Vice President of the National Council changes parties.

Anne Eastwood takes new role in Government.

Two services renamed and reorganized.

Claude Peri takes over the role.

Members of Monaco's parliament elect new President.

Monaco's parliament meets to choose new leader.

Prince Albert II announces a new Minister of State and a new Government councilor.

Land reclamation, Mecaplast, National Council session, economic agreement with Luxembourg

Land reclamation

The big news story this week was the suspension of the project to reclaim land from the sea. In a press conference on Wednesday morning, the government confirmed that further environmental studies would be made in 2009 to ensure there'd be no negative effects on the marine eco system. In addition, the Minister of State said it made good sense to delay the project in the current economic climate.

Those of us who were fast asleep at 2.30 on Monday morning would have been forgiven for thinking that the Monaco football team had just won a major victory. Suddenly, the streets were filled with cars beeping their horns, as the majority party of the past 5 years celebrated a second term in office. With 20 seats out of 24, the UPM party won the election for the National Council of Monaco, the remaining 4 seats being taken by Rassemblement et Enjeux (REM). Just under 77% of the electorate turned out, 1504 of whom voted for the complete list of UPM's 24 candidates, against 1248 for REM.

On Friday afternoon, three lists of candidates for election to Monaco's National Council were confirmed. As expected, the current ruling party Union pour Monaco (UPM), and the opposition alliance Rassemblement & Enjeux, both fielded the full 24 candidates. Monaco Ensemble's list contained just 15 candidates, and the Parti Monegasque pulled out their 13 candidates at the last minute. It's now up to the 7600 Monegasque nationals to cast their votes on Sunday 3 February.