The year 2024 not only saw some important elections, like those in the United States and India but also witnessed some unexpected turn of events in the tumultuous world of politics, like those in South Korea and Syria. The year was marked by major political uncertainty that flipped the power dynamics in some regions and forced certain world leaders to leave their spots.

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Here are some nations that faced such fate in 2024:

South Korea: The dual impeachment

On the night of December 3, 2024, South Korea's president Yoon Suk Yeol suddenly declared martial law in the country for the first time in nearly 50 years, citing “anti-state forces” and threats from North Korea. 

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However, South Korean politicians, including his own conservative People's Power Party (PPP) leaders, called the law illegal and unconstitutional. Soon, citizens protested outside parliament as the MPs voted against it.

The opposition Democratic Party (DP) led by Lee Jae-myung filed a motion to impeach Yoon, which went through on December 14. Following this, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo was named the acting president of South Korea. 

Han’s term, too, was short-lived after the country’s legislative body voted to impeach him on December 27. This comes after he refused to appoint the three judges in the nine-member benched Constitutional Court of the country. Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok is the new acting president of South Korea.

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Also read | Reigns lost, majorities gained: Major elections that shaped the world in 2024

Syria: Fall of Assad

Syrian politics took a sharp turn when the rule of the Assad family came to an end after being in power for over 50 years.

Bashar al-Assad, who had taken up the post of president after the death of his father in 2000, ruled for almost three decades. During his rule in 2011, a civil war broke out that killed over half a million people while 12 million others fled their homes.

On November 27, 2024,  the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied rebel groups launched an attack, capturing Syria’s largest city, Aleppo. On December 8, The rebels took over the Syrian capital of Damascus, resulting in the collapse of the military forces, resulting in Assad to flee to Moscow and seek asylum.

Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa, the leader of HTS since 2017, is regarded as the de facto leader of the Syrian transitional government following the ouster of Assad.

Bangladesh: Deadly protests

Violent protests erupted in Bangladesh in July that killed over 600, following which Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to flee the country. An interim government led by Muhammad Yunus was formed on August 8, 2024, following President Mohammed Shahabuddin’s order.

The protests began in July against the reinstation of a quota system that reserved 30 per cent of civil service jobs for the family members of freedom fighters and Bangladesh's 1971 Independence War veterans, which allegedly favoured Hasina's Awami League party. 

The student-led protests resulted in vandalism of the Prime Minister’s residence and the defacing of her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s statues. The demonstrations also resulted in attacks on minority communities like Hindus and their places of worship. 

Also read | 2024 was a reminder that climate change impacts us more than we think

France: No-confidence motion ouster

France saw a political crisis in 2024 when Prime Minister Michel Barnier was ousted through a no-confidence motion in the Assemblée Nationale just three months after his appointment.

President Emmanuel Macron called for snap elections in the country after his party Renaissance faced significant loss in the June European Parliament elections. However, his gamble failed after the left-wing coalition Nouveau Front Populaire (New Popular Front or NFP) won the elections.

In September 2024, Barnier was appointed as the prime minister by Macron due to a fragmented Parliament. But soon Barnier’s position was threatened after he faced strong opposition from both far-right and left-wing factions following his budget proposal that projected a six per cent increased deficit of gross domestic product (GDP). He invoked Article 49.3 of the French Constitution to bypass Parliament, however, the National Assembly voted for a no-confidence motion, collapsing the government. 

Democratic Movement leader François René Jean Lucien Bayrou was appointed as the new Prime Minister by Macron on December 13.

Germany: Collapse of ‘traffic light’

Similar to France, Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote in Parliament on December 16 amid the ongoing economic and security challenges across Europe.

Germany’s “traffic light” coalition of centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), free-market liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Greens collapsed after a growing dispute over next year’s budget. Previously on November 6, Scholz fired his Finance Minister Christian Lindner of FPD saying it “was necessary to prevent harm to our country.”

After calling a vote of confidence on December 16, Scholz lost his support. The country is expected to go to the polls on February 23, seven months before originally planned.