After ouster by court, only 2 PMs were replaced by fellow party men

Of the very few sitting Prime Ministers and Presidents in the world ousted by courts for one reason or the other, there have been only two occasions in history when their party colleagues had replaced them to hold the reins of the government, research conducted by the “Jang Group and Geo Television Network” shows.

We are only talking about ousters of incumbent rulers through court orders here.

The first time this rarity was witnessed by the world was in September 2008 when a Thai Constitutional court had ordered country’s incumbent Prime Minister, Samak Sundaravej, to quit office for hosting TV cooking shows by receiving an honorarium of around $579 per appearance ($2,300 for all appearances) and hence violating the constitution as men holding prized slots are not allowed to engage in any money-earning activity.

It was the third time in seven years the court had forced out a government associated with former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was overthrown in a military coup on September 19, 2006.

His party was outlawed and he was barred from undertaking political activities.

Within minutes, the ruling People Power Party (PPP) brushed off the verdict.

Protesters from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), who accused Samak of being a puppet of Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted as premier by the army in a 2006 coup, said they would not move from Government House, where they have barricaded themselves for two weeks.

Prior to entering electoral politics, Somchai Wongsawat had served civil service and judicial service, having been appointed Permanent Secretary of Justice.

On September 9, 2008, the “CNN’ had reported: “Samak appeared in court and argued that he had not violated any rules. His work for the television company, he said, was as a freelancer and not an employee. Further, he said, the show was not on the air anymore and that he received just $2,300 for his appearances. The 73-year-old Samak continued to appear sporadically on the show "Tasting while Grumbling" after he became prime minister in February. was already facing charges of corruption, appealing a three-year prison sentence for defaming a deputy governor and dealing with an election commission decision last week that his party committed electoral fraud in the December elections and should be dissolved. In addition, thousands of protesters have camped outside the Government House, the government's headquarters -- blocking Samak from entering since August 26.”

Deputy Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, also hailing from ousted Premier’s People Power Party, was handed over power as Acting Chief Executive of the country.

However, in December 2008, Somchai Wongsawat’s People Power Party was eventually dissolved by Thailand’s Constitutional Court and its executive members, including Somchai, were prohibited from politics for five years for vote-buying during the 2007 general election.

It is imperative to note that Thailand does not have an independence day because it was never colonized.

Since 1912, it has experienced 21 coups, five of which have been staged since 1981 by country's strong military junta with utter disdain and exemplary ease.

The second occasions when a party colleague had replaced a sitting ruler sent packing by court was witnessed in Pakistan in June 2012, when the Pakistan Supreme Court had disqualified incumbent Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, from holding office for defying its orders.

Gilani was disqualified from holding a seat in the parliament from the date of his conviction on April 26, 2012 by a seven-member bench for contempt of court.

Following the Apex Court’s verdict, the Election Commission had de-notified Mr Gilani as member of the National Assembly and declared his seat vacant.

PTI Chief Imran Khan, along with the current Premier Nawaz Sharif, had asked the Supreme Court to disqualify the embattled Gilani.

On June 22, 2012, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Gilani’s colleague in ruling Pakistan People’s Party, was elected as the 25th Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Ashraf, a unanimously agreed candidate of the PPP and its coalition partners, received 211 votes while Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) candidate Sardar Mehtab Abbasi could bag 89 votes only.

The newly elected Pakistani Prime Minister and a new federal cabinet were together sworn in at the Presidency.

Some 27 new federal ministers and 11 new ministers for state took oath; Most of them were also part of the previous cabinet as well.

Prime Ministers/Presidents whose ousters on court orders also signaled an end to the tenure of their respective political parties:

Another Thai Premier, Yingluck Shinawatra, was removed from office on May 7, 2014 by a Constitutional Court decision that found her guilty on a charge of abuse of power.

After mass protests against her regime in late 2013, she had asked for dissolution of parliament on December 9, 2013, triggering a snap election, but continued to act as Caretaker Prime Minister.

The order had immediate effect, but the court said the remainder of her government could remain in place in a caretaker role until elections go ahead on 20 July, 2014.

“The Independent” said she was shown the door for ordering the transfer of the Thai national security Chief Thawil Pliensri in 2011.

She was in power since 2011.

Thailand's first woman Prime Minister was sister of another former Premier, Thaksin Shinawatra, who had served between 2001 and 2006. He was overthrown by a military coup in September 2006, and as stated above, his party was outlawed and he was barred from political activity. He was sentenced in absentia to two years in jail for abuse of power.

The female Thai Premier, along with former cabinet ministers and political leaders of all parties, was arrested during the 2014 military coup against the caretaker regime that had succeeded her.

On August 21, 2014, the Thai army chief, General Prayuth Chan-ocha, was named prime minister by the legislature, in a move that was widely expected.

The General was due to be retiring in September, but since the dramatic Army coup on 22 May, he had been in effective control of the country as head of the military junta that has replaced the civilian government.

In mid 2016, Yingluck Shinawatra's was seen campaigning for her political comeback and received a rapturous welcome from people who believed her government had improved the quality of their lives.

The “BBC News” had reported on May 31, 2016 that Yingluck had found a way around the strictures of military rule by holding a contest among her five million Facebook followers.

On March 10, 2017, as the BBC News” had reported, South Korea's President, Park Geun-hye, became the country's first democratically elected leader to be forced from office.

Judges unanimously upheld parliament's decision to impeach Ms Park over her role in a corruption scandal involving her close friend, Choi Soon-sil. It was a unanimous 8–0 ruling court ruling.

In December 2016, Park’s presidential powers and duties were suspended with the ratification of the impeachment.

Her loyalist and the then-Premier Hwang Kyo-ahn thus assumed those powers and duties as Acting President till May 10, 2017, when Moon Jae-in was elected as the new South Korean head of state.

On May 21, 2015, President Park had named Hwang as Prime Minister of South Korea, following the resignation of Lee Wan-Koo on bribery accusations.

He was also a candidate of the former Democratic United Party in the 2012 Presidential polls in which he had lost narrowly to President Park Geun-hye.

The “BBC News” had reported: “She now loses her presidential immunity and could face criminal charges. There have been angry scenes outside the court. Police said two protesters had died. The court ruling is the culmination of months of political turmoil and public protest. An election must now be held within 60 days. Ms Park's office said she would not be leaving the Blue House, South Korea's presidential palace, nor making any statement. Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn has called for calm, saying the government should remain stable to prevent internal conflict from spreading.”

Case of New Zealand Prime Minister’s ejection from parliament:

On May 11, 2016, as media house “CNBC” had reported, John Key, the Prime Minister of New Zealand was ejected from parliament after a tirade over the country's role in the Panama Papers.

The “CNBC” had stated: “John Key, who has led the South Pacific country since 2008, was answering a question from a Green Party politician on why he had not apologized to charities Greenpeace, the Red Cross, and Amnesty. Key had surprised media and politicians by naming those organizations in connection with the papers. It was subsequently confirmed none of the three was found to have any direct link to foreign asset trusts currently under scrutiny by journalists. After a long rant defending why he named the charities, Key was told to sit down by the speaker of the house. When he then didn't, the New Zealand Prime Minister was ordered to leave the chamber. New Zealand has been mentioned in the Panama Papers more than 60,000 times and Mossack Fonseca has an office in the country, leading many to label the country a tax haven.”

Brazilian court had voted against stripping President Michel Temer:

On June 10, 2017, as news agency “AFP” maintained, Brazilian head of state, Michel Temer, had won a big victory as the country’s electoral court had ruled not to oust him from office on corruption charges.

According to “the Guardian,” Michel Temer was formally accused by the attorney general, Rodrigo Janot, of taking bribes from meat-packing giant JBS.

In a damning indictment to the Brazilian Supreme Court, Janot alleged Temer took millions of dollars in bribes from meat-packing giant JBS. The attorney general said the President had “fooled Brazilian citizens” and compromised the image of the country.

The “AFP” had stated: “Brazil’s election court has voted against stripping President Michel Temer of his office in a major boost to his chances of beating a gathering corruption scandal. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal, considering charges that Temer’s election in 2014 should be annulled because of the role of corruption money, had voted 4-3 to acquit the embattled center-right president. The verdict spared recession-ravaged Brazil its second leadership crisis in 14 months, following the Senate impeachment of leftist president Dilma Rousseff last year and her replacement by her then-vice president Temer.”

High accountability standards set by American Presidents:

In United States of America, the precedents for the domination of the rule of law were set by none other than its Presidents.

A journey through the life sketches of former American Presidents reveals that the 14th US President Franklin Pierce (1804-69) was once arrested during his days in office for running over an elderly lady with his horse.

The case, however, was dropped for lack of evidence in 1853.

The 18th US head of state, Ulysses Grant (1822–85), was also arrested once for speeding on his horse in the streets of Washington DC. He had to pay a $20.00 fine for the ‘crime.’