He won the presidential election Sunday, December 19 in Chile, against his far-right rival: Gabriel Boric, 35, has thus become the youngest head of state in the world. The former student leader thus becomes the standard bearer of the thirty-something heads of state or government in office. However, at the global level, more and more of them are leading countries.
If we put aside a particular case, Giacomo Simoncini, captain-regent of the tiny republic of San Marino and aged 27, Gabriel Boric is now the youngest. Just after him is the Prime Minister of Finland, Sana Marin, 36, in power for two years already.
There are many in their thirties at the helm. In authoritarian regimes or dictatorships, we find the North Korean Kim Jong-un, 37 years old and already ten years at the head of the regime; the Chadian Mahamat Déby, also 37, who has just succeeded his father; Colonel Assimi Goïta, 38 years old and military coup in Mali.
There are also many democracies involved. In Europe, the Irishman Léo Varadkar and the Estonian Juri Ratas are both 38 years old. In Central America, Salvadoran Nayib Bukele and Costa Rican Carlos Alvarado Quesada are each 39 years old. Then come two figures who have embodied the youth in power but who have now passed the 40-year mark: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – 41 – and of course Emmanuel Macron, elected president at 39 and who will be celebrating his 44th birthday. years this December 21. He can almost look old, being nine years older than Chilean Boric!
In the recent past there have already been leaders even younger than Boric, the best known being Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. He resigned in October 2021, after four years in office. When he assumed the chancellery, he was only 31 years old. Former Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Roivas was 34 when he was appointed in 2014. Apart from democracies, we can add the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim al-Thani, who came to power at 33, or the King of Bhutan, in the Himalayas, who ascended to the throne in 2008 at the age of 26.
To remain on the democracies, these thirty years have some points in common even if it is difficult to generalize. First, it is most often – the case of the Austrian Kurz aside – leaders who claim to be left or center-left: the Chilean Boric, the New Zealander Ardern, the Finnish Marin, Salvadorians and Costa Ricans Bukele and Quesada. They are often also the result of a rejection of established political parties: this is typically the case of Boric in Chile.
They are also carriers of new issues. For example, gay rights thanks to the Irishman Varadkar, who is openly gay. Then, many of them broke with certain social codes: goodbye wearing a tie – Bukele appears in a leather jacket – or hello motherhood in full mandate – Ardern went to the UN platform with her baby in her arms. However, this renewal is not a guarantee of the protection of democracy. The case of Salvadoran Bukele, who has slipped into authoritarianism, is revealing. You can look cool and not be at all.