But for many Koreans it fatally compromised the legitimacy of his eight-year rule.

Moldova's president, Vladimir Voronin announced on Friday he was resigning after the defeat of his Communist Party in elections ended its eight-year rule of Europe's poorest country.

The new President coped with his role of supreme commander, but this is not a role suited to "innovation", and Medvedev stuck to the tradition established by Putin's eight-year rule.

The polls showed a widespread desire for further investigation into the corruption and human rights abuses of Mr. Chun's eight-year rule.

He is accused of 40,000 political killings and 200,000 cases of torture during his eight-year rule.

During Mr. Habre's eight-year rule in Chad, his notorious secret police killed thousands of opponents - the exact number is still unknown - and tortured many more.

Former President Chun Doo Hwan of South Korea testified for the first time about his repressive eight-year rule.

In March 2008, Obasanjo was indicted by a committee of the Nigerian parliament for awarding $2.2bn-worth of energy contracts during his eight-year rule, without due process.

His eight-year rule remains a landmark of political longevity for one leader in modern Italian politics.

But by annulling the elections earlier this week, General Babangida has left his Government more unpopular at home and abroad than at any stage during his eight-year rule.