Sources: UNIAN and Ukraine public holidays. Yesterday, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, announced that the seven-day period from January 1-7, 2008, would be days off work in the Ukraine.
Sources: Crítica en Linea and Panama public holidays. After many months of discussion and rumour (see our various posts on the topic), Bill 351 which aims to restore the concept of bridge holidays (días puente) in Panama, has been passed after its third and final floor vote.
Sources: bdnews24 and Bangladesh public holidays. Late last night, after a meeting of the Council of Advisers, chaired by chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, the interim government of Bangladesh announced that the November 7th public holiday would be cancelled, starting in 2008.
Sources: Gazeta, Government of Kazakhstan, and Kazakhstan public holidays. Kazakhstan has declared Monday, December 31, 2007 a one-off public holiday, allowing for an extended public holidays period from December 30 to January 2, 2008. In exchange for the above, Saturday December 29 will be a regular working day for all, including financial institutions, which will be open on that day.
Sources: Bom Dia Bauru, our post of July 11, and Brazil public holidays. The bill that would move some public holidays that fall on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, to the preceding Monday, after having received the approval of the Education and Constitution and Justice commissions, is now awaiting a date for a vote on the floor of the Brazilian Parliament. Note however, that beginning in 1985, this reform was attempted many times in the past, and was always rejected.
Sources: Bayerische Runkfunk, Kanal8, and Germany public holidays. The head of Germany's State of Bavaria, Ministerpräsident Günther Beckstein, has announced that he wishes to re-instate the Buß- und Bettag Public Holiday (Day of Prayer and Repentance) to the list of public holidays observed in Bavaria.
Sources: Gulf News and UAE public holidays. Last night, the UAE's Minister of Labour, Dr Ali Bin Abdullah Al Ka'abi, announced that this year's National Day public holiday would be limited to one day, Sunday, December 2, 2007, for the private sector.
Sources: Balita and Philippines public holidays. Late yesterday, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (PGMA) issued Proclamation No. 1416 declaring Wednesday, November 28, 2007, as a special non-working day in the Province of Sarangani which will be celebrating its 15th Foundation Anniversary on that day.
Sources: Armtown and Armenia public holidays. The Armenian government has announced that Thursday and Friday, January 3 and 4, 2008 would be additional public holidays, as per the "Law on Holidays and Commemorating Days". In compensation, the Saturdays of December 29, 2007, and January 12, 2008, will be regular working days.
Sources: La Segunda and Chile public holidays. The bill, originally proposed by MPs Eduardo Díaz and Alejandra Sepúlveda, that would make October 31 (Día de las Iglesias Evangélicas, or Reformation Day, as it is called in Europe) a new annual public holiday in Chile, was voted unanimously in the Chamber of Deputies, yesterday. It now goes to the Senate for final approval, before being submitted to President Bachelet for enactment.
Sources: Crítica en Linea, La Prensa, and Panama public holidays. The Chamber of Deputies has postponed to next Monday, the third and last reading of the bill to move some mid-week fixed-date public holidays to the nearest Monday. Therefore, the Independence Day public holiday will be celebrated on Wednesday, November 28, this year again, as per the current legislation. For background information, see our posts of Nov-21, Nov-17, Oct-14, Sep-17, Aug-25, and Aug-8.
Sources: Balita and Philippines public holidays. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (PGMA) has issued Proclamation No. 1417 declaring tomorrow, Thursday, November 22, 2007, as a special non-working day in the Sultan Kudarat province which will be celebrating its 34th foundation anniversary.
Sources: Critica en Linea, Prensa.com, and Panama public holidays. In our post of November 17, we reported how the movement, begun in early August, to restore the moving of some mid-week fixed-date public holidays to the following Monday had been approved in commission, and passed a first reading on the floor of the Chamber of Deputies.
Sources: Diario Libre and Dominican Republic public holidays. The Minister of Labour of the Dominican Republic has announced the list of public holidays that, in 2008, will move from mid-week to the nearest Monday. Of the 13 public holidays in the Dominican Republic, only 2, those of May 1 (Labour Day) and November 6 (Constitution Day) will move in 2008.
Sources: Milenio, Univision, and Cuba public holidays. Earlier today, the Government of Cuba, at the request of Raul Castro, decreed in the Diario Granma (the Cuban official gazette containing all decrees) 2 new annual public holidays, December 31 and January 2, to take effect immediately.
Sources: n-tv.de and Germany public holidays. In 2008, the date of the May Day and that of the Ascension public holidays will fall on the same date; Thursday, May 1st, a conjunction that has not happened since 1913, and will not happen again until 2160.
Sources: Reuters and Saudi Arabia public holidays. A two-day public holiday has been declared in Riyadh, for Saturday and Sunday, November 17 and 18, to coincide with the current OPEC Summit (as had been done, last March, on the occasion of the Arab Summit). This was due to security concerns, and to alleviate traffic, as many central roads in Riyadh have been closed for the duration of the summit.
Sources: Xinhua, The China Daily, and China public holidays. As we reported immediately, on November 9, the Chinese government released a draft plan to overhaul its public holidays system, and opened 5 public forae where people could vote for or against the proposed changes. Yesterday, after the week of online polling came to an end, the final results were released, showing a general approval rating of 60 percent for the proposed changes.
Sources: El Panamá América and Panama public holidays. As we had reported in out posts of October 14, September 17, August 25, and August 8, the re-establishment of días puente (the moving of mid-week fixed-date public holidays to the following Monday) has been a hot topic recently in Panama, and a draft law (proyecto de ley 351) went into commission in mid-October.
Sources: SABC and Sierra Leone public holidays. Today was declared a public holiday in Sierra Leone on the occasion of the inauguration of President Ernest Bai Koroma. Koroma, the leader of the All People's Congress (APC) and who was minority leader in parliament prior to becoming President in last September's elections.
Sources: New Vision Kampala and Uganda public holidays. Despite repeated denials (see our post of October 3) of the rumours of a public holiday on the occasion of the upcoming CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting), the government of Uganda has now announced that it had declared Thursday and Friday, November 22-23, 2007, as one-off public holidays to coincide with the beginning of the CHOGM.
Sources: Radio Jamaica and Jamaica public holidays. Last night, at a rally in Tivoli Gardens, West Kingston, Prime Minister Bruce Golding announced that local government elections would occur on Wednesday December 5th.
Sources: Bangkok Post and Thailand public holidays. As we had forecast in our post of August 28, earlier today, Government spokesman, Chaiya Yimwilai, announced that following a meeting of the cabinet, a one-off public holiday had been declared for Monday, December 24, 2007, the day after the Sunday general election, to encourage people to return to their home constituency to vote.
Sources: The Jordan Times and Jordan public holidays. As we had speculated would be the case, in our post of August 22, late Sunday, Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit issued an official statement that the day of the upcoming legislative elections (Tuesday, November 20, 2007) had been declared a public holiday to enable people to vote, and that therefore, all ministries and government agencies would be closed on that day.
Sources: The Times of Oman and Oman public holidays. Earlier today, the minister of the Diwan of Royal Court and chairman of the Civil Service Council, Sayyid Ali bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, issued a ministerial decision stating that Tuesday and Wednesday November 27 and 28 would be public holidays for employees working at the ministries, public authorities and other state administrative departments on the occasion of the 37th National Day.
Sources: The New York Sun and USA public holidays. In our post of June 2, we reported how the seemingly defunct idea of making election day a public holiday, had gotten a new lease on life, through the support of Senators Hillary Clinton and Diane Feinstein.
Sources: Sun Star and Philippines public holidays. It has been announced that the November 13 Pangasinan Province public holiday declared by, then President, Corazon Aquino to mark the birth anniversary of the late Speaker Eugenio Perez, of San Carlos City, has been moved from Tuesday, November 13, to Monday, November 12, to allow for a long weekend. Apparently, this move was made through the request of the Office of the Governor and was approved by Malacañang through Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, but there are reports that acting Governor, Marlyn Primicias-Agabas, was caught off guard by the development.
Sources: Panarmenian Network and Armenia public holidays. The Chairman of the Armenian Central Election Committee, Garegin Azaryan, announced that Armenia would hold its next presidential elections on Tuesday, February 19, 2008, and that that day would be declared a public holiday (non-working day).
Sources: The Age/AAP and Australia public holidays. Victoria's Small Business Minister, Joe Helper, announced that legislation would be introduced into state parliament to make Melbourne Cup Day a holiday across the entire State of Victoria, beginning in 2008, except where a council outside Melbourne selects an alternative public holiday in their area.
Sources: China Daily and China public holidays. Since the last May Day Golden Week, rumours of an impending massive overhaul of the public holidays of China (see our news post of July 1) have been getting more and more precise, and earlier today, the Chinese Government released a draft plan on the Internet in order to solicit public opinion.
Sources: Kenya Broadcasting Corporation and Kenya public holidays. Addressing a delegation of Coast Province Muslim religious leaders including imams, sheiks and Madrassa teachers at State House Mombasa today, President Mwai Kibaki has directed that Idd-Ul-Hajj (also known as Eid al-Adha or Feast of Sacrifice) will be a public holiday and further instructed the Attorney-General to make the necessary legal amendments to make it a national day.
Sources: The Canberra Times and Australia public holidays. Tomorrow, for the first time, the Melbourne Cup public holiday (first Tuesday in November) will be celebrated in 2 of Australia's states; Victoria (with capital Melbourne) and the ACT (Australian Capital Territory).
Sources: The Standard (Nairobi) and Kenya public holidays. The ODM (Orange Democratic Movement) presidential candidate, and former cabinet minister, Mr Raila Odinga, told supporters at a recent rally, that he would make January 2 and 3, 2008, one-off public holidays if he is elected president in the upcoming December 27 elections.
Sources: Invertia and Argentina public holidays. On Tuesday, November 6, all banks in the Buenos Aires metro area (Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires) as well as the Argentine Central Bank and all financial markets nationwide, will be closed on the occasion of the Day of the Banking Sector Employee (Día del Trabajador Bancario).
Sources: Terra Actualidad and Spain public holidays. Although Monday, November 5, will not be an official public holiday in Ceuta, schools, shops and small businesses will all be closed to commemorate the visit of Don Juan Carlos and Doña Sofía, the first royal visit to the Spanish African enclave of Ceuta in 32 years.
Sources: Agência Câmara and Brazil public holidays. Late this week, the Human Rights Commission of the National Assembly of Brazil approved a resolution specifying 3 separate annual dates to commemorate each of the 3 main ethnicities of Brazil (datas comemorativas de alta significação para os diferentes segmentos étnicos que compõem a sociedade brasileira).
Sources: La Estrella and Panama public holidays. In the last few days, there have been reports that a four-day public holiday would be starting today, Saturday November 3, 2007. This would have meant that Tuesday, November 6, 2007 would, unexpectedly, be a public holiday in Panama.
Sources: Winipeg Free Press and Canada public holidays. In an announcement mirroring that recently made in the case of Ontario (see our post of October 20), Federal Treasury Board Secretariat spokesman, Pierre-Alain Bujold, confirmed that Manitoba's more than 11,200 federal government employees will not get the day off on the occasion of Manitoba's new provincial public holiday, Louis Riel Day.
Sources: Cyberpresse and Poland public holidays. A new law, forbidding stores in Poland from opening on public holidays, comes into effect today.
Sources: Gran Calama and Chile public holiday. At a recent ceremony in Chile's Congress, honouring 16 evangelical leaders, the deputy Alfonso De Urresti (PS) said that he was certain that the recently proposed law making October 31 a new public holiday in Chile (see our story of October 18) would soon be approved by the Senate.
Sources: Evangelischer Pressedienst and Germany public holiday. The Northern Evangelical Church of Germany has announced that is was mounting a campaign to push for the addition of the October 31 Reformation Day to the list of public holidays of Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg (where 65 percent of the population is composed of Evangelical Christians).
Posts
All Comments
