List of political leaders who suspended the constitution

The following heads of state and government formally suspended provisions of their state's constitution while in office.

Suspended in full
Name Country Year Reason
Lord North

King George III of Great Britain

 Massachusetts 1774 Introduced the Massachusetts Government Act in Parliament rescinding the Massachusetts colonial charter, dissolving the elected legislature, and instituting martial law under the command of General Thomas Gage in retaliation for the Boston Tea Party. Resulted in the Battles of Lexington and Concord beginning the American Revolution and the United States declaring independence from Great Britain.[1]
Antonio López de Santa Anna  Mexico 1835 Abolished the 1824 Federal Constitution and established the Siete Leyes in their place to centralize the government. Constitution restored by José Mariano Salas after Lopez de Santa Anna's resignation after the Mexican-American War.
Henry George Grey, 3rd Earl Grey New Zealand 1848[2] The constitution put in place by the Colonial Office in London put all power in the hands of the small settler population. Grey suspended the constitution rather than risk all-out war with the much larger native Māori population.
Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte  France 1851 Abolished the Constitution of 1848 after a self-coup due to constitutional term limits preventing his reelection as President of France. Drafted Constitution of 1852 in its place.
Abdul Hamid II  Ottoman Empire 1878 Used the Russo-Turkish War as a pretext to prorogue the Ottoman General Assembly, suspend the Constitution of 1876, and execute the Constitution's author Midhat Pasha. Later reinstated the Constitution after the Young Turk Revolution in 1908.
Deodoro da Fonseca  Brazil 1889 Suspended the Imperial Constitution of 1823 along with abolishing the Empire of Brazil, overthrowing Emperor Pedro II, and proclaiming a republic.
Miguel Primo de Rivera  Spain 1923 Suspended Constitution of 1876 after leading Spanish Armed Forces coup d'etat.
Alexander I of Yugoslavia  Yugoslavia 1929-1931 An assassination in the National Assembly was used as a pretext for absolutism and the dissolution of the Assembly.
Carol II of Romania  Romania 1938 Suspended the Constitution of 1923 after performing self-coup and taking emergency powers with the assistance of Land Forces officer Ion Gigurtu.
Francisco Franco  Spain 1939–1975 Suspended the Constitution of 1931 after Nationalist victory in Spanish Civil War and promulgated the Fundamental Laws of the Realm in its place.
Ion Antonescu  Romania 1940–1944 Suspended the Constitution of 1938 after King Carol II granted him authoritarian powers. Ruled by decree until King Michael's Coup in 1944.
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Ching-kuo		  Republic of China 1948-1991 Effectively nullified the Constitution of 1948 with the Temporary Provisions against the Communist Rebellion instituting martial law and curtailing civil liberties under the pretext of the Chinese Civil War, the retreat to Taiwan, and the planned recapture of the Mainland. Constitution reinstated by the National Assembly in 1991 under President Lee Teng-hui after the abolition of the Kuomintang one-party state.
Fulgencio Batista  Cuba 1952 Suspended Constitution of 1940 after leading coup d'etat against the Partido Auténtico government of President Carlos Prío Socarrás due to his poor showing in the forthcoming elections. Fidel Castro of the 26th of July Movement pledged to reinstate the 1940 Constitution in his "History Will Absolve Me" speech during the Cuban Revolution but delayed doing so after overthrowing Batista in 1959 and ultimately drafted the new 1976 Constitution.
Joseph Arthur Ankrah  Ghana 1966 Suspended constitution along with the National Liberation Council after military coup against the government of Kwame Nkrumah.
Jean-Bédel Bokassa  Central African Republic 1966 Suspended constitution during the Saint-Sylvestre coup d'état against the government of Prime Minister David Dacko. Bokassa later created a monarchy and declared himself Emperor of Central Africa. Constitution restored after the French Armed Forces' intervention against Bokassa in 1979.
Milton Obote  Uganda 1966 Suspended Parliament and the Constitution after being implemented in a gold smuggling plot with the Deputy Commander of the Uganda People's Defence Force Idi Amin.
Leabua Jonathan  Lesotho 1970 Suspended Constitution in a coup d'etat after early results for the 1970 general election showed the ruling Basotho National Party losing to the Basutoland Congress Party.
Park Chung Hee  South Korea 1972 Suspended Constitution after nearly losing power in the 1971 presidential election. Issued the Yushin Constitution and placed country under martial law
Ferdinand Marcos  Philippines 1972 Marcos claimed that a supposed Communist takeover of the government compelled him to suspend the 1935 Constitution and impose martial law. Ratified the 1973 Constitution in its place and won its approval in the Ratification Cases of the Filipino Supreme Court.
Augusto Pinochet  Chile 1973 Suspended the Constitution of 1925 after seizing power in a United States-sponsored coup d'etat and constructing a military dictatorship. Ratified the Constitution of 1980 in its place.
Sobhuza II  Swaziland 1973 Repealed the Constitution and suspended Parliament, replacing the government with a state of absolute monarchy.
Juan María Bordaberry  Uruguay 1973 Used a Tupamaros general strike as pretext to dissolve the General Assembly and Constitution of 1967, establishing a civic-military dictatorship in its place. Constitution restored by Julio María Sanguinetti after the Colorado Party's electoral victory in the 1984 general election.
Seyni Kountché  Niger 1974 Suspended the Constitution of 1960 and dissolved the National Assembly during the 1974 Nigerien coup d'état.
Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq  Pakistan 1977
France-Albert René  Seychelles 1977
Mustafa Ould Salek  Mauritania 1978
Maurice Bishop  Grenada 1979–1983 The Constitution was suspended after the bloodless ouster of former Prime Minister Eric Gairy, yet some rights protections were simultaneously enacted under The People's Laws 1979. The declared plans for a Constitutional referendum were not carried out prior to Bishop's assassination in October 1983.[3]
Saye Zerbo  Upper Volta 1980
Jerry Rawlings  Ghana 1981
Hossain Mohammad Ershad  Bangladesh 1982
Efraín Ríos Montt  Guatemala 1982
Lansana Conté  Guinea 1984
Abdel Rahman Swar al-Dahab  Sudan 1985
Sitiveni Rabuka  Fiji 1987
Pierre Buyoya  Burundi 1987
Saw Maung  Burma 1988
Henri Namphy  Haiti 1988
Omar Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir  Sudan 1989
Idriss Déby  Chad 1990
Amadou Toumani Touré  Mali 1991
Jorge Serrano Elías  Guatemala 1993
Yahya Jammeh  Gambia 1994
Johnny Paul Koroma  Sierra Leone 1997
Denis Sassou-Nguesso  Republic of the Congo 1997–2002 According to the United States State Department: "[T]he Sassou regime [...] announced that a constitutional convention would finalize a draft Constitution. However, the eruption in late 1998 of fighting between Sassou's government forces and a pro-Lissouba and pro-Kolelas armed opposition disrupted the transition to democracy. [...] A new Constitution was [...] approved by the people of Congo in a national referendum in January 2002." [4]
Pervez Musharraf  Pakistan 1999–2007
Frank Bainimarama  Fiji 2000
Pedro Carmona  Venezuela 2002 See Venezuelan coup attempt of 2002
Gyanendra    Nepal 2005
Sonthi Boonyaratglin  Thailand 2006
Josefa Iloilo  Fiji 2009
Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (headed by Mohamed Hussein Tantawi)  Egypt 2011 During the Egyptian Revolution of 2011[5]
Transitional Military Council (headed by Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf)  Sudan 2019 During the 2019 Sudanese coup d'état[6]

Suspended in part
Name Country Year Reason
Adolf Hitler  Nazi Germany 1933–1945 Pressured the Reichstag into ratifying the Enabling Act allowing legislative authority after the Reichstag fire. Abrogated large parts of the Weimar Constitution but did not fully suspend it.
Omar Ali Saifuddien III  Brunei 1962
Idi Amin  Uganda 1971 Partially suspended constitution one week after taking power in a coup d'etat
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman  Bangladesh 1975 Declared himself president for life.
Indira Gandhi  India 1975–1977 See Indian Emergency Disputed - This was done per provision(s) (Article 352) of the Indian Constitution, which then permitted the declaration of Emergency on the grounds of 'internal disturbance'. Later, the reasoning provided has been challenged as being dubious. The grounds for declaration of emergency under Article 352 was amended in 1978 from 'internal disturbance' to 'armed rebellion'.
Alberto Fujimori  Peru 1992–1993 Fujimori declared that "those parts of the Constitution that were not compatible with the reorganization of the central government" were suspended.[7]
Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir  Sudan 1989-2019 Partially suspended Constitution after seizing power in a coup d'etat.
Pedro Sánchez  Spain 2020 During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Spanish government declared the state of alarm, which effectively suspended some constitutional rights,like the freedom of movement.

See also

References
  1. "American Revolution | Causes, Battles, Aftermath, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
  2. Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Grey, George". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 2019-12-25.
  3. "People's Laws 1979". the Grenada Revolution Online. Archived from the original on 2004-04-26. Retrieved 2019-12-25.
  4. United States Department of State
  5. Mariam Fam and Maram Mazen. "Egypt Army Dissolves Parliament, Lifts Constitution". Businessweek.
  6. Osman, Muhammed; Bearak, Max (11 April 2019). "Sudan's military overthrows president following months of popular protests". Washington Post. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  7. http://www.congreso.gob.pe/museo/mensajes/Mensaje-1992-1.pdf
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