Editing 2003 in politics

{{short description|none}}
{{no footnotes|date=February 2013}}
{{yearbox
| in?=in politics
| cp=20th century
| c=21st century
| cf=22nd century
| yp1=2000
| yp2=2001
| yp3=2002
| year=2003
| ya1=2004
| ya2=2005
| ya3=2006
| dp3=1970s
| dp2=1980s
| dp1=1990s
| d=2000–2009{{!}}2000s
| dn1=2000s
| dn2=2010s
| dn3=2020s
|}}

These are some of the notable events relating to [[politics]] in 2003.

==Events==

===January 1===
*January 1: [[Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva]] takes office as [[president (government title)|president]] of [[Brazil]].  His cabinet includes [[Celso Amorim]] as foreign minister;  [[Antônio Waldez Góes da Silva]] becomes Governor of [[Amapá]], [[Carlos Eduardo de Sousa Braga]] becomes governor of [[Amazonas State, Brazil|Amazonas]], [[Paulo César Hartung Gomes]] becomes governor of [[Espírito Santo]], [[Blairo Borges Maggi]] becomes governor of [[Mato Grosso]], [[Simão Robison Oliveira Jatene]] becomes governor of [[Pará]], [[Cássio Rodrigues da Cunha Lima]] becomes governor of [[Paraíba]], [[Roberto Requião de Mello e Silva]] becomes governor of [[Paraná (state)|Paraná]], José Wellington Barroso de Araújo Dias becomes governor of [[Piauí]], [[Wilma Maria de Faria]] becomes governor of [[Rio Grande do Norte]], [[Germano Antônio Rigotto]] becomes governor of [[Rio Grande do Sul]], [[Ivo Narciso Cassol]] becomes governor of [[Rondônia]], and [[Marcelo de Carvalho Miranda]] becomes governor of [[Tocantins State|Tocantins]].
*January 1: [[Pavel Chernov]] takes office as prime minister of [[Republic of Karelia|Karelia]].
*January 1: [[Pascal Couchepin]] takes office as [[President of the Confederation (Switzerland)|President of the Confederation]] and Interior Minister of [[Switzerland]]; [[Ruth Metzler-Arnold]] becomes vice president; [[Claude Lässer]] becomes president of the Council of State of [[Canton of Fribourg|Fribourg]], [[Stefan Engler]] president of the government of [[Graubünden]], [[Gérald Schaller]] president of the government of [[Canton of Jura]], [[Margrit Fischer-Willimann]] Schultheiss of [[Luzern]], [[Christian Wanner]] Landammann of [[Solothurn]], and [[Jean-Claude Mermoud]] president of the Council of State of [[Vaud]], and [[Walter Suter]] Landammann of [[Canton of Zug|Zug]].
*January 1: [[Kenneth W. Dam]] becomes acting treasury secretary of the [[United States]]; [[Bill Richardson (politician)|Bill Richardson]] takes office as [[Governor of New Mexico]] and [[Jennifer Granholm]] as [[Governor of Michigan]].

===January 2-January 7===
*January 2: [[Mitt Romney]] is inaugurated as [[Governor of Massachusetts]].
*January 3: [[Kalonzo Musyoka]] becomes foreign minister of [[Kenya]].
*January 4: Democrat [[Ed Case]] is elected in a Hawaii special Congressional election, replacing [[Patsy Mink]], who had been elected to Congress posthumously in November 2002.
*January 5: [[Rolandas Paksas]] wins presidential elections in [[Lithuania]]. He takes office on February 26.
*January 6: [[Ong Keng Yong]] of [[Singapore]] takes office as secretary-general of [[ASEAN]]
*January 6: [[Felix Perez Camacho|Felix Camacho]] takes office as governor of [[Guam]].
*January 6: [[Harmodio Arias Cerjack]] becomes foreign minister of [[Panama]].
*January 6: [[Dave Freudenthal]] takes office as [[Governor of Wyoming]], [[Janet Napolitano]] as [[Governor of Arizona]],  [[Jim Doyle]] as [[Governor of Wisconsin]] and [[Tim Pawlenty]] as [[Governor of Minnesota]].
*January 7: [[Donald Carcieri]] takes office as [[Governor of Rhode Island]] and [[Mike Rounds]] as [[Governor of South Dakota]].

===January 8-January 14===
*January 8: [[Sudarshan Agarwal]] is sworn in as governor of Uttaranchal, now known as [[Uttarakhand]].
*January 8: [[Jim Douglas]] takes office as [[Governor of Vermont]] and [[John Baldacci]] as [[Governor of Maine]].
*January 8: A new government is approved in [[Montenegro]]; [[Milo Djukanovic]] becomes [[prime minister]], [[Dragisa Burzan]] becomes foreign minister.
*January 9: [[Craig Benson]] takes office as [[Governor of New Hampshire]].
*January 10: In elections in Djibouti, the [[Union for a Presidential Majority]] wins 62.2% of the vote against 36.9% for the [[Union for a Democratic Alternative]].
*January 10: [[Luis Ernesto Derbez]] becomes foreign minister of [[Mexico]]; [[Fernando Elizondo Barragán]] is sworn in as interim governor of [[Nuevo León]].
*January 13: [[Brad Henry]] takes office as [[Governor of Oklahoma]], [[Kathleen Sebelius]] as [[Governor of Kansas]], [[Rod Blagojevich]] as [[Governor of Illinois]], [[Sonny Perdue]] as [[Governor of Georgia]], [[Ted Kulongoski]] as [[Governor of Oregon]].

===January 15-January 31===
*January 15: [[Lucio Gutiérrez]] takes office as [[president (government title)|president]] of [[Ecuador]]; [[Nina Pacari Vega]] becomes foreign minister.
*January 15: The Chief Minister of [[Maharashtra]] resigns, he is later replaced by [[Sushil Kumar Shinde]].
*January 15: [[Mark Sanford]] takes office as [[Governor of South Carolina]] and [[Robert L. Ehrlich]] as [[Governor of Maryland]].
*January 17: [[Hans Enoksen]] of the [[Siumut party]] forms a new [[Greenland]] government with the [[Atassut party]].
*January 18: [[Phil Bredesen]] takes office as [[Governor of Tennessee]].
*January 19: [[Meng Xuenong]] is elected mayor of [[Beijing]].
*January 19: In Cuban parliamentary elections all candidates are elected unopposed.
*January 20: [[Bob Riley (Alabama)|Bob Riley]] takes office as [[Governor of Alabama]].
*January 21: [[Ed Rendell]] takes office as [[Governor of Pennsylvania]].
*January 24: [[Gennady Mikichura]] becomes prime minister of [[Republic of Adygea|Adygeya]].

===February===
*February 1: [[Christoph Eymann]] becomes president of the government of [[Basel-Stadt]].
*February 3: [[John William Snow|John Snow]] is made U.S. treasury secretary.
*February 4: [[Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] is renamed to [[Serbia and Montenegro]] converting the federal republic to a looser union.
*February 5: The head of the pro-[[Moscow]] administration of [[Chechnya]], announces the dismissal of their Prime Minister, who is later replaced by [[Anatoly Popov]].
*February 6: [[Yegor Borisov]] becomes prime minister of [[Sakha Republic|Sakha]].
*February 9: Presidential elections in [[Montenegro]] fail again when the turnout is below 50%.
*February 14: New high commissioner [[Sandra Lee-Vercoe]] arrives at [[Niue]].
*February 16: [[Tassos Papadopoulos]] wins [[Elections in Cyprus|presidential elections]] in [[Cyprus]].
*February 17: [[Oleg Budargin]] takes office as governor of [[Taymyr Autonomous Okrug|Taymyr]].
*February 25: [[Roh Moo Hyun]] takes office as president of [[South Korea]]; Parliament later approves [[Goh Kun]] as prime minister, who would later appoint [[Yoon Young Kwan]] as foreign minister.
*February 28: [[Silvan Shalom]] is approved as Foreign Minister of [[Israel]].

===March–June===
*March 12 [[Prime Minister of Serbia|PM of Serbia]] [[Zoran Đinđić]] assassinated.
*March 15 coup in [[Central African Republic]].
*March 15: [[Hu Jintao]] takes office as [[President of the People's Republic of China]]
*March 16: [[Wen Jiabao]] takes office as [[Premier of the People's Republic of China]].
*March 16: Elections for the parliament are held in [[Finland]]. See [[Politics of Finland]].
*March 26: [[American Samoa]] Governor [[Tauese Sunia]] dies. He is succeeded by Lieutenant Governor [[Togiola Tulafono]].
*April 9: Government of [[Saddam Hussein]] overthrown by American forces in [[Iraq]].
*May 1: Elections are held in [[Scotland]] and [[Wales]] for the [[Scottish Parliament]] and [[National Assembly for Wales]]. In Wales, [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] gains seats while [[Plaid Cymru]] loses seats. In Scotland, Labour and [[Scottish National Party|Scottish Nationalists]] lose seats, while the [[Scottish Green Party|Greens]] and [[Scottish Socialist Party|Socialists]] gain seats.
*May 25: [[Néstor Kirchner]] becomes president of [[Argentina]].
*June 3: Republican [[Randy Neugebauer]] defeats fellow Republican [[Mike Conaway]] in a Texas Congressional special runoff election to succeed [[Larry Combest]], who resigned in November 2002. Both men had advanced to the runoff in a May 2003 primary.

===July–September===
*July 16: Coup in [[São Tomé and Príncipe]], reversed on July 23.
*August 11: [[Moses Blah]] replaces [[Charles G. Taylor|Charles Taylor]] as president of [[Liberia]].
*September 9: Indiana lieutenant governor [[Joe Kernan (politician)|Joe Kernan]] becomes acting governor when governor [[Frank O'Bannon]] suffers a stroke, and is sworn in as governor when O'Bannon dies a few days later. Both are Democrats.
*September 14: [[Sweden]] rejects adopting the [[Euro]] in a referendum. ([[Referenda in Sweden|Results]].)
*September 14: [[Estonia]] approves joining the [[European Union]] in a referendum.
*September 14: Coup in [[Guinea-Bissau]].
*September 18: Liberal Democrat [[Sarah Teather]] is elected in a London By-election to succeed [[Paul Daisley]], who died in June 2003.

===October 1-October 7===
*October 2: [[Canadian province]] of [[Ontario]] conducts a general [[election]] to elect members to the [[Ontario]] government. The election, which was called by [[Ontario Progressive Conservative Party]] Premier [[Ernie Eves]], is majority won by the [[Dalton McGuinty]]-led [[Ontario Liberal Party]].
*October 3: [[Richard Butler (diplomat)|Richard Butler]] is sworn in as [[Governor of Tasmania]].
*October 3: [[Laila Freivalds]] is appointed foreign minister of [[Sweden]].
*October 4: Democrat [[Kathleen Babineaux Blanco]] and Republican [[Bobby Jindal]] advance to a runoff to decide who becomes Louisiana Governor.
*October 5: Chairman of the [[Palestinian Authority]] [[Yasser Arafat|Yasir Arafat]] installs [[Ahmed Qureia]] as prime minister of an emergency cabinet.
*October 5: [[Valentina Matviyenko]] is elected governor of [[Saint Petersburg]] over [[Anna Markova]].
*October 7: [[Teresa Patrício Gouveia]] becomes Foreign Minister of [[Portugal]] replacing [[António Martins da Cruz]].
*October 7: [[Giovanni Lajolo]] is appointed foreign minister of the [[Vatican City|Vatican]].
*October 7: In California, Democratic Governor [[Gray Davis]] is [[2003 California Recall|recalled]]. Republican [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] is elected to replace Davis.

===October 8-October 31===
*October 14: [[Gyude Bryant]] takes office as chairman of the National Transitional Government of [[Liberia]].
*October 17: [[Carlos Mesa]] is sworn in as president of [[Bolivia]] after the resignation of [[Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada]].
*October 29: [[José Alperovich]] takes office as governor of [[Tucumán Province|Tucumán]].
*October 31: [[Mahathir Mohamad]], resigns as the fourth [[Prime Minister of Malaysia]], and [[Abdullah Ahmad Badawi]] takes office as the fifth prime minister of the country.

===November 1-November 7===
*November 1: [[Jalal Talabani]] takes up the rotating presidency of the Governing Council of [[Iraq]].
*November 1: [[Ilya Klebanov]] is appointed plenipotentiary of the president of [[Russia]] in [[Northwestern Federal District]].
*November 4: Republican [[Haley Barbour]] defeats Democrat incumbent [[Ronnie Musgrove]] to become [[Governor of Mississippi]]. Republican [[Ernie Fletcher]] defeats Democrat [[Ben Chandler]] to become [[Governor of Kentucky]]. In [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]], mayoral candidates [[Gavin Newsom]] and [[Matt Gonzalez]] advance to a runoff.
*November 5: Canadian province of [[Saskatchewan]] holds a [[2003 Saskatchewan general election|general election]] which is won by the ruling [[Saskatchewan New Democrats]].
*November 5: [[Olene S. Walker]] is sworn in as governor of [[Utah]] after the resignation of [[Mike Leavitt]].
*November 6: [[Danny Williams (Canadian politician)|Danny Williams]] is sworn in as premier of [[Newfoundland and Labrador]].
*November 6: [[Sabas Pretelt de la Vega]] is named Interior Minister of [[Colombia]] after the resignation of [[Fernando Londoño Hoyos]].
*November 6: [[Michael Howard]] replaces [[Iain Duncan Smith]] as leader of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] in the [[United Kingdom|U.K.]]
*November 7: [[Mohamed Vall Ould Bellal]] becomes foreign minister of [[Mauritania]].

===November 8-November 30===
*November 15: Democrat [[Kathleen Babineaux Blanco]] defeats Republican [[Bobby Jindal]] in a runoff election to become [[Governor of Louisiana]].
*November 17: [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] is sworn in as governor of [[California]].
*November 18: [[Ted Egan]] is sworn in as administrator of [[Northern Territory]].
*November 23: [[Nino Burdzhanadze]] is declared President of [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] after opposition forces stormed parliament, the new government includes [[Zurab Zhvania]] as minister of state and [[Tedo Japaridze]] as foreign minister.
*November 28: The [[Democratic Unionist Party]] and [[Sinn Féin]] displace the [[Ulster Unionist Party]] and the [[Social Democratic and Labour Party]] as the largest Unionist and Nationalist parties after elections to the [[Northern Ireland Assembly]].

===December===
*December 1: [[Abdul Aziz al-Hakim]] takes up the rotating presidency of the Governing Council of [[Iraq]].
*December 3: [[Bernard Bot]] takes office as foreign minister of the [[Netherlands]].
*December 3: [[Robert Cramer (Swiss politician)|Robert Cramer]] becomes president of the Council of State of [[Genève]].
*December 8: [[South Dakota]] Congressman [[Bill Janklow]] is convicted of [[manslaughter]].
*December 9: Former Vice President [[Al Gore]] endorses Democratic Presidential candidate [[Howard Dean]] for President.
*December 9: [[Ernie Fletcher]] is sworn-in as [[Governor of Kentucky]] and resigns his seat in Congress.
*December 9: [[Ivo Sanader]] designated new [[Prime Minister of Croatia]].
*December 10: [[Gavin Newsom]] defeats [[Matt Gonzalez]] in a runoff election to become San Francisco mayor.
*December 10: [[Christoph Blocher]] and [[Hans-Rudolf Merz]] are elected to the [[Swiss Federal Council]], [[Ruth Metzler-Arnold]] is not re-elected.
*December 12: [[Célestin Gaombalet]] new Prime Minister of [[Central African Republic]]
*December 12: [[Paul Martin, Jr.]] new [[Prime Minister of Canada]].

==Deaths==

===January–February===
*January 5: [[Roy Jenkins]], former [[president of the European Commission]] (1977–1981)
*January 6: Sir [[Gerald Cash]], former [[List of Governors-General of the Bahamas|Governor-General]] of the [[Bahamas]] (1979–1988)
*January 10: [[C. Douglas Dillon]], former treasury secretary of the United States (1961–1965)
*January 12: [[Leopoldo Galtieri]], former [[president of Argentina]] (1981–1982)
*January 27: [[Henryk Jabłoński]], former chairman of the Council of State of Poland (1972–1985)
*February 1: [[Richard Edmund Lyng|Richard Lyng]], former U.S. secretary of agriculture (1986–1989)
*February 13: [[Walt W. Rostow]], former U.S. national security advisor (1966–1968)
*February 15: [[Francisque Ravony]], former Prime Minister of [[Madagascar]] (1993–1995)
*February 20: [[Orville L. Freeman]], former U.S. secretary of agriculture (1961–1969)

===March–August===
*March 1: [[Fidel Sánchez Hernández]], former president of El Salvador (1967–1972)
*March 10: [[Bernard Dowiyogo]] president of [[Nauru]].
*March 12: [[Zoran Đinđić]] prime minister of [[Serbia]]
*March 30: [[Valentin Pavlov]], former prime minister of the Soviet Union (1991)
*April 30: [[Aureliano Chaves]], former Brazilian vice president (1979–1985)
*May 15: [[Constantin Dăscălescu]], former prime minister of Romania (1982–1989)
*June 1?: [[Johnny Paul Koroma]], President of [[Sierra Leone]] 1997-1998.
*June 10: [[Donald Regan]], former U.S. treasury secretary (1981–1985) and White House chief of staff (1985–1987)
*June 25: [[Lester Maddox]] segregationist governor of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] from 1967 to 1971.
*June 26: [[Strom Thurmond]], longtime U.S. senator
*August 16: [[Idi Amin]], former president of [[Uganda]] (1971–1979)
*August 19: [[Carlos Roberto Reina]], former president of Honduras (1994–1998)
*August 20: [[Igor Farkhutdinov]], Russian politician, governor of [[Sakhalin]] (killed in plane crash).
*August 23: [[Michael Kijana Wamalwa]], sitting vice-president of [[Kenya]]

===September–December===
*September 11: [[Anna Lindh]], foreign minister of [[Sweden]] (assassinated).
*October 14: [[Moktar Ould Daddah]], former president of [[Mauritania]].
*October 23: [[Soong Mei-ling]], former first lady of the [[Republic of China]].
*November 20: [[David Dacko]], former president of [[Central African Republic]].
*December 6: [[Carlos Manuel Arana Osorio]], former president of [[Guatemala]].
*December 12: [[Heydar Aliyev]], former president of [[Azerbaijan]].
*December 14: [[Blas Ople]], Foreign Secretary of the [[Philippines]].

==See also==
*[[List of years in politics]]

==External links==
*Detailed chronologies at [http://rulers.org Rulers.org]: [http://rulers.org/2003-01.html January], [http://rulers.org/2003-02.html February], [http://rulers.org/2003-03.html March], [http://rulers.org/2003-04.html April], [http://rulers.org/2003-05.html May], [http://rulers.org/2003-06.html June], [http://rulers.org/2003-07.html July], [http://rulers.org/2003-08.html August], [http://rulers.org/2003-09.html September], [http://rulers.org/2003-10.html October], [http://rulers.org/2003-11.html November], [http://rulers.org/2003-12.html December]
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[[Category:2003 in politics| ]]
[[Category:Politics by year]]
[[Category:21st century in politics]]
[[Category:2000s in politics]]