If there's one thing modern voters agree on, it's toppling corrupt leaders — here's a list of every ousted politician since 2013
Valery Korchmar/Reuters
- In the last five years, more than 10% of countries in the world have experienced corruption-driven leadership change.
- Public anger and legal action in response to allegations that a politician is corrupt has become a remarkably powerful tool driving political change.
- Foreign Policy outlines 21 countries that have had leaders resign, be ousted by a no-confidence vote, or that have been impeached or removed from office since 2013.
There is a striking trend in global politics: A growing number of presidents and prime ministers are being toppled before the end of their term by public anger and legal action relating to corruption. In just the last six months, corruption dominoes have fallen in countries as diverse as Armenia, Malaysia, Peru, Slovakia, South Africa, and Spain. Stepping back a bit, a startling fact deserves attention: In the past five years, more than 10 percent of countries in the world have experienced corruption-driven leadership change.
In these 21 countries, embattled leaders have either resigned, been ousted by a no-confidence vote, or been impeached or removed from office. Their alleged wrongdoings range from the relatively mild — an Icelandic prime minister seemingly trying to conceal the existence of overseas assets — to extensive influence-peddling and abuse of power for private gain. Most cases are unrelated to each other, but the 2016 release of the Panama Papers and the investigation into the Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht have triggered political scandals in multiple countries.
Not only is corruption driving out many leaders before their time, but it is also contributing significantly to the electoral defeats of numerous incumbents. Consider the surprising defeat of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in the May elections that ousted the party that had governed Malaysia continuously for more than 60 years. In the run-up to the contest, Najib's reputation was fatally weakened by accusations that he siphoned hundreds of millions of dollars from the state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad into his personal account. In the past several years, Argentina, Benin, Costa Rica, Ghana, India, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Sri Lanka have all seen incumbent candidates or parties defeated as a partial or significant result of corruption scandals.
Even where corrupt leaders are surviving the storm, protests fueled primarily or partially by corruption often shake up politics, as they have in the Czech Republic, Honduras, Iran, Malta, and elsewhere.
Corruption has become a remarkably powerful — arguably the most powerful — issue driving political change in the world today. This reality is a crucial counterpoint to the troubling idea that has emerged in the last year or two that with media manipulation, populist appeals, and restrictions on civic space, corrupt politicians are simply able do whatever they want and not pay any price for it. Citizens all over are demonstrating a growing unwillingness to put up with corrupt behavior and other forms of bad governance. By doing so, they are changing global politics for the better.
June 2018
Juan Medina/Reuters
Spain
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was ousted in a no-confidence vote following allegations of slush fund-related corruption.
April 2018
Thomson Reuters
Armenia
The appointment of then-President Serzh Sargsyan as prime minister, allowing him to evade constitutional term limits and remain in power, led to large-scale protests against the regime’s corruption and autocratic tendencies. The demonstrations forced his resignation and the end of the Republican Party’s decades-long rule
March 2018
Mariana Bazo/Reuters
Mauritius
Ameenah Gurib-Fakim resigned as Mauritius’s (largely ceremonial) president over allegations she misused NGO funds provided by an Angolan businessman with investments in the country.
Peru
President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigned in the face of Odebrecht-related allegations of influence-peddling and conflicts of interest, as well as allegedly seeking to bribe lawmakers to prevent his impeachment.
Slovakia
Prime Minister Robert Fico resigned after the murder of a reporter investigating tax fraud and corruption sparked public outrage.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- We compared Meghan Markle's and Kate Middleton's fashion choices — and the winner is clear
- McDonald's employees share the 11 menu items they'd never eat
- The stock market's biggest bear calls out a huge investing mistake that could have 'brutal consequences' — and explains how it will cause the next market crash