These are some of the notable events relating to
politics in 2006.
Events
January
January 3 – U.S. lobbyist
Jack Abramoff pleads guilty to conspiracy, tax evasion, and mail fraud. His investigation starts a whirlwind of investigations and reforms into U.S. lobbying policies.[1]
February 3 – Dutch
D66 party chairman
Boris Dittrich resigns because the Dutch Government voted 'Yes' to Dutch participation in a
NATO-led
ISAF operation in
Afghanistan.
February 4 – Twenty-seven out of 35 countries on the
IAEA's Board of Governors vote to refer the
nuclear program of Iran to the
United Nations Security Council out of concern over Iran's plans to enrich nuclear materials and to refuse IAEA inspection of the process.
February 5 –
Costa Rica holds a
presidential election. The results are deemed too close to call, resulting in a manual count of votes that would not be completed until March 7.
February 7 –
Haiti holds a
general election to replace the interim government of
Gerard Latortue. The 129 member Haitian parliament is also elected at this time.
Heather Wilson, a New Mexico Congresswoman with
NSA oversight authority, becoming the first Republican on an intelligence committee to call for a congressional investigation into
Bush's warrantless wiretap program.
February 11 –
Tokelau begins voting in
a referendum to determine whether it remains a New Zealand territory, or becomes a state in
free association with New Zealand.
February 15 – In a case of apparent
electoral fraud, hundreds of ballot boxes are discovered in a garbage dump in
Haiti, throwing the results of the
elections there in doubt.
May 24 –
East Timor's Foreign Minister
Horta officially requests military assistance from the governments of Australia, New Zealand,
Malaysia and Portugal.
May 28 – President
Álvaro Uribe Vélez is re-elected in
Colombia for a second term. He becomes the first president in over a century to serve consecutive terms.
July 2 – A presidential election is held in
Mexico.
Felipe Calderón is confirmed as the winner on September 5.
July 14 –
Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of the Law and Justice party, is sworn in as Prime Minister of Poland by his identical twin, President
Lech Kaczyński.
October 30 – Former Chilean Dictator
Augusto Pinochet is placed under house arrest for crimes committed at the
Villa Grimaldi detention centre where thousands were tortured between 1974 and 1977.
November
Former
Iraqi dictator,
Saddam Hussein is sentenced to death by
hanging, along with two of his senior allies. He is also found
guilty of crimes against humanity.