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11 March Libya
The Prime Minister, Ali Zidan, was removed from office following a vote of no confidence in him by the General National Congress (GNC). Abdallah al-Thani, the Minister of Defence, was subsequently appointed replace Zidan on an interim basis. The GNC’s action against Zidan was prompted by the national authorities’ apparent failure to prevent the export of crude petroleum by militia groups that have been in de facto control of three ports in the east of the country since mid-2013.
9 March El Salvador
According to preliminary results issued by the electoral authority, the Tribunal Supremo Electoral (TSE), Salvador Sánchez Cerén, the candidate of the ruling left-wing Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN) and current Vice-President, won 50.11% of the votes cast in the second round of the presidential election. His opponent, Norman Quijano of the right-wing Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (ARENA), garnered 49.89% of the votes. Despite the close result, the head of the TSE, Eugenio Chicas, declared the outcome of the ballot to be ‘irreversible’. On 11 March Quijano presented an appeal to the TSE that the run-off ballot be cancelled, owing to allegations of fraud.
2 March NATO
NATO’s North Atlantic Council held an emergency session to discuss the events in Ukraine, followed by a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission. NATO allies condemned Russia’s ‘military escalation’ of the situation by mobilizing its armed forces in Crimea. They urged Russia to withdraw its forces, refrain from any further interference and respect its international commitments. On 3 March NATO’s Secretary-General announced that the NAC would convene on the following day in response to a request by Poland to discuss the situation in Ukraine on the basis of Article 4 of the Washington Treaty, concerning threats to territorial integrity and to the security of the Euro-Atlantic area.
1 March Russia
Both chambers of the Federal Assembly endorsed a motion that would permit eventual military action in Ukraine, in response to a request from President Vladimir Putin: supporters of this action claimed that the wellbeing of Russians and Russian-speakers in Ukraine had been potentially placed at risk by an alleged growth in neo-Nazi activity following the impeachment of President Viktor Yanukovych on 22 February. Meanwhile, Russian troops based in the Crimean peninsula blockaded Ukrainian military bases nearby and established checkpoints on the two roads connecting Crimea to other regions of Ukraine, while local ‘self-defence troops’ assumed control of strategic locations in the two major cities in Crimea, Sevastopol and Simferopol. On 3 March the Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Vitalii Churkin, stated that Yanukovych had requested military assistance from Russia after he had been removed from office, and on the following day Putin announced that he continued to regard Yanukovych as the legitimate President of Ukraine, while stating that Russia would support a process of inclusive political change in the country.
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1 March Egypt
A new Council of Ministers was sworn into office by interim President Adli Mahmoud Mansour. Ibrahim Mehleb was confirmed as Prime Minister, having been asked to form a new Government following the resignation of Dr Hazem al-Biblawi and his ministers on 24 February. A majority of ministers from that outgoing administration retained their posts, including the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Field Marshal Abd al-Fatah al-Sisi, and the Minister of the Interior, Maj.-Gen. Muhammad Ibrahim. Most notable among the new appointees were Nayer Abd al-Moneim Othman, who became Minister of Justice, and Hani Qadri Demian, who assumed the post of Minister of Finance. Some 12 portfolios were merged: these included the transitional justice and national reconciliation portfolio, which was combined with parliamentary affairs, under the outgoing minister, Muhammad Amin al-Mahdi.
27 February Ukraine
The Verkhovna Rada (Supreme Council) voted to approve the appointment of ministers to a new Government, led by Arseniy Yatsenyuk. The Government chiefly comprised members of the Fatherland and Freedom parties, and non-partisan representatives of the Euromaidan demonstrators who had helped bring about the removal from office of President Viktor Yanukovych. Yanukovych had been impeached by the Verkhovna Rada on 22 February, two days after forces under his command had killed more than 80 demonstrators in the centre of the capital city, Kyiv; he had been succeeded as acting President by Oleksandr Turchynov of Fatherland, pending an election scheduled for 25 May. It subsequently emerged that Yanukovych had fled to Russia, from where he declared that he considered himself to remain the legitimate President of Ukraine. Meanwhile, on 27 February an unidentified group of armed men who favoured closer relations with Russia seized control of the buildings of the legislature of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, in the south of Ukraine; a parliamentary session subsequently elected a new Chairman of the Government of the autonomy, Sergei Aksenov (who pledged loyalty to Yanukovych). On 6 March the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea voted in favour of Crimea joining the Russian Federation, with immediate effect, subject to Russian approval, despite such a transfer being in breach of the Ukrainian Constitution. It also announced that a referendum was to be held on 16 March to confirm this transfer of the territories of Sevastopol and of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea to Russian control.
22 February Italy
Matteo Renzi, the leader of the Partito Democratico (PD) but not a member of Parliament, was sworn in as Prime Minister, following Enrico Letta’s resignation as premier on 14 February. The new coalition of the PD and the centre-right promised changes to the Constitution, to electoral law, taxation, the justice system and public administration. Notable new appointments to the Council of Ministers (one-half of which was female) included Federica Mogherini as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Roberta Pinotti as Minister of Defence and Pier Carlo Padoan, OECD Chief Economist, as Minister of Economics and Finance. Angelino Alfano, leader of the Nuovo Centrodestra, kept his position as Minister of the Interior.
15 February Lebanon
Some 11 months after the collapse of Najib Miqati’s coalition Government, a new Council of Ministers was sworn into office by President Michel Suleiman. Tammam Salam was confirmed as Prime Minister, having originally been asked to form a government in April 2013. The rival March 8 and March 14 alliances were each allocated eight portfolios, while a further eight ministers (including Salam) were appointed directly by the President. Samir Moqbel retained the post of Deputy Prime Minister that he had held under Miqati’s premiership, while additionally becoming Minister of Defence. Gebran Bassil of the March 8 alliance was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants. Among the other appointees affiliated to March 8 were Ali Hassan Khalil, who became Minister of State for Financial Affairs and Muhammad Fneish, the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs. Meanwhile, the appointees belonging to March 14 included, most notably, Nuhad Mashnouq as Minister of the Interior and Municipalities, Achraf Rifi as Minister of Justice, and Alain Hakim as Minister of the Economy and Trade.
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