5 World Leaders Who Ran Out of Luck in 2022 and Desperately Need a Happy New Year | Recap

2022 saw several upheavals across the world, with many mighty leaders running out of luck.

While the Russia-Ukraine war that started at the beginning of the year put Russian President Vladimir Putin in trouble, Pakistan’s Imran Khan was ousted as the prime minister in April.

The economic turmoil and the protests that followed forced the Rajapaksas to flee Sri Lanka.

Liz Truss resigned as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom within 45 days, while, in a first, the US Congress panel recommended criminal charges against a former president, Donald Trump, in the Capitol riots case.

As the year ends, a look at why these leaders may wish for a happy new year:

1. Imran Khan: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted by a no-confidence motion placed in Parliament by the Opposition in April. As he continued his efforts to gather support, while attacking the ruling dispensation, he was shot at on November 3 during a rally. Khan sustained three bullet injuries.Meanwhile, on December 15, an Islamabad court deemed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)’s petition for criminal proceedings against Khan in the Toshakhana case maintainable and summoned the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader in person next month.
2. Rajapaksas: Lengthy blackouts, food and fuel shortage to inflation, Sri Lanka saw the worst in 2022. The protests, which eventually reached his residence in July, forced Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee with former first lady Chamal Rajapaksa and former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa to the Maldives aboard a Sri Lankan Air Force plane.He left the Maldives in less than a week and then entered Singapore on a medical visa, which was extended twice. The Singapore government did not extend the medical visa for the third time. He returned to Sri Lanka on September 3, 51 days after fleeing the country. The former president will remain in Sri Lanka till his application for the US Green Card is approved by the US government.
3. Liz Truss: UK Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned on October 20 amid calls from within her own Conservative Party to step down from the top job six weeks after she entered 10, Downing Street, paving the way for the first Indian-origin PM Rishi Sunak. Truss’s resignation was highly anticipated after her policies triggered massive economic turmoil, and backlash from several quarters amid an already severe cost-of-living crisis in the UK.During her address, Truss conceded that she could not deliver the mandate on which she was elected. “I recognise that given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party. I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party," Truss said.
4. Vladimir Putin: Russian President Vladimir Putin, who turned 70 this year, faces the biggest challenge to his chair with Russia suffering huge losses in Ukraine, triggering the gravest confrontation with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. He even flied to Belarus on December 19, amid fears in Kyiv that he intends to pressure the former Soviet ally to join a new ground offensive against Ukraine and reopen a new front. Putin, whose invading troops have been buffeted and forced into retreats in Ukraine’s north, northeast and south, has been forced to take a more public role in the war.Moreover, there are reports of his declining health, with one even stating that Putin reportedly slipped down five stairs and soiled himself at his official residence in Moscow. Although his security guards immediately rushed to his aid, the impact of the fall caused Putin to “involuntarily defecate" due to “cancer affecting his stomach and bowels," the report said quoting the channel. The news of Putin’s illness comes amid rumours claiming that the Russian President is suffering from worsening cancer and Parkinson’s disease.
5. Donald Trump: A legislative panel that investigated the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol agreed on December 19 to refer criminal charges against former president Donald Trump to the justice department. After an 18-month probe into the assault, the nine-member committee, with seven Democrats and two Republicans, recommended that prosecutors pursue four charges against Trump: obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress, conspiracy to defraud the US, inciting or assisting an insurrection, and conspiracy to make a false statement.

This is the first time Congress has recommended criminal charges against a former president. If the justice department prosecutes and convicts Trump, he will not only face prison time, but will also be disbarred from running for office again. The former President and his supporters believe the charges will only fuel his 2024 campaign.

Adding to Trump’s troubles, another Congressional panel is expected to release Trump’s tax returns later this week to expose his sketchy financial dealings. The January 6 committee, which released only a 160-page executive summary on Monday, also has documents, including nearly 1,200 witness interview transcripts that showed his attempt to derail the peaceful transfer of power.

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