10 Heads of State Who Faced Presidential Impeachment
Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts, perhaps the fear of a loss of power. – John Steinbeck
The president of any country is elected by the legislative bodies and is supported by the criteria of the constitution according to the respective country and its set of laws. A presidential impeachment process is usually an inquiry against the elected president of a country that later determines the president’s innocence or guilt.
Presidential impeachment may lead to lifetime disqualification of the ousted leader.
There are many interesting and famous cases of presidential impeachment around the world. Some presidents faced impeachment more than once but still continued to influence the country’s politics in one way or another. Let’s read about the top 10 heads of state of the world whose impeachment became very famous.
- Boris Yeltsin (Russia)
- Bill Clinton (USA)
- Joseph Estrada (Philippines)
- Alberto Fujimori (Peru)
- Abdurrahman Wahid (Indonesia)
- Rolandas Paksas (Lithuania)
- Fernando Lugo (Paraguay)
- Viktor Yanukovych (Ukraine)
- Dilma Rousseff (Brazil)
- Park Geun-hye (South Korea)
1 Boris Yeltsin
Country: Russia
Reason: Unconstitutional dissolution of the Supreme Soviet parliament.
Result: Retained post after an armed standoff with the Supreme Council.
Presidential impeachment is a common practice around the world where the Presidents usually go through a long investigation and are thus called off office. The same has been done to Boris Yeltsin, ex-President of Russia, who was found guilty of unconstitutional dissolution of the Supreme Soviet parliament.
Three impeachment attempts were made to remove President Boris Yeltsin from office, but all three failed. On March 28, 1993, the first impeachment failed because the required majority of 689 votes could not be obtained. On September 22 of the same year, President Yeltsin avoided a second impeachment by using military force. And in 1999, a third impeachment failed because all the charges failed to get the required number of votes.
2 Bill Clinton
Country: United States
Reason: Perjury, obstruction of justice
Result: Impeached, but not removed from office by the United States Senate
Three presidents have been impeached in the history of the United States. President Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868, President Bill Clinton was impeached in 1998, and President Donald Trump was impeached twice, in 2019 and 202. Interestingly, none of the presidents was punished in all three presidential impeachments.
Among all these presidential impeachments, President Bill Clinton’s case is one the most discussed because of being guilty of Perjury and obstruction of Justice. On December 19, 1998, Bill Clinton was found guilty of the charges against him, making him the second US president in US history to be impeached. Bill Clinton holds 2nd position in the list of top 10 Presidential impeachment cases.
3 Joseph Estrada
Country: Philippines
Reason: Plunder and perjury
Result: Ousted by military coup. Coup leaders anoint the vice president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
A popular president, also known as Erap, became the President of the Philippines in 1998 with a large margin of votes. Joseph Estrada faced presidential impeachment and was ousted by a military coup. However, President’s former Deputy Secretary and current President, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, accepted Joseph Estrada’s request for an unconditional pardon.
In 2010, Joseph Estrada ran again for the presidential election, but he suffered a major defeat against Senator Benigno Aquino. After failing in the presidential elections, he served as the mayor of Manila twice from 2013 to 2019.
4 Alberto Fujimori
Country: Peru
Reason: Corruption, human rights violations, kidnapping, murder.
Result: Found guilty and imprisoned for 25 years.
Alberto Fujimori is another president who faced presidential impeachment due to the heinous crimes he committed. He was convicted of human rights violations, kidnappings, and murders. After the conviction, he ran to Japan, took political asylum, and tried to resign from there. Congress, however, rejected the resignation which resulted in his impeachment.
In 1990, Fujimori was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for his crimes. In 2027, Fujimori was granted a humanitarian pardon by President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, which was overturned by the Supreme Court. However, Peru’s Constitutional Court approved his release in 2022 and he is now awaiting the execution of his release orders.
Presidential impeachment cases are usually heard by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the country himself.
5 Abdurrahman Wahid
Country: Indonesia
Reason: Violation of constitution
Result: Passed, president was replaced by vice president Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Abdurrahman Wahid, also known as Gus Dur, was the 4th president of Indonesia (1999-2001). He served as a leader for a long time within the Nahdul Ul Ulama organization. He also founded the National Awakening Party (PKB).
Mr. Abdurrahman Wahid is listed in the list of the top 10 presidents who were impeached because of the excessive use of power and misuse of his authoritative powers. Dissolving the Indonesian legislature and suspending the Golkar Party proved detrimental to the president and he lost the presidency.
6 Rolandas Paksas
Country: Lithuania
Reason: Violation of constitution
Result: Passed. Rolandas Paksas was replaced by the speaker of Seimas “Artūras Paulauskas”.
Rolandas Paksas ruled Lithuania as 6th president from 2003 to 2004. Formerly, he served as the prime minister of Lithuania as well in the years, 1999 and 2000. Other than politics, he was the national aerobatics champion of Lithuania in the 1980s.
The impeachment case of President Rolandas Paksas became popular because of his links with the Russian mafia. A deeper investigation also revealed that he had granted Lithuanian citizenship to a major campaign donor, leading to his impeachment and removal from office in April 2004.
7 Fernando Lugo
Country: Paraguay
Reason: Poor presidential performance
Result: Passed. He was removed from the presidential office.
Fernando Lugo is also one of the heads of state in the world who were impeached and had to leave office. He was a Roman Catholic priest and bishop before jumping into politics. In 2008, Fernando Lugo won the presidential election, ending the Colorado Party’s 61-year rule.
Lugo faced impeachment in 2012 due to his poor presidential performance. He was accused of corruption, violation of human rights, violation of the constitution, and violation of the presidential code. The impeachment was successful and the president vacated the office. The impeachment became a precedent for later presidents who performed poorly.
The right of presidential impeachment is very important for the stability of any country and the fair distribution of power. Because corrupt or law-abiding heads of state cannot lead the country to prosperity.
8 Viktor Yanukovych
Country: Ukraine
Reason: He was unable to fulfil his duties and to held early presidential elections
Result: Left the country. Replaced by parliament speaker Oleksandr Turchynov
Viktor Yanukovych was a Ukrainian politician and remained the President from 2010 to 2014. Since his teenage years, he has been involved in criminal activities. He was sent to jail for three years in 1967 for assault and robbery. After his release, he was again convicted in another case on the charges of assault, leading to another sentence of two years.
In 2010, Viktor Yanukovych was elected as the fourth president of Ukraine. The impeachment case of President Viktor was quite popular. He used his powers violently and caused chaos in the country. He held early elections and used his references and links to win the elections leaving the elections shady and doubtful. The opposition, however; did not accept him as president and was successful in removing him from office through a critical presidential impeachment.
9 Dilma Rousseff
Country: Brazil
Reason: Electoral ecstasy and retaliatory actions
Result: Impeached and was replaced by vice president Michel Temer
Dilma Rousseff was the 36th President of Brazil, formerly an economist, before starting her political career. The lady president has had so many opponents and haters since she won elections over the most powerful and influential politicians in Brazil.
Dilma Rousseff was yet to be appointed as president but soon got caught violating so many constitutional rules. She was the first lady president to be impeached and removed from office in 2016. However, her followers still fight for her allegations to be called off.
10 Park Geun-hye
Country: South Korea
Reason: Abuse of power and coercion
Result: Passed. Second female president to be impeached
Park Geun-Hye is another lady in the list of top 10 heads of state who have faced presidential impeachments. She was the 11th president of South Korea and served her country from 2013 to 2017. Park was the first lady president of South Korea who won the Presidential elections. The lady president was involved in various political scandals and was guilty of misusing her authority. Intervention in the presidency by her aide, Choi Soon-Sil was one of the reasons for her impeachment. The impeachment was held through voting and the president had to face so many opponents and finally left office in 2017.
Source: Wikipedia
