Inspired by the new Finnish Prime Minister, age 34.
Britain and Canada don’t have age requirements. The US does (age 35).
Others?
This might seem like a nitpick, but Britain and Canada do have age requirements: you can’t run for office unless you’re 18 years old. Same in quite a lot of other countries.
AFAIK, the only country which has requirements beyond “must be a legal adult” for elected office-holders is the US; it’s yet another way in which that country has the most complicated citizenship rules on Earth. In the case of monarchies, the monarch can accede to the throne without being of age, but will be under the tutoring of a regent or a regency commission.
Spain has a requirement that elected officials be legal adults at the time they take up duties. This led to a record for youngest senator that will be hard to break: I can’t find his name with a quick google (I just get a bunch of articles about our current youngests), but we had one who was unable to vote for himself due to still being 17 on the day the vote took place. His candidacy had been contested but, as the law specifies “at the time they take up duties” and his birthday was to take place between the election and the swearing-in, the electoral commission said it was valid. We’ve had several more senators and members of (national and regional) parliament who were in their 20s; there’s several in the current batch.
Actually, a number of countries have higher age requirements for various positions, especially President or its equivalent.
Constitution of Ireland:
In Italy, you have to be 50!
Panama requires presidents and vice-presidents to be at least 35 and be born a Panamanian citizen. The recently elected president Nito Cortizo has proposed that presidents be limited to the ages of between 45 and 75. (Cortizo is 66.)
We don’t have an age requirement for head of state, but fair point for head of government. I should have said something like “higher than the general age of majority.”
Is there an age requirement for election to the parliaments, other than general age of majority? Or specific age requirements for prime minister ?
Actually, quite a few countries have age requirements for president. The most common age requirement is 35, with the next most common 40. A few have 45 or 30, and France has 18.
Looking through that list, France is interesting in that it appears the be the only country that requires the president to have a bank account. I find little quirks like that fascinating.
The UK’s head of state is the monarch. It is possible for an infant to accede to the throne. It happened in the case of Henry VI, who came to the throne aged 9 months.
Argentina requires a president to have an annual income equal to 2,000 “strong pesos” per year. (This requirement appears to date to the 19th Century. At current exchange rates, 2,000 Argentine pesos are worth US$33.)
The Philippines requires the president to be able to read and write, a detail overlooked by most other countries, including the US.
Slight hijack, but if you like little quirks like that, you may be interested in knowing that, in Canada, a Senator has to be at least $4000 on the plus side of the ledger:
Source: Constitution Act, 1867, 30 & 31 Victoria, c. 3 (U.K.). Read this section here:
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-2.html.
[end hijack]
Strictly speaking, though the UK restricts the right to vote and to stand for election to Parliament to legal adults, there is no statute law on who can become Prime Minister, only custom, convention and whatever a majority of the House of Commons is prepared to vote for.
In the Kingdom of Thailand, an M.P. must be at least 25 years old, a Senator 40. A Minister (including the Prime Minister) must be at least 35 years old and have a Bachelor’s degree. This is according to the 2017 Constitution (the 19th constitution or charter since 1932). An M.P. may not be a narcotics addict nor convicted of narcotics trafficking, but no such prohibition is mentioned for Senators, Ministers, or Constitutional Court judges.
An M.P. must be a member of exactly one political party. A Senator must not be a member of any political party.
South Africa doesn’t have any restrictions beyond voting-age citizen, AFAIK.
That’s to be an MP, Parliament appoints the President.
In theory, that could be a minor, I guess. I don’t know of any law against it.
To expand on that: Nothing in our *unwritten *consitution says that a member of the government has to be a Member of either House. This would also apply to the head of the government; all they have to be is in a position to command a majority in the House of Commons.
Of course, as everyone knows, William Pitt the Younger became the youngest ever Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1783 at the age of 24 and the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom as of January 1801.
The Federal President of Germany (which is mostly a representative position, but officially the head of state) has to be at least 40 years old. There’s no such restriction for the Federal Chancellor who is the real head of government other than he/she has to be a German adult (18+) citizen.
Pah! Mary Stewart was 6 days old when she became Queen.
Well aware of that.
I’m also aware that the title of the thread specifies “head of state / head of government.”
This is, in fact, a requirement for all our elected officials, either constitutionally for the national legislature and executive or as defined by the Local Government Code.