Other World Leaders Forced Out
Other Leaders Forced to Stand Down
Paraguay: Fernando Lugo was forced from the presidency in 2012 for dereliction of duty following his handling of a land dispute that left 17 people dead.
Lithuania: Rolandas Paksas was ousted in 2004 after being charged with granting Lithuanian citizenship to a Russian businessman in exchange for money. He was banned from standing for office in Lithuania, but was elected to the European Parliament in 2009.
Indonesia: Abdurrahman Wahid, accused of incompetence and corruption, was dismissed in 2001.
Peru: Alberto Fujimori resigned from the presidency by fax from Tokyo in 2000, claiming Japanese nationality through his parents.
Ecuador: Abdala Bucaram, accused of siphoning off public funds, was ousted in 1997 for "physical and mental incapacity," six months after his inauguration as president.
Venezuela: Carlos Andres Perez, accused of embezzlement and illegal enrichment, was dismissed in 1993. Current President Nicolas Maduro is now battling a proposed referendum on holding a recall vote.
Guatemala: Otto Perez, accused of being part of a ring of officials who took bribes to allow companies to import goods without paying import taxes, was stripped of his presidential immunity by parliament on Sept. 1, 2015. Facing impeachment, he stood down two days later.
Germany: Christian Wulff resigned from the federal presidency in February 2012 after being stripped of his immunity following an accusation of influence peddling. He was later cleared.
Israel: Following a tax fraud and corruption scandal, President Ezer Weizman resigned in July 2000, rather than face impeachment proceedings. In June 2007, President Moshe Katsav resigned as part of a plea bargain after being accused of rape and other sexual offenses. In 2011, he was handed a seven-year prison term.
Brazil: Fernando Collor de Mello, accused of corruption, resigned in 1992 at the beginning of his impeachment hearing before the Federal Senate.
United States: Richard Nixon resigned in August 1974 to avoid almost certain impeachment over the Watergate scandal.
Source: AFP
Brazil's new president, Michel Temer, promised a "new era" of government for that crisis-hit country Wednesday, shortly after being sworn in following the impeachment of his predecessor, Dilma Rousseff.
Earlier, the Brazilian senate voted 61-20 to remove Rousseff from office for breaking federal budget laws.
The verdict came down after Rousseff, the country's first female president, underwent more than 14 hours of questioning on Monday. The final arguments in her impeachment trial took place Tuesday. Of the 81 senators, at least 54 were required to vote in favor of impeachment for the decision to be binding.
Speaking at a televised cabinet meeting after taking the oath of office, Temer said his priorities were to fix Brazil's economy, attract foreign investment, reduce unemployment and begin reform of the pension system.
But he warned that he would not tolerate divisions within his coalition. Temer appeared annoyed that some of his allies had moved to grant Rousseff political rights without consulting his government.
Rousseff was accused of illegally using money from state banks to cover deficits in the federal budget in an effort to boost her popularity heading into the 2014 presidential election. She denied wrongdoing and accused her political opponents of using the trial as a way to overthrow her and undermine Brazil's democracy.
"They decided to interrupt the mandate of a president who had committed no crime. They have convicted an innocent person and carried out a parliamentary coup," Rousseff said in a statement following the Senate vote.
Lawyers from the pro-impeachment side, though, argued that Rousseff's alleged corruption directly contributed to the economic issues Brazil has experienced over the past several years.
"The world needs to know that we are not just voting about accounting issues," said Janaina Paschoal, the author of the impeachment request against Rousseff. "Impeachment is a constitutional remedy that we need to resort to when the situation gets particularly serious, and that is what has happened."
Some information for this report was provided by AP
