List of presidential qualifications by country

This is a list of qualifications that potential candidates must possess in order to stand for election as president of a country.

Afghanistan

Article 62 of the Constitution of Afghanistan of 2004 states that a candidate for the office of President:^[1]

• be a Muslim citizen of Afghanistan, born of Afghan parents;
• not be a citizen of another country;
• be at least forty years old when declaring candidacy;
• not have been convicted of crimes against humanity, a criminal act or deprived of civil rights by court;
• not have previously served more than two terms as President.

Albania

The 1998 Constitution, Article 86, Section 2 "Only an Albanian citizen by birth who has been a resident in Albania for not less than the past 10 years and who has reached the age of 40 may be elected President. " ^[2]

Algeria

Article 73, section 1 of the Constitution, 1996, provides that "To be eligible to the Presidency of the Republic, the candidate should: have, solely, the Algerian nationality by origin; be a Muslim; be more than forty (40) years-old the day of the election; enjoy full civil and political rights; prove the Algerian nationality of the spouse; (if born before July 1942) justify his participation in the 1st of November 1954 Revolution; and if born after July 1942, "justify the non-involvement of the parents of the candidate in actions hostile to the 1st of November 1954 Revolution"; submit a public declaration of his personal and real estate existing either within Algeria or abroad. Section 2 provides that "Other conditions are prescribed by the law." ^[3]

Angola

Article 58 of the 1992 Constitution provides that "Natural born Angolan citizens of over 35 years of age and enjoying full civil and political rights shall be eligible to the post of President of the Republic." must be an African by origin, ethnic background and must also have a solid educational background and poses the proper documentation

Argentina

Article 89 of the Argentine Constitution provides that "To be elected President or Vice-President of the Nation it is necessary to have been born in the Argentine territory, or to be the son of a native born citizen if born in a foreign country; and to have the other qualifications required to be elected senator. Section 55 requires that to be elected Senator, one must "have attained to the age of 30 years"; "been six years a citizen of the Nation" and "have an annual income of two thousand strong pesos or similar revenues".^[4]

Armenia

Article 50 of the 1995 Constitution: "Every person having attained the age of thirty five, having been a citizen of the Republic of Armenia for the preceding ten years, having permanently resided in the Republic for the preceding ten years, and having the right to vote is eligible for the Presidency."^[5] has to be reelected by every four years

Austria

Article 60, section (3) of the 1983 Constitution provides: "Only a person who has House of Representatives franchise and was thirty five years old before the first of January of the year in which the election is held can be elected Federal President."^[6] Members of reigning houses or of formerly regnant families were excluded from eligibility until 2011.

Azerbaijan

Article 100 of the Constitution states that one must be no younger than 35, a permanent resident of Azerbaijan for 10 years, possess the right to vote, have not been convicted of a crime, hold no liabilities in other states, hold a university degree, and not have dual citizenship in order to become president.^[7]

Bangladesh

Article 48, section 5 of the Constitution provides three factors which disqualify one for the presidency: being less than 35 years old, not being qualified to be elected to parliament, and having previously been impeached under the current Constitution. The qualifications for election to parliament are that one be a citizen and be at least 25 years old (which is superseded by the presidential requirement of 35 years). Further, one can be disqualified from election to parliament for the following reasons:

• Being declared by a court to be of unsound mind.
• Being an undercharged insolvent.
• Acquiring citizenship or allegiance to another state.
• Having been convicted of a crime with a prison sentence of two or more years in the past five years.
• Holds certain offices of profit under the government.
• Is otherwise disqualified by law.^[8]

Belarus

Article 80 of the Constitution of Belarus states that any citizen of Belarus who is 35 years old, eligible to vote, and has resided in Belarus for 10 years may be elected president.^[9]

Brazil

Article 14, Section III (3) of the Constitution requires a candidate to be:^[10]

• Of Brazilian nationality.
• Eligible to vote.
• Registered to vote.
• Living in electoral district.
• Member of a political party .
• Minimum age of 35

Colombia

Article 191 of the Colombian Constitution requires that to be president one must be Colombian by birth ("colombiano por nacimiento"), have full citizenship ("ciudadano en ejercicio") and older than 30. ("mayor de treinta años").^[11]

Estonia

An Estonian citizen by birth who has attained forty years of age may be nominated as a candidate for President of the Republic. A person who is serving as President of the Republic for a second consecutive term shall not be nominated as a candidate for President of the Republic. A person in active service in the Defence Forces shall not be nominated as a candidate for President of the Republic.^[12]

France

The required personal qualifications for a candidate for the presidential elections are the same as those for any other official election, as set forth in the French Electoral code (Code électoral). A candidate for an election must be a citizen, have attained the age of 18 years, be qualified to vote, not be ineligible by dint of a criminal conviction or judicial decision and have a bank account.

Law No. 62-1292 of 6 November 1962 on the election of the President by universal suffrage (Loi n°62-1292 du 6 novembre 1962 relative à l'élection du Président de la République au suffrage universel) further requires presidential candidates to be nominated by at least five hundred qualified elected officials, such as members of Parliament and mayors.

New law modified in its article #20 the second alinea of article #154 of French Electoral code (Code électoral) to decrease to 18 years old instead of 21 the minimum age to candidate, in 1974.^[13]

Germany

Article 54, section 1, of the German constitution states that "Any German who is entitled to vote in Bundestag elections and has attained the age of forty may be elected".^[14] Article 116, section 1, defines "German" as "a person who possesses German citizenship or who has been admitted to the territory of the German Reich within the boundaries of December 31, 1937 as a refugee or expellee of German ethnic origin or as the spouse or descendant of such person." ^[15]

India

Article 58 of the Constitution sets the principle qualifications one must meet to be eligible to the office of the President. A President must be:.

• a citizen of India.
• of 35 years of age or above
• qualified to become a member of the Lok Sabha

A person shall not be eligible for election as President if he holds any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State or under any local or other authority subject to the control of any of the said Governments. Certain office-holders, however, are permitted to stand as Presidential candidates. These are:

• The current Vice President.
• The Governor of any State.
• A Minister of the Union or of any State (Including Prime Minister and Chief Ministers).

In the event that the Vice President, a State Governor or a Minister is elected President, they are considered to have vacated their previous office on the date they begin serving as President.^[16]

Mexico

The constitution of Mexico requires the candidate to be natural-born citizen of Mexico with at least one parent who is a natural-born citizen of Mexico. The person should be at least 35 years of age and should have resided in Mexico for at least 20 years in his entire lifetime and for the entire year before the election. The person should not be a secretary or under-secretary of state, attorney general, or governor of a state at least 6 months prior to the election.

Philippines

Article VII, Section 2 of the 1987 Constitution provides that no person may be elected President unless he is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, a registered voter, able to read and write, at least forty years of age on the day of the election, and a resident of the Philippines for at least ten years immediately preceding such election.^[17] The President of the Philippines (Filipino: Pangulo ng Pilipinas; Spanish: Presidente) is both head of state and head of government of the republic. He is leader of the executive branch and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

South Korea

Article 67 of the Constitution of South Korea requires the candidate to be citizen of South Korea at least 40 years of age and eligible for election to the National Assembly.^[18] Additionally Article 16 of the Public Official Election Act requires the candidate to have resided in South Korea for 5 years.^[19]

Turkey

Article 101 of the Constitution of Turkey specifies that the President of Turkey shall have completed higher education, be at least forty years of age, and be a member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly or a Turkish citizen eligible to be a deputy. The requirements for the latter are given by Article 76, and exclude, among others, persons who have failed to perform compulsory military service, and those who have been convicted for dishonourable offences. Judges, civil servants, and members of the Armed Forces are not eligible unless they resign from office.

United States of America

The person must be a natural-born citizen of the United States and must have been a permanent resident of the United States of America for at least 14 years. Each candidate must be at least 35 years of age.

References