ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, July 2, 1996 TAG: 9607020082
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
Dominicans celebrate election
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - Jubilant supporters of Leonel Fernandez took to the streets Monday for a raucous celebration of their candidate's narrow victory in presidential elections that mark the Dominican Republic's cleanest voting ever.
The Central Electoral Board declared Fernandez the winner in the race to succeed longtime President Joaquin Balaguer, with 51.25 percent of the vote. His opponent, Jose Francisco Pena Gomez, finished with 48.75 percent. Fernandez is to take office Aug. 16.
The results represented a sharp generational shift, with newcomer Fernandez, 42, replacing the 89-year-old Balaguer, who has been a fixture in Dominican political life for 60 years. They also offered hope of a new type of political co-existence in a country that has been marked by bouts of political repression, authoritarianism and intolerance.
- The Washington Post
China marks 75th Communist birthday
BEIJING - Chinese leaders marked July 1 with double celebrations: the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party and the start of the last of Britain's 156 years of rule over Hong Kong.
In official functions and statements, the two events carried the same theme - the party has succeeded where China's previous rulers failed, making the country strong enough to throw off foreign domination and humiliation.
``Hong Kong's fall into the hands of big powers was the epitome of a backward and weak China,'' the party newspaper, People's Daily, said Monday. ``Hong Kong's return to the motherland's embrace is a testimony to a China that is heading towards greatness and is full of hope.''
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Short : 41 linesby CNB