Kuan Yew.

Mr Goh refused to name a (…) date, since he said he still had "important jobs" to complete, including a series of meetings with foreign leaders such as President George W. Bush in the next few months.

Mr Goh, prime minister since 1990, said in December he would (…) to Mr Lee if the economy expanded by at least 3 per cent in the first quarter of 2004, which would signal a long-awaited recovery. The economy grew by 7.3 per cent, according to the latest government data.

The younger Mr Lee is now (…), finance minister and central bank chairman.

Iraq's most senior Shia cleric declared his opposition yesterday to America's latest plan (...) sovereignty to an appointed (...) this June. Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who is revered by Iraq's Shia majority and has forced changes to previous American plans, instead demanded full democratic elections to a new assembly - a move that could wreck President Bush's hopes of starting to withdraw American troops from Iraq before the presidential election in the United States in November.

The coalition wants regional (...) to select a (...) assembly by late May, which will then select an interim government (...) the reins of power. A new constitution and full elections would follow in 2005.

But Ayatollah Sistani, speaking in the holy city of Najaf after rejecting entreaties from visiting members of the United States-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, insisted that there was no reason why elections should not be held much sooner. "Experts think it is possible to organise (...) in the coming months," he said. The Shias, who represent 60 per cent of Iraq's population, would clearly benefit most from (...).

John Manley, Canada's finance minister and (вице-премьер), (покидает политику), in a move which heralds (существенные изменения) in the federal cabinet.

Mr Manley, who has also served as foreign minister in a 15-year political career, said he was leaving politics to pursue "other challenges".

He denied that he was leaving because (вступающий в должность премьер-министр), Paul Martin, had not offered him a sufficiently (высокий пост в правительстве). However, Mr Manley is believed to have coveted a return to the (дожность министра иностранных дел).

Mr Martin, who (становится преемником на посту премьер-министра) on December 12, is set (внести изменения в состав кабинета) as he tries to build political impetus ahead of (всеобщие выборы), which may come as early as next April. He is expected (сместить с должности) several ministers seen as loyal to (уходящий, покидающий пост) prime minister, Jean Chretien.

Mr Manley (балотировался против) Mr Martin for the leadership of the ruling Liberal party in an at times acrimonious (гонка). He eventually (отозвал свою кандидатуру) in the face of Mr Martin's overwhelming popularity with the party (рядовые члены). Mr Martin, himself finance minister from 1993 until last year, is certain to give (ключевой пост министра финансов) to a (верному союзнику).

Ralph Goodale, public works minister, is seen as ( наиболее вероятная кандидатура на пост).

A former tax lawyer, Mr Manley rose rapidly through Mr Chretien's cabinet, serving as industry minister and (заняв пост министра иностранных дел) in October 2000. He has a reputation as a dogged and highly competent minister, but one who has struggled to overcome a stiff public persona.

The dispute followed Wednesday's (увольнение) by Mr Medgyessy of Istvan Csillag, (экономика) minister and a member of the Free Democrat party, (младший партнер по коалиции).

One source close to the Socialist party confirmed reports that the job would go to Peter Kiss, a former Labour minister and Mr Medgyessy's chief of staff.

An engineer by training, Mr Kiss, 45, has mostly operated as a behind-the-scenes figure in the Socialist party. His selection is widely seen as a compromise among (соперники) aiming to win the party's leadership in an October congress.

Hungary's constitution requires that parliament simultaneously (утверждает) a new head of government when (увольняя, отстраняя от дел) a prime minister in what is termed a constructive (вотум недоверия). The Socialists said they would present such (предложение, шаг) next Thursday, and expect a vote in parliament on September 6.

The party (будет стремиться заручиться поддержкой) for Mr Kiss from the Free Democrats, in a meeting today.

Before the two camps agree on a new prime minister, however, they will first have (разрешить спор по поводу увольнения) of Mr Csillag. The Free Democrats rejected (увольнение, отстранение) and nearly (покинули правительство).

In a move of political brinkmanship, Mr Medgyessy responded by pledging (уйти в отставку) if the coalition (распадется). That backfired when Socialist party leaders (вмешались) and effectively (отказали в поддержке) for Mr Medgyessy on Thursday evening.

The Socialists' decision to dump Mr Medgyessy followed months of (напряженность) between the party and the independent technocrat they chose in 2002 (возглавить правительство). The situation was aggravated by the government’s (падение популярности) and the Socialists' poor showing in June's European elections.

Mr. Medgyessy's (смещение с должности) will mark the first time in Hungary's post-communist history that (находящийся у власти) prime minister has been replaced. Jozsef Antall, Hungary's first democratically elected prime minister, died in office in 1993.

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    JAPAN PICKS CABINET
    

В воскресенье в Японии состоялись выборы в нижнюю палату парламента. Победу на них, по данным exit-polls, одержала правящая Либерально-демократическая партия (ЛДП) во главе с 63-летним премьером Дзюнъитиро Коидзуми. Явка на выборах превысила 60%.

По предварительной информации, ЛДП в одиночку набрала от 285 до 325 мест в палате из 480 (всего в парламент пытался пробиться 1131 кандидат), завоевав простое большинство. Именно такую цель ставили перед собой, и Коидзуми, и его основной соперник – 52-летний Кацуя Окада, лидер Демократической партии. Оба пообещали, что в случае проигрыша уйдут в отставку.

Успех ЛДП эксперты прогнозировали: по уровню популярности либерал-демократы почти вдвое превосходят Демократическую партию. А фигуры Коидзуми и Окады в этом смысле вообще несравнимы: еще несколько месяцев назад премьера поддерживали 87% японцев, сейчас–чуть меньше.

Основные надежды Окада связывал с 30% сограждан, которые до дня голосования так и не определилась со своими симпатиями. Однако, судя по всему, большинство из них отдали голоса правящей партии, а у Демократической партии будет в нижней палате не более 127 мест.

Вчерашние выборы, 44-е по счету, – внеочередные. Месяц назад Коидзуми распустил нижнюю палату, после того как верхняя отклонила правительственный проект приватизации почтовой службы. Заблокировав этот стратегический вопрос, законодатели фактически выразили вотум недоверия премьеру. Коидзуми в ответ воспользовался своим конституционным правом на роспуск парламента и назначил новые выборы.

Вчера в Германии прошли парламентские выборы, которые должны определить, кто возглавит страну на ближайшие четыре года. Голосование завершилось в 8 часов вечера по московскому времени, и уже через минуту ведущие социологические институты распространили итоги «экзит-пулов»–опросов избирателей на выходе с участков. С незначительным отрывом лидирует правый блок ХДС/ХСС, возглавляемый Ангелой Меркель. Но это все–только предварительные выкладки. Окончательные результаты должны объявить глубокой ночью. Тогда же и станет известно, уйдет ли с политической арены канцлер Герхард Шредер или вновь, как три года назад, сумеет чудом удержаться у власти. «Экзит-пулы» рисуют такую картину. ХДС/ХСС набирает примерно 36 процентов. Следом идут социал-демократы Шредера (СДПГ) – 34 процента. То есть за последнюю неделю они сократили отрыв от правых до минимума – с 6 до 2 процентов.

Союзники Меркель из Свободно-демократической партии набирают 10,5 процента – больше, чем предсказывали все социологические опросы последнего времени. Тем не менее 46,5 процента голосов, на которые пока может рассчитывать «черно-желтая» коалиция во главе с Меркель, не хватит для формирования правительства.

«Зеленые», выступающие в альянсе со Шредером, претендуют на 8,5 процента. И наконец, «Новые левые» (блок, куда входят правившие в бывшей ГДР экс-коммунисты из Партии демократического социализма и сторонники Оскара Лафонтена, раскольника из рядов СДПГ) набирают от 7,5 до 8,5 процента.

И именно они, похоже, спутали все карты и Шредеру, и особенно Меркель. С «Новыми левыми» никто в коалицию вступать не хочет. А без них в новом бундестаге ни у кого не будет большинства–ни у «черно-желтых», ни тем более у «красно-зеленых».

А значит, наиболее реальный вариант на этот момент–«красно-черная большая коалиция», куда войдут две главные партии страны, христианские демократы и СДПГ. Если, конечно, любовь Шредера к власти не окажется такой сильной, что он переступит через принципы, все-таки заключит альянс с «Новыми левыми», пригласит их в правительство и тем самым сохранит за собой пост канцлера.