Elections 1992

The perennial refrain of underdogs--"wait till next year"--rattled around the old gingerbread hotel here this weekend. The women uttering it--state legislators from around the nation gathered at the Hotel del Coronado for a quadrennial convention--remain convinced that the political tumult witnessed across the country this year will translate in 1992 into electoral victories for women. "The climate is better now because people are looking for outsiders," said U.S. Rep. Connie Morella (R-Md.).

Gosh, I'm glad the primaries are over. The suspense has been killing me. I remember way back in January when George Bush was running against Pat What's-His-Name. Golly, that was an exciting contest. I can't remember exactly what it was all about. But I do know I wrote a lot of stories about it. And the Democratic race was even more compelling. Just who would the Democrats choose? Bill Clinton or Paul Whoozis or Jerry Whazis? Talk about being on the edge of our seats.

Gosh, I'm glad the primaries are over. The suspense has been killing me. I remember way back in January when George Bush was running against Pat What's-His-Name. Golly, that was an exciting contest. I can't remember exactly what it was all about. But I do know I wrote a lot of stories about it. And the Democratic race was even more compelling. Just who would the Democrats choose? Bill Clinton or Paul Whoozis or Jerry Whazis? Talk about being on the edge of our seats.

The perennial refrain of underdogs--"wait till next year"--rattled around the old gingerbread hotel here this weekend. The women uttering it--state legislators from around the nation gathered at the Hotel del Coronado for a quadrennial convention--remain convinced that the political tumult witnessed across the country this year will translate in 1992 into electoral victories for women. "The climate is better now because people are looking for outsiders," said U.S. Rep. Connie Morella (R-Md.).

The judges of Superior Court have elected Donald E. Smallwood to serve as presiding judge for 1992. Smallwood was appointed to the Superior Court in November, 1984, by Gov. George Deukmejian after practicing civil law in Orange County for almost 23 years. Smallwood will replace Judge Leonard Goldstein. Smallwood graduated from law school at Southwestern University-Los Angeles in 1961. He is assigned to the civil panel, specializing in personal injury and medical malpractice cases.

The offense that landed Arthur Nzeribe in a Nigerian prison for 20 days recently would not be unusual in most of Africa's one-party states and military dictatorships: He was caught addressing a political rally in his own home. But it was something special in Nigeria, where the military government has opened up the political process in preparation for handing over rule to a democratically elected civilian government in 1992.

Washington intends to deepen its military and counter-terrorism ties with Algeria, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said during a stopover in Algiers. Rumsfeld avoided saying whether relations with Algeria were dependent on political reforms. An Islamist uprising that began after authorities canceled legislative elections in 1992 has killed more than 150,000 people.

Vice President Michael Kijana Wamalwa died Saturday of an undisclosed illness after several months of treatment in a hospital near London. He was 58. Wamalwa, a member of parliament for the FORD-Kenya party, became Kenya's eighth vice president since independence after the opposition victory in December that ended the 24-year rule of former President Daniel Arap Moi.

Vice President Salvador Laurel, in a move against President Corazon Aquino, suggested today that voters decide if they want presidential elections next year or if Aquino should remain in office without elections until 1992. Critics of Aquino, led by Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, have called for prompt elections, claiming she forfeited her legitimacy by scrapping the 13-year-old constitution promulgated under Ferdinand E. Marcos.

According to Times staff writer Daniel Williams, Palestinian activists reported that factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization cheered Gorbachev's ouster. I am sure that if Gorbachev heard that bit of news while being detained in his vacation home, he immediately knew that the coup was doomed to fail. Whether it is their clumsy, miscalculated endorsements of brutish regimes around the world or their preferences in their own leaders, the Palestinians have yet to rally behind a winner.

The judges of Superior Court have elected Donald E. Smallwood to serve as presiding judge for 1992. Smallwood was appointed to the Superior Court in November, 1984, by Gov. George Deukmejian after practicing civil law in Orange County for almost 23 years. Smallwood will replace Judge Leonard Goldstein. Smallwood graduated from law school at Southwestern University-Los Angeles in 1961. He is assigned to the civil panel, specializing in personal injury and medical malpractice cases.

The offense that landed Arthur Nzeribe in a Nigerian prison for 20 days recently would not be unusual in most of Africa's one-party states and military dictatorships: He was caught addressing a political rally in his own home. But it was something special in Nigeria, where the military government has opened up the political process in preparation for handing over rule to a democratically elected civilian government in 1992.

The former head of an Algerian militant group that played a key role in the country's bloody insurgency announced plans Saturday to form a political party. Madani Mezrag, who was commander of the Islamic Salvation Army in the 1990s, said in a statement that he would mobilize supporters from across the country for a national congress to launch the new party.

A band of men armed with knives and axes decapitated 31 people who had been forced into the streets from their homes in Medea, south of the capital, the El Watan newspaper reported Sunday. The attack by about 50 men took place early Saturday, the newspaper quoted local residents as saying. El Watan said a Medea resident called the paper, saying, "You have to do something. More than 30 people had their throats slit. Soon they're going to exterminate the entire town."