16 longest serving dictators in the world
Russians surprisingly voted in approval of constitutional amendments that would see Vladimir Putin extend his reign through to 2036 which could make him one of the longest serving world leaders.
Unless otherwise some twist of turns shoots in with this whole Russian-Ukraine war and loads of EU sanctions.
Whiles others may have a fixed tenure of power for leaders, most also have decades of rulers in power with no intentions of leaving office as though it a family or birthright.
Yoweri Museveni and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Uganda and Iran respectively, have since been in power in the 80’s and have seized power in 5 consecutive decades.
Take a deep fresh air and go through the list of the world’s longest-serving heads of state.
Putin of Russia from president from 2012. He formerly held the position from 2000 to 2008.
After the 2020 referendum won on constitutional changes by Putin that allows him to remain in power until 2036, had many talking after results of the vote were published 5 hours to the end of the polls, making critics to query its legitimacy, according to The Independent
Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan leader from 1990 until 2019.
Nazarbayev was the 1st president of Kazakhstan. In 1991, under his leadership, Kazakhstan gained independence from the Soviet Union. Nazarbayev remained in power after a constitutional amendment made him exempt from a two-term limit on his presidency.
Paul Kagame the leader of Rwanda since 2000.
Kagame took over Rwanda’s in 2000 after its 1st multi-party election, though he allegedly used strategies like arresting supporters of his opponents and compelling other candidates to renounce their intensions. According to the BBC, “His regime inhumanly suppressed the opposition and killed some of his most vocal critics a charge his allies strongly denied.”
President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua since 2007 and was formerly president from 1985 – 1990.
Daniel Ortega was a leader in the Sandinista Party who dethroned the Nicaraguan government in 1979, which led him to secure the presidency in 1984. He took office in 1985. According to the Washington Post, critics viewed the Sandinista as anti-democratic, however Ortega asserted otherwise. After he was voted out in 1990, Ortega lost three straight elections before turning into president once more in 2007.
Ismaïl Omar Guelleh president of Djibouti from 1999.
In 2016, Guelleh won a 4th term. The election was criticized by opponents for political repression, together with police brutality and media bias, according to the BBC.
Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi has been the prime minister of Samoa since 1998.
Malielegaoi, the leader of the Human Rights Protection Party, won re-elections in 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2016.
Alexander Lukashenko has been the president of Belarus since 1994.
Lukashenko maintained a partnership with Russia and worked closely with Russian President Boris Yeltsin. He pressed for a new constitution in 1996 that would sell him greater powers, together with a extended term and therefore the right to rule by decree. Statements from The Guardian, he is “sometimes described as ‘Europe’s last dictator.'”
Emomali Rahmon has served as the president of Tajikistan since 1994.
Rahmon was elected to his 2nd term as president in 1997, and in 2003, a referendum was passed that allowed him to serve two more terms. Per the Business Insider, he “has led the government in suppressing political opposition and dissent.”
Isaias Afwerki has been the president of Eritrea since 1993.
Afwerki was elected to move each as president and chairman of the National Assembly, which handed over to him power in both the executive and legislative branches of government. Afwerki would press on to function as both chairman of the country’s only political party and commander in chief of the army. Sighted by Al Jazeera, ” Rights groups report that journalists and dissenting politicians have been rounded up and imprisoned without trial.”
Idriss Déby has been the president of Chad since he seized power in 1990.
In 1996, Deby was elected in the first multi-party election in the country’s history. However, his 2001 re-election win was marred by accusations of voter fraud and irregularities, according to The New Humanitarian.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attend power as Iran’s second supreme leader in 1989. He has had power for thirty-two years.
At such a teen age 8 years old Ayatollah Khamenei attend power as supreme leader of Iran after the death of the nation’s 1st supreme leader, and founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Khamenei has kept a firm grip of power, according to the BBC, 2009 saw one of the largest protests in the Iran’s history and saw protesters dealt with brutally after alleged election fraud which got him to continue his reign but he maintained that he won fairly.
Yoweri Museveni has been the president of Uganda since 1986, and is in his 6th term.
Museveni took over after overthrowing the military regime of General Tito Okello, who had ruled for just 6 months. He consistently wins a substantial proportion of the popular vote in elections.
Uganda was ranked in the most corrupt countries in East Africa by Transparency International after Museveni lead march against corruption in 2018, and 2019 respectively which he was heavily criticized, via VOA News.
Hun Sen the Cambodian prime minister since 1985. He began his fifth term in 2018.
Via the BBC, Sen lost re-election in 1993 but, refusing to admit the defeat, insisted upon becoming 2nd prime minister along Prince Norodom Ranariddh. In 1997, Sen took over again after a violent coup in which Ranariddh was forced to leave Cambodia.
Denis Sassou Nguesso was president of the Republic of the Congo since 1997, and he previously served from 1979 to 1992.
Nguesso won a landslide victory for his third term in 2016, although the opposition claimed it was due to fraud, repoted the BBC. His win came after a referendum to remove term age limits, which would have prevented him from running again.
Paul Biya has been the president of Cameroon since 1982. Previously, he served as the country’s prime minister for seven years.
At age 89, Biya is the oldest leader in Africa. The BBC referred to Biya as Cameroon’s “absentee president,” for the longer amount of time he spends abroad, predominantly in a Swiss suit in Geneva.
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has been the leader of Equatorial Guinea for fourty years, taking power after a 1979 coup.
Mbasogo apprehended power from his uncle, President Francisco Macias Nguema, who was further tried and executed. Mbasogo has reportedly won landslide victories in his re-elections, though Humans Rights Watch has documented his administration’s suppression of opposition groups, and overall corruption.
source: businessinsider, wikipedia and others
