Specifically those coughs, she seems to frequently get these cough attacks. It happened several months ago too that she couldn't finish a sentence due to coughs. Could it be that they have never ceased, maybe she has chronic coughs. When it comes to her facial expressions, my first thought would be too much botox. But then she had that episode where she couldn't control her head movement and her voice for several seconds and then she pretended that it was a joke. She is literally turning into an Arafat lookalike.
People in power position who suffer from failing health can often linger onto life and to their position power (there seems to be a correlation between the two).