List of women holding the most powerful positions in politics. Seven out of ten current female heads of state became the first female presidents in the history of their countries, and they did so very recently.
heads of state
Bidhya Devi Bhandari - Nepal
Nepal's first female president has only been in office for three years. Bidhya Devi was able to complete her schooling while the girls of her generation did not have the opportunity to study. From a young age, she was fond of politics. Bidhya participated in demonstrations against the rule of the king, and after the overthrow of the monarchy in 2006, she was elected to the interim parliament. In the same year, a bill proposed by Bhandari was passed, which, for the first time in the history of Nepal, gave women a quota of 33% of the seats in parliament, as well as the right to inherit the property of their parents and the right to inherit the mother's citizenship by a child.
Halima Yacob - Singapore
In 2013, Halima became the first female parliament speaker in Singapore's history, and in 2017, the country's first female president. The post of head of state Halima received automatically, after all the other candidates were not allowed to run for elections due to non-compliance with the requirements. Career did not prevent Halima Yacob from getting married and having five children.
Queen Elizabeth II - Great Britain
This woman does not need to be introduced for a long time. Suffice it to say that she is the longest reigning monarch in British history. At the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, we were once again convinced that Elizabeth is holding up perfectly at 92. If you want to learn more about the life of Elizabeth and other members of the royal family, check out our selection of films.
Queen Margrethe II - Denmark
Queen Margrethe II has also been on the throne for a long time - 46 years. Among her ancestors are Russian princes - the granddaughter of Nicholas I Anastasia Mikhailovna. Margrethe studied military affairs, was a recruit for the women's section of the Air Squadron. Among the Queen's other hobbies is painting. In addition, together with her husband Prince Henrik, she translated several works by Simone de Beauvoir into Danish.
Dalia Grybauskaite - Lithuania
For the first time, Dalia Grybauskaite was elected president of Lithuania in 2009 - then she won 69.05% of the vote: a record number for all elections after the collapse of the USSR. In 2014, Grybauskaite was re-elected for a second term. She is the first female president in the history of Lithuania, as well as the first president to be elected for a second term. Dalia Grybauskaite is 62 years old, has never been married and has no children. But she has a black belt in karate.
Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca - Malta
In 2013, she joined the Government of Malta as Minister for Family Affairs and Social Solidarity. A year later, the country's prime minister recommended her for the presidency, and she was approved in this position. Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca is the second female president in the history of Malta, but she still managed to break one record: she is the youngest president in the history of the state.
Kersti Kaljulaid - Estonia
Another first female president in the history of her country. Kersti Kaljulaid became head of state in 2016. Last year, the American Forbes placed her on the 78th line in the list of "100 most influential women." Kersti has four children: a son and daughter from his first marriage and two sons from his second.
Hilda Hein - Marshall Islands
Prior to becoming President, Hilda Hein was Minister of Education. It is not surprising - Hine is the first person in the Marshall Islands to receive a Ph.D. In 2016, she became the first female president in Pacific island history. True, she was the only candidate for this post. Hilda Hein founded a women's rights group.
Paula May Weeks - Trinidad and Tobago
Weeks was a lawyer and an appellate judge for the Turks and Caicos Islands. In January 2018, she became the first female president in the history of Trinidad and Tobago. Like Hilda Hein, Wicks was the only candidate for head of state during the election.
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic - Croatia
We met Kolinda Grabar at the 2018 World Cup. Photos of a woman in a sports t-shirt embracing the players of her country were very popular on the Internet. Grabar was praised for her simplicity, in particular for the fact that she flew to the championship on an ordinary passenger plane. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic is the first female president of Croatia and the most popular politician in that country. She has been the head of state since 2015.
Heads of government and governors general
Prime Minister Theresa May - UK
Second woman in British history to lead a government. Prior to her election as Prime Minister, she was Minister for Women and Equality and Minister of the Interior. Theresa May in second place in the list of the most powerful women according to Forbes 2017. In 2018, the magazine ranked her 14th in the overall list of the most influential people peace.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern - New Zealand
Jacinda became New Zealand's head of government in October 2017. She is the youngest female prime minister in the world. In June of this year, Jacinda Ardenrn gave birth to a daughter. Ardern supports same-sex marriage, liberalization of abortion and wants to legislate the reduction of greenhouse gases to combat global warming.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley - Barbados
Mia Mottley became the first woman to lead the government of Barbados. She was elected in May 2018. At 29, she was the youngest minister in the history of the country - responsible for education, youth policy and culture.
Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel - Germany
It is unlikely that many of us will immediately name the president of Germany, but everyone knows the name of the first and only woman as chancellor in the history of this country. Forbes named Angela Merkel the most powerful female politician in the world 12 times from 2004 to 2017. Time magazine has repeatedly included her in the list of the most influential people on the planet, and in 2015 called her the most powerful leader in Europe.
Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdouttir - Iceland
Before entering politics, she worked as a journalist and taught at the university. Katrin is a feminist, she is also an active participant in the environmental movement.
Prime Minister Viorica Dancila - Romania
Viorica Dancila was Deputy of the Committee for agriculture and a member of the Women's Rights and Gender Equality Committee. On her initiative, women candidates received a quota of 30% in the elections to the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of Romania.
Prime Minister Ana Brnabic - Serbia
Ana Brnabic has never belonged to any party. In 2017, after the presidential elections, she became the first woman to head the government. In addition, she is the first in this position to openly declare her homosexual orientation.
Governor General Patsy Reddy - New Zealand
Post-feminist, vegan, and equal rights activist Patsy Reddy became Governor General in 2016. Her appointment was seen as New Zealand's big step towards gender equality. Petsy actively advocates for gender, ethnic, cultural diversity in all areas of society.
Governor General Marguerite Pindling - Bahamas
Marguerite Pindling is the widow of the first Prime Minister of the Bahamas. In 2014, she was appointed governor-general of the state.
Governor General Cecil La Grenade - Grenada
Officer of the Order of the British Empire and Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George. Since 2013, Cécile La Grenade has been the first woman to serve as governor general in the history of the state.
On March 19, the permanent president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, announced that. He stayed in his post for almost 30 years and was the most "long-ruling" head of state in the post-Soviet space. We decided to rank the current political centenarians in countries with a republican or mixed form of government, where the head of state is elected - at least formally. The result surprised us: the list included the heads of seven African countries, one representative each from the Middle East and Central Asia and one leader of a European country.
1st place: President of Equatorial Guinea Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
39 years of continuous reign
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo became President of Equatorial Guinea almost 40 years ago, in 1979, after the overthrow of the country's first president, his uncle Francisco Macias Nguema Biyogo.
In Equatorial Guinea, a cult of the president's personality flourishes. In 2003, the state press announced that Teodoro Obiang Nguema was "like God in heaven" and was "in constant contact with the Almighty", with the president having "all power over men and things".
It is not surprising that Mbasogo is re-elected with enviable constancy - in the last elections of 2016, according to official data, 93.53% of voters voted for him. The next elections will be held in Equatorial Guinea in 2023. Now Mbasogo, 76, is unlikely to run for another term, having been diagnosed with cancer.
2nd Place: Cameroonian President Paul Biya
36 years of continuous reign
Paul Biya has ruled Cameroon as president for nearly 37 years. Considering that before that, for another seven years, he headed the government of Cameroon and was the country's prime minister, then his political experience is 44 years.
In October last year, despite his advanced age - 86 years, Paul Biya was re-elected president of the country for a seven-year term.
3rd Place: Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni
33 years of continuous reign
Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, 74, has been in power for 33 years. Having come to power as a result of a military coup, he promised that his government would govern the country during a four-year transitional period until a new constitution was drafted and elections were held. Then elections were held, then another, and another - and, according to official data, it was Museveni who won them.
The 2001-2006 cadence was the last time Museveni was allowed by the Ugandan constitution. However, in 2005, changes were prepared to the country's basic law, allowing the president to be elected again. In the same year, the Ugandan parliament removed the limit on the number of presidential terms.
In the 2016 elections, Museveni was re-elected president with a score of 60.62%. And he is going to run in the next elections in 2021.
4th place: Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir
Omar al-Bashir came to power in Sudan in a military coup in 1989. He headed the National Salvation Revolution Command Council, which ruled Sudan for several years, and after the dissolution of the Council, he became President of Sudan.
Since then, he has consistently won presidential elections- the last time in 2015, where, according to official data, he won with 94.05% of the vote.
Omar al-Bashir, 75, has no intention of leaving office despite being labeled a dictator and the International Criminal Court has issued a warrant for his arrest for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
5th place: Iranian leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei
29 years of continuous reign
Ali Khamenei. Photo: Reuters Ali Hosseini Khamenei is the Ayatollah, Supreme Leader of Iran. There is no analogue of such a position in other states, the chief theologian and leader of the state is slightly higher than the president of Iran: not a single decision comes into force without being approved by the Supreme Leader. And even the president of Iran, who won the election, becomes it only after being approved by the leader of the state.
Khamenei became Iran's Supreme Leader after the death of Islamic Revolution leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Mousavi Khomeini in 1989 and has been guiding the country's development for 29 years.
Khamenei, 79, will be Iran's leader until his death, although in theory Iran's Council of Experts, made up of influential theologians, could remove him from this post.
6th: Chadian President Idriss Deby
28 years of continuous reign
Idris Deby. Photo: Reuters The 67-year-old President of Chad, Idriss Deby, has been ruling the country for 28 years. He was re-elected in 2016 and is set to run in the next election in 2021.
7th place: Tajik President Emomali Rahmon
26 years of continuous reign
Emomali Rahmon, after Nazarbayev left his post, became the most "long-playing" head of state in the post-Soviet space. In December 1992, he took the post of chairman of the Supreme Council of Tajikistan (this post is equivalent to the presidential one), and in 1994 - the post of president of Tajikistan. In addition, he bears the title of "Leader of the Nation" ("Peshvoi Millat").
Under Rahmon, the Constitution of Tajikistan was changed several times (familiar, isn't it?). In 1999, the country held a referendum on amendments to the constitution, including amendments to increase the presidential term from four to seven years. In 2003, another referendum was held to change the constitution: the president was allowed to serve not one, but two seven-year terms in a row, and restrictions on the age of a presidential candidate were removed. And finally, in 2016, as a result of a constitutional referendum, amendments were adopted that removed restrictions on the number of re-elections to the presidency from the President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon.
The next presidential elections in Tajikistan will be held in 2020 - 66-year-old Emomali Rahmon has already announced his desire to run for the post of head of state.
8th: Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki
25 years of continuous reign
In April 1993, Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia, and Isaias Afewerki became president of the new state. Initially, the president was supposed to be elected by parliament for a five-year term. But in 1997, Isaias Afewerki (to hell with formalities!) simply took and canceled the presidential election.
Therefore, the 73-year-old Isaias Afewerka does not care about re-election issues. As well as the glory of the dictator.
9th place: President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko
24 years of continuous reign
Alexander Lukashenko became President of Belarus on July 20, 1994. In three months, he will celebrate his 25th anniversary as head of state. To date, this is a record among all European heads of state - with the exception of monarchs. And the second place among the leaders in the post-Soviet space.
The President of Belarus has a chance to break world records: 64-year-old Alexander Lukashenko is now serving his fifth presidential term and is going to run for the post of head of state for the sixth time - he talks about this (however, it is still unknown when the next elections will be held - in 2019 or 2020). And taking into account the fact that the limit on the number of presidential terms was removed from our constitution as a result of a referendum in 2004, Alexander Grigoryevich can become president for the seventh and eighth times ...
10th place: President of the Republic of the Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso
21 years of uninterrupted reign
Denis Sassou Nguesso first became President of the People's Republic of the Congo back in 1979. At that time, the country was betting on the Marxist-Leninist course and friendship with the USSR. After the collapse of the socialist camp People's Republic The Congo simply became the Republic of the Congo and proclaimed a course towards a market economy, and Denis Sassou Nguesso failed miserably in the 1992 presidential elections.
The economic crisis and political destabilization led to civil war. Its outcome in 1997 was decided by the military intervention of neighboring Angola, which again made Denis Sassou Nguesso president of the Republic of the Congo.
Since then, Denis Sassou Nguesso has been re-elected to this post every seven years. The next elections will be held in 2023, and 75-year-old Denis Sassou Nguesso is going to take part in them.
Out of competition
In our ranking, we did not take into account the monarchy. But if we take them into account, then the Queen of Great Britain and a number of other countries - members of the British Commonwealth (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu) will become the undisputed leader in power. , Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis) 92-year-old Elizabeth II.
Elizabeth II. Photo: Reuters The presidential rating is, of course, a very subjective list compiled by sociologists and political scientists in almost every major country. But still, it reflects the main trends in such a changeable area. Disputes often arise on the basis of which to make such a rating. American presidents, for example, are always judged by polls. One of the objective criteria is the level of wages. The list presented to you estimated the income of the heads of state in 2016.
Francois Hollande
Now the ex-leader of France was in the 8th place in the ranking of presidents at the end of last year. He headed one of the largest European countries for 5 years, since 2012.
During his reign, he did a lot to remain in the memory of the people. For example, he approved a bill on same-sex marriages. In addition, he took another step demonstrating European tolerance: he allowed same-sex partners to adopt children. It is worth noting that the expansion of the rights of sexual minorities was one of the main points of the election program of Hollande and his supporters in the party. In this they kept their word.
True, not all Frenchmen agreed with such a policy. Due to the legalization of same-sex marriage, numerous protest rallies and demonstrations took place across the country. This was especially not liked by the right-wing parties that found themselves in opposition, and the Catholic Church.
In the ranking of presidents, the position of the head of France is usually much lower, but by the end of his term, Hollande became an extremely unpopular politician in his homeland. His trust rating has fallen to a record 12%, making him one of the most unpopular French presidents ever. In addition, last year parliament threatened him with impeachment, suspecting him of disclosing state secrets.
Hollande's salary is $194,000.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
The Turkish leader has been in charge of the country since 2014. The election he won was the first direct democratic vote in that country. 2016 was not an easy year for Erdogan. In the summer, part of the military elite tried to carry out a coup d'état, which was suppressed. After that, Turkey began to tighten laws against the opposition and strengthen presidential power, which was negatively assessed by many partner countries.
The coup attempt was very bloody. The mutiny killed 238 people. Erdogan himself narrowly escaped capture. He left the hotel shortly before they began to storm it.
Erdogan seeks to strengthen his power on all fronts. Yes, in this moment 26,000 people are accused of involvement in the coup. Many of them are in prisons, the rest have lost their jobs, as a rule, these are law enforcement officers.
At the moment, a campaign has been launched in the country to return to the criminal code such punishment as the death penalty.
The president's salary is $197,000.
Shinzo Abe
His annual income is $203,000. He has been in charge of the country since 2006. In this post, Abe will be remembered as a politician who began to conduct a kind of economic policy. He managed to revive the economy, which over the previous two decades had been plagued by stagnation and deflation.
One method was to artificially devalue the yen by doubling the money supply. This method is not new; the leaders of other countries have used it repeatedly. On the one hand, it can be very effective, on the other hand, it can provoke international currency wars, which is what critics of the Japanese prime minister are afraid of.
Theresa May
Rounding out the top five is British Prime Minister Theresa May. She receives $215,000.
For her, 2016 was also a defining year in many ways. In the UK, a nationwide referendum was held, in which the majority of the British voted in favor of leaving the European Union. May supported the previous British prime minister and was opposed to secession from Europe.
However, the Eurosceptics won the vote. Cameron stepped down and May took over. Much is expected of her. First of all, a smooth exit of the country from the eurozone, which will last for more than one year. It should also be noted that May became only the second woman in the history of Great Britain, after which she managed to take this post.
Russian President
It is impossible not to mention the national head of state in this list. Although he ended up in 9th place, receiving $ 136,000 a year.
But in the rating of Russian presidents, Vladimir Putin, of course, is in the lead. Yes, and according to polls of authoritative publications, he has repeatedly been among the most authoritative people on the planet. For several years now.
At the moment, Putin is holding the presidency for the third time. His last term at the moment was marked by serious steps in foreign and domestic policy. In particular, the Crimean peninsula was included in the country, after which a number of foreign countries imposed severe economic sanctions against Russia. In response, Putin decided on retaliatory counter-sanctions, which banned the import of food products from states that wished to impose sanctions.
Jacob Zuma
Such high earnings allowed him to take a very high place in this ranking of world presidents. In South Africa, the head of state is not elected by members of parliament. Zuma received support from MPs in 2009. Since then, he has been in office for the second time. His government pays great attention to economic development and infrastructure construction.
Angela Merkel
She has been Chancellor of Germany since 2005. During this time, she managed to become one of the most authoritative politicians in the European Union.
Justin Trudeau
He headed the state in 2015. He pays great attention to the equality of women. So, in his cabinet of ministers there are exactly 15 men and women each. In addition, the most popular nationalities living in Canada are represented.
Rating leader
The first place in this list at the end of 2016 was taken by the American President Barack Obama. He receives $400,000.
At the same time, in the ranking of US presidents in his history, he occupies a very low position. Many of his decisions have been repeatedly criticized and challenged. So, in the ranking of US presidents in the history of Obama, only 12th place. The leader, by the way, is Abraham Licoln. Obama, who began by winning the Nobel Peace Prize at the very beginning of his term, then disappointed many with his aggressive foreign policy.
Therefore, in the rating of American presidents, he is located so low. Americans value stability and self-confidence first and foremost. Obama, on the other hand, failed to solve the main problem that confronted him - to defeat Islamic terrorism.
At the same time, there were many positive things in his work. That is why in the ranking of US presidents, the list of which last years known to everyone, he beat both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
It is worth noting that the current president of the United States, billionaire Donald Trump, will no longer be able to top this list. He stated that he would work for a symbolic payment of $1.
