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 40 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 110 of the 2010 Constitution provides that "Natural born Angolan citizens of over 35 years of age, living in the country for the last 10 years, and enjoying full civil and political rights shall be eligible to the post of President of the Republic."^[4]

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".^[5]

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."^[6]

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."^[7] 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.^[8]

Bangladesh[]

Article 48, section 4 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.^[9]

Article 66 of the constitution provides factors which disqualify one from being elected to Parliament: having been declared by a competent court to be of unsound mind; being an undischarged insolvent; acquires the citizenship of, or affirms or acknowledges allegiance to, a foreign state; has been, on conviction for a criminal offence involving moral turpitude, sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than two years, unless a period of five years has elapsed since his release; has been convicted of any offence under the Bangladesh Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order, 1972; holds any office of profit in the service of the Republic other than an office which is declared by law not to be disqualified its holder; or is disqualified for such election by or under any law.^[9]

Belarus[]

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 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.^[10]

Brazil[]

Article 14, Section III (3) of the Constitution requires a candidate to be:^[11]

• Born in Brazil, or a native citizen.
• 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").^[12]

Czech Republic[]

A candidate for an election must be a citizen, has attained the age of 40 years and has active right to vote.^[13]

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.^[14]

Finland[]

Under the Constitution of Finland, executive power is vested in the Finnish Government and the president, with the latter possessing only residual powers. The president is directly elected by universal suffrage for a term of six years. Since 1994, no president may be elected for more than two consecutive terms. The president must be a native-born Finnish citizen. The presidential office was established in the Constitution Act of 1919.

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 French citizen, have attained the age of 18 years, be qualified to vote, not be ineligible by reason of 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.

In 1974, the French Electoral code was modified (Code électoral) to decrease to 18 years the minimum age of a candidate, which had previously been 21.^[15]

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".^[16] 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."^[17]

Iceland[]

Articles 4 and 5 of the constitution set the following qualifications for holding the presidency:

• meet the qualifications specified for parliamentarians
• be at least 35 years old
• have at least 1,500 commendations

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.^[18]

Mexico[]

The constitution of Mexico requires the candidate to be natural-born citizen^{[citation needed]} 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.

North Macedonia[]

The Constitution of North Macedonia requires that the president must be a citizen of the Republic of North Macedonia, be over 40 years of age and have lived in North Macedonia for at least ten of the previous fifteen years.^[19]

Pakistan[]

The Constitution of Pakistan sets the principle qualifications that the candidate must meet to be eligible to the office of the President.^[20] A President has to be:

• A citizen of Pakistan.^[21]
• A Muslim.^[20]
• At least 45 years of age.^[20]
• Qualified to be elected as member of the National Assembly.^[20]

same as the Prime Minister.

Philippines[]

Article VII, Section 3 of the 1987 Constitution provides that no person may be elected President unless he or she is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, a registered voter, able to read and write, at least 40 years of age on the day of the election, and a resident of the Philippines for at least 10 years immediately preceding such election.^[22] Natural-born Filipinos are citizens of the Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship. Those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines at the time of their birth and those born before 17 January 1973, of Filipino mothers, who elect Philippine citizenship upon reaching the age of majority are considered natural-born Filipinos.^[23] The President of the Philippines (Filipino: Pangulo ng Pilipinas; Spanish: Presidente) is both head of state and head of government of the republic. The President of the Philippines is leader of the executive branch and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Poland[]

The Article 127 of the Polish constitution states that „only a Polish citizen who, no later than the day of the elections, has attained 35 years of age and has a full electoral rights in elections to the Sejm, may be elected President of the Republic”.^[24]

Romania[]

A candidate for the office must be a Romanian citizen who is at least 35 years old when the elections take place, has the Romanian citizenship and officially lives in Romania.^[25]

Russia[]

A candidate for office must be a citizen of the Russian Federation who is at least 35 years old and has 'permanently resided' in Russia for at least 10 years.

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.^[26] Additionally Article 16 of the Public Official Election Act requires the candidate to have resided in South Korea for 5 years.^[27]

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[]

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. A candidate must be at least 35 years of age.

References[]