List of impeachments of heads of state
Appearance
This is a list of formal impeachments, impeachment attempts or impeachment inquiries of presidents, or holders of other offices equivalent to a head of state.
Successful impeachments
[edit]Successful removal from office by legislature is indicated in bold:
Name | Country | Title | Date | Charge(s) | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pedro Castillo (2nd time) | Peru | President | December 7, 2022 | Moral Incapacity | Impeached and removed from office by the Congress of Peru with 101 votes in favor (with 87 required) on December 7, 2022, following Castillo's attempted dissolution of the Congress of Peru and formation of an emergency government, and call for a constitutional convention to write a new constitution.[1] |
Pedro Castillo (1st time) | Peru | President | March 14, 2022 | Moral Incapacity | Impeached by the Congress of Peru on March 14, 2022.[2] Acquitted on March 28, 2022.[3] |
Sebastián Piñera | Chile | President | November 9, 2021 | Openly infringing the Constitution and seriously compromising the honour of the nation[4] | The Chamber of Deputies impeached Piñera by a razor-thin majority of 78 votes (out of 155).[5] Acquitted by the Senate on November 16, 2021.[6] |
Ilir Meta | Albania | President | June 9, 2021 | Failing to guarantee national unity by backing the opposition in elections[7] | Impeached by the Parliament; overturned by the Constitutional Court on 16 February 2022, ruling that the accusations against him did not violate the constitution.[8][9][10] |
Donald Trump (2nd time) | United States | President | January 13, 2021 | Incitement of insurrection | Impeached by the United States House of Representatives;[11] acquitted by the United States Senate on February 13, 2021.[12] The impeachment article was passed a week before Trump's planned departure from office and his term expired before the Article of Impeachment was delivered to the Senate to allow his trial to begin. |
Martín Vizcarra (2nd time) | Peru | President | November 2, 2020 | Moral Incapacity | Impeached by the Congress of Peru on November 2, 2020. Convicted and removed from the presidency on November 9, 2020, by a supermajority vote. Succeeded in office by the President of Congress, Manuel Merino, through constitutional succession.[13][14] Merino would only serve six days, leaving office amidst mass public outcry and the killing of protesters. |
Martín Vizcarra (1st time) | Peru | President | September 11, 2020 | Moral Incapacity | Impeached by the Congress of Peru on September 11, 2020. Acquitted on September 18, 2020. |
Donald Trump (1st time) | United States | President | December 18, 2019 | Abuse of power, obstruction of Congress | Impeached by the United States House of Representatives;[15] acquitted by the United States Senate on February 5, 2020.[16] |
Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (2nd time) | Peru | President | March 15, 2018 | Moral Incapacity[17] | Impeached by the Congress of Peru on March 15, 2018. Resigned from the presidency on March 21, 2018. Resignation accepted by Congress on March 23, 2018. |
Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (1st time) | Peru | President | December 15, 2017 | Moral Incapacity[18] | Impeached by the Congress of Peru on December 15, 2017. Acquitted on December 21, 2017. |
Park Geun-hye | South Korea | President | December 9, 2016 | Abuse of power | Impeached by the National Assembly; removed by the Constitutional Court on March 10, 2017. Hwang Kyo-ahn served as acting president during the impeachment.[19] |
Dilma Rousseff | Brazil | President | April 17, 2016 | Violation of budgetary laws | Suspended from presidential powers and duties on May 12, 2016; removed from office by the Federal Senate on August 31, 2016. First female president to be impeached. Succeeded in office by vice president Michel Temer.[20] |
Václav Klaus | Czech Republic | President | March 4, 2013 | Treason | Impeached by the Senate, but rejected as moot by the Constitutional Court as his term in office had expired.[21] |
Fernando Lugo | Paraguay | President | June 21, 2012 | Nepotism, insecurity, improper land purchase | Removed from office by the Senate on June 22, 2012; succeeded in office by vice president Federico Franco.[22] |
Rolandas Paksas | Lithuania | President | March 31, 2004 | Interfering in a privatization transaction, leaking classified information | Removed by the Seimas on April 6, 2004. Succeeded in office by parliament speaker Artūras Paulauskas as acting president.[23] |
Roh Moo-hyun | South Korea | President | March 12, 2004 | Election law violations | Impeached by the National Assembly; reinstated by the Constitutional Court on May 14, 2004.[24] Goh Kun served as acting president during the impeachment. |
Abdurrahman Wahid | Indonesia | President | July 23, 2001 | Attempting to dissolve Parliament | Removed by the People's Consultative Assembly. Succeeded in office by vice president Megawati Sukarnoputri.[25] |
Alberto Fujimori | Peru | President | November 22, 2000 | Murder, bodily harm, two counts of kidnapping | Fujimori announced his resignation on November 17, 2000. The resignation was rejected by the Congress of Peru, who voted to remove him from office four days later. Succeeded in office by Congress President Valentín Paniagua as constitutional president.[26] Was arrested in 2005 after years in exile, then pardoned by Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in 2017 but the pardon was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2018. |
Joseph Estrada | Philippines | President | November 13, 2000 | Corruption | Impeached by the House of Representatives of the Philippines; case went to impeachment trial at the Senate but the trial was aborted. Declared his resignation on January 20, 2001. Succeeded in office by vice president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.[27] |
Bill Clinton | United States | President | December 19, 1998 | Perjury, obstruction of justice | Impeached by the United States House of Representatives; acquitted by the United States Senate on February 12, 1999.[28] |
Boris Yeltsin | Russia | President | September 22, 1993 | Violation of the Constitution | Retained post after an armed standoff with the Supreme Council.[29] |
Carlos Andrés Pérez | Venezuela | President | March 20, 1993 | Embezzlement | Found guilty by the Supreme Court of Venezuela on May 21, 1993; removed by Venezuelan National Congress on August 31, 1993. Succeeded in office by congress president Octavio Lepage as provisional president.[30] |
Abolhassan Banisadr | Iran | President | June 20, 1981 | Anti-revolutionary conduct, ties to political-militant organisations such as MEK | Removed by Ayatollah Khomeini. Succeeded in office by the Provisional Presidential Council.[31] |
Sukarno | Indonesia | President | March 12, 1967 | Allegation of masterminding the 30 September Movement coup against himself | Removed by MPRS. Succeeded in office by chairman of cabinet presidium General Suharto as acting president and later full president.[32] |
Café Filho | Brazil | President | November 19, 1955 | Coup d'état attempt to prevent Juscelino Kubitschek from taking office, leaving the presidency to Carlos Luz purposefully | Barred from resuming the powers of presidency, after a self-declared incapacity on 8 November 1955, by the Federal Senate on November 22, 1955. The process occurred during the government of Nereu Ramos.[33][34][35] |
Carlos Luz | Brazil | President | November 11, 1955 | Coup d'état attempt to prevent Juscelino Kubtschek from taking office | Removed from office by the Federal Senate on November 11, 1955. The impeachment process occurred in one day. Succeeded by president of Federal Senate Nereu Ramos.[36][37] |
Andrew Johnson | United States | President | February 24, 1868 | Violating the Tenure of Office Act | Impeached by the United States House of Representatives; acquitted by the United States Senate on May 26, 1868.[38][37] |
Resigned during the impeachment attempt
[edit]Name | Country | Title | Date | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (2nd time) | Peru | President | March 21, 2018 | Impeachment proceedings passed by congress. President resigned before scheduled trial vote.[18] |
Robert Mugabe | Zimbabwe | President | November 21, 2017 | Resigned before formal vote.[39][40] |
Pervez Musharraf | Pakistan | President | August 18, 2008 | Resigned before formal vote.[41] Was convicted in absentia in 2019 and sentenced to death.[42] |
Fernando Collor de Mello | Brazil | President | September 1, 1992 | Resigned from office on December 29, 1992. Succeeded in office by vice president Itamar Franco.[43] |
Giovanni Leone | Italy | President | June 15, 1978 | Resigned before formal vote.[44] |
Richard Nixon | United States | President | August 9, 1974 | Resigned before formal vote.[45] Was later pardoned by Gerald Ford.[46] |
Failed impeachment attempts
[edit]Name | Country | Title | Date | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
Joe Biden | United States | President | May 18, 2023 | Resolution referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary, no further action taken [47] |
Pedro Castillo | Peru | President | December 7, 2021 | Vote for impeachment proceedings failed with Congress of Peru voting 46 for impeachment proceedings out of 52 votes needed. Exactly a year later, on December 7, 2022, Castillo was successfully impeached and removed following Castillo's 2022 self-coup attempt.[48] |
Ilir Meta | Albania | President | July 27, 2020 | The Albanian Parliament voted against Meta's impeachment over his unsuccessful attempt to cancel the 2019 local elections.[49] |
Sebastián Piñera | Chile | President | December 12, 2019 | The National Congress rejected a motion to impeach Piñera for failure to protect human rights, finding that it did not meet the constitutional threshold for impeachment.[50] |
Martín Vizcarra | Peru | President | October 1, 2019 | The Congress of Peru attempted to impeach and remove Vizcarra after the Peruvian president ordered the dissolution of congress as part of the 2019 Peruvian constitutional crisis. The vote was deemed illegitimate.[51] |
Miloš Zeman | Czech Republic | President | September 26, 2019 | Not passed[52] |
Michel Temer | Brazil | President | June 9, 2017 | Dismissed by the Superior Electoral Court.[53] |
Rodrigo Duterte | Philippines | President | March 16, 2017 | The House Justice Committee threw out the charge by unanimous vote.[54] |
Jacob Zuma | South Africa | President | April 5, 2016 | Not passed[55] |
Benigno Aquino III | Philippines | President | July 21, 2014 | The House Justice Committee threw out the charges by a vote of 54–4.[56][57] |
Giorgio Napolitano | Italy | President | February 11, 2014 | Not passed[44][58] |
Traian Băsescu | Romania | President | July 29, 2012 | Not passed[59] |
Barack Obama | United States | President | March 7, 2012 | Resolution referred to committee, no further action taken[60] |
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo | Philippines | President | November 26, 2008 | The House Justice Committee threw out the charges by a vote of 42–8.[61] |
George W. Bush | United States | President | June 11, 2008 | Resolution referred to committee, no further action taken[62] |
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo | Philippines | President | November 26, 2007 | Rejected by the House of Representatives of the Philippines through a vote of 184–1.[61][63] |
Traian Băsescu | Romania | President | April 19, 2007 | Not passed[64] |
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo | Philippines | President | August 24, 2006 | Rejected by the House of Representatives of the Philippines through a vote of 173–32.[61][65] |
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo | Philippines | President | August 30, 2005 | The House Justice Committee threw out the charges.[61][66] |
Roh Moo-hyun | South Korea | President | May 14, 2004 | Not passed in assembly[29] |
Boris Yeltsin | Russia | President | May 15, 1999 | Not passed[29] |
Boris Yeltsin | Russia | President | March 28, 1993 | Not passed[29] |
Francesco Cossiga | Italy | President | December 7, 1991 | Not passed[44] |
Ranasinghe Premadasa | Sri Lanka | President | August 7, 1991 | Rejected by the Speaker of the Parliament due to a lack of signatures.[67] |
Getúlio Vargas | Brazil | President | June 16, 1954 | Rejected by the Chamber of Deputies through a vote of 136–35.[68][69][70] |
Andrew Johnson | United States | President | December 7, 1867 | Impeachment resolution rejected by the United States House of Representatives 57–108.[71][72] Johnson later separately impeached in February 1868, but acquitted in impeachment trial. |
James Buchanan | United States | President | June 16, 1860 | Committee found that nothing had been done to warrant impeachment.[73] |
John Tyler | United States | President | January 10, 1843 | Impeachment resolution rejected by the United States House of Representatives 127–83.[74] |
See also
[edit]- List of presidents who did not win reelection
- List of prime ministers defeated by votes of no confidence
References
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{{cite news}}
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