Short answer. Yes. A person who claims to be entitled to a public office or position that another has usurped, or is unlawfully holding or exercising, may bring the action in their own name, without needing the government to file the case on their behalf.
What the law says
A person claiming to be entitled to a public office or position usurped or unlawfully held or exercised by another may bring an action therefor in his own name.
Rule 66, Section 5 — When an individual may commence such an action. Read the full provision →
This is a personal right to sue, not just a government prerogative
Actions concerning the right to a public office are often thought of as something only the government, through the Solicitor General or a public prosecutor, can pursue. This particular rule creates a distinct path: a person claiming to be entitled to a public office or position can bring the case in his own name, as the real party asserting a personal claim to that office, rather than waiting for the State to act.
The claim has to be that the office was usurped or is unlawfully held
The rule is specific about what the action targets: a public office or position that has been usurped or unlawfully held or exercised by another. It is aimed at situations where someone else is occupying or exercising the powers of an office that, the plaintiff claims, rightfully belongs to them — not at a general grievance about how an officeholder is performing their duties.
The plaintiff has to be the one actually entitled
The rule speaks of a person claiming to be entitled to the office. That claim of entitlement is central to the action — the plaintiff is asserting their own right to the position, not merely objecting to someone else holding it. Someone with no claim of entitlement to the office themselves would not fit within what this particular rule allows.
This is what separates a personal action under this rule from a broader challenge to how an office is being run, or a complaint brought by someone who has no personal stake at all in who actually occupies the position in question.
Why this matters for someone displaced from office
For a person who believes they are the rightful holder of a public office currently occupied by someone else, this rule means the fight does not have to wait on the government's willingness to act. Bringing the action personally lets the claimant press the issue directly, asserting their own entitlement to the office against the person they say is holding or exercising it without the right to do so, and putting the question of who is actually entitled squarely before the court.