Despite agitations by youths across the world to be allowed to take up the mantle of leadership, many nations, from West to the East, South to the North, are still dominated by very old leaders.
In this piece, NAIJ.com presents a list of world’s oldest leaders, including those that recently left power, as compiled by euronews.
1. Mahathir Mohamad
14 world’s oldest leaders you probably don’t know about
Veteran Malaysian politician Mahathir Mohamad has become the world's oldest leader after a shock victory in the country's election, upending six decades of control by the ruling coalition.
The 92-year-old was sworn in on Thursday, May 10, by Malaysia's constitutional ruler, King Muhammad V, following a momentous vote in which scandal-plagued incumbent Najib Razak was soundly beaten at the polls by his former mentor.
2. Queen Elizabeth II
Queen Elizabeth II in Windsor, England, April 22, 2018. Credit: Chris Jackson/Pool via Reuters
Britain’s monarch turned 92 in April, and became the world’s oldest leader last year — remaining so until Mahathir Mohamad’s victory in Malaysia. She has been on the throne for almost 66 years, having become queen at the age of 25 in 1952 following the death of her father, King George VI.
3. Beji Caid Essebsi
Tunisian's President Beji Caid Essebsi at a news conference in Tunis, Tunisia, January 31, 2018. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
Beji Caid Essebsi, Tunisia’s 91-year-old president, took office in December 2014. He is the north African nation’s first democratically elected head of state. He was formerly a parliamentary speaker under Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, the first autocratic leader to be ousted in the “Arab Spring” uprising of 2011.
4. Kim Yong-nam
Kim Yong-nam in September 2016 REUTERS/Marco Bello
North Korea’s head of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly has been described as the reclusive country’s “nominal head of state” and very influential behind the scenes. Now aged 90, he is a former foreign minister.
5. Sheikh Sabah IV Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah
Sheikh Sabah IV Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah
The Emir of Kuwait will be 89 in June 2018. Born in 1929, he became leader officially in 2006 but in practice had taken the reins years earlier due to the health problems of his predecessor and half-brother, Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah.
6. Dame Marguerite Pindling
Dame Marguerite Pindling
The Governor-General of the Bahamas since 2014 is the world’s oldest female leader. Born in 1932, she will turn 86 in June 2018. She is the widow of the Bahamas’ former Prime Minister and “Father of the Nation” Lynden Pindling. A Commonwealth nation, the Governor-General is the Queen’s official representative.
7. Sir Colville Young
Sir Colville Young
The 85-year-old has been Governor-General of Belize, also a member of the Commonwealth, for 25 years. A politician since the 1960s, he has been closely involved in education, music and literature.
8. Paul Biya
Paul Biya
The president of Cameroon, also 85, has been the African country’s leader since 1982. Previously prime minister, he has kept a close relationship with France, Cameroon’s former colonial ruler.
9. Akihito
Akihito
Japan’s Emperor succeeded his father in 1989. Now aged 84, he is due to step down in 2019. He famously made a morale-boosting live TV appearance after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and with his wife visited a temporary housing shelter.
10. Michel Aoun
Michel Aoun
Lebanon’s President, 83, was elected in 2016. He was previously an army general and served as prime minister. Aoun spent 15 years in exile after Syrian forces invaded the country in 1990.
11. Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas
The President of the Palestinian Authority is also 83. A member of the Fatah party and former chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), he took over the presidency in 2005 having previously been prime minister.
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12. Raul Castro
Raul Castro
Cuba’s former President was 86 when he stepped down in April 2018, having taken over the role 10 years earlier from his revolutionary brother Fidel. He is still First Secretary of the Communist Party, the most senior position in the country.
13. Robert Mugabe
Robert Mugabe
Zimbabwe’s former president was 93 and the world’s oldest serving head of state when he was forced to resign in November 2017.
14. Bhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej
Thailand’s former King was the world’s longest-reigning head of state at the time of his death in 2016, aged 88.
The infographic below captures the world oldest leaders that are currently serving:
An infographic list of the oldest currently serving world leaders
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Source: Naija.ng