The era of strong leaders

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent referendum to grant his office sweeping powers is being seen as the latest instance of the popular acceptance of the so-called "Strong Leader". But many of these leaders, like Erdogan, have been consolidating their position by amending their country’s constitution, allowing them to continue in office. ET Magazine brings you a snapshot of the leaders currently in power through these means, as well as a look at other controversial rulers down the ages.

Emomali Rahmon
Country: Tajikistan
Head of the government since 1990 and sworn in as president in 1994, Emomali Rahmon has been in office for over two decades. In December 2015, he was bestowed the title of "Leader of the Nation". A month later, the Parliament approved changes to the constitution that allows the president to run for office as many times as he would like to. Another amendment reduces the age for presidential candidates to 30, which observers say would allow Rahmon’s elder son to contest when his current terms ends in 2020
Nursultan Nazarbayev
Country: Kazakhstan
Nazarbayev was elected as president in 1990, before which he was first secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan. Each time he was re-elected his vote share has increased, crossing 97% in the last election in 2015 though these elections have been criticised by international observers. In 2007, the Kazakh Parliament voted to allow the president an unlimited number of terms of office. Three years later, the president was bestowed with the title of "leader of the nation"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Country: Turkey
Erdogan was elected to the office of prime minister in 2002, and spent 11 years in that position before becoming the country’s first elected president in 2014. That role was supposed to be largely ceremonial. A 2007 constitutional reform passed by referendum had made the presidential election one via a direct national vote. The latest referendum gives the president the power to directly appoint ministers and vice-presidents, to intervene in the judiciary and the power to impose a state of Emergency. The referendum also abolished the post of prime minister

Vladimir Putin
Country: Russia
Named acting president by predecessor Boris Yeltsin, Putin was elected as president in 2000. He served two terms as president and then spent four years as prime minister, before returning to the presidential office in 2012. According to the Russian constitution, he was not allowed to run for a third consecutive presidential term, so he made then prime minister Dmitry Medvedev his successor in 2008, before swapping places in 2012. That same year, the Russian Parliament passed a constitutional amendment that extended the presidential term from four years to six.

Idriss Deby
Country: Chad
Deby won a fifth term as president of Chad in last year, 26 years after he took over the reins of the country through a coup. Access to the internet was cut during voting. In 2001, Deby had said he would step down after his second term but in 2005, he held a referendum to get approved constitutional changes to remove the two-term limit for presidency. A majority of the voters approved of the changes.