What it requires to be a President part –1

Md. Fakrul Islam Chowdhury writes for DOT : 
In Afghanistan, according to Article 62 of 2004 Constitution, a candidate running for President must meet the following criteria:
I. Muslim citizen of Afghanistan, born of Afghan parents;
II. He cannot have dual citizenship, a citizen of another country would be disqualified.
III. Must be at least forty years old when declaring candidacy;
IV. Must not have been convicted of a criminal act or deprived of civil rights by court;
V. Not have been convicted of committing “Crime against Humanity”.
VI. Not have previously served as President more than two terms.
VII. A position of President of Afghanistan can be filled only with ethnic Pashtuns.
Whereas in Albania to qualify as a President, according to The 1998 Constitution, Article 86, Section 2, the candidate must be, “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. Being 40 years of age seems to be the one criteria that is very common in making the qualification of being a President in many countries. Like Afghanistan and Albania, Algeria too have this criteria.
“To be eligible to the Presidency of the Republic, in Algeria also requires, according to , Article 73, section 1 of the Constitution, 1996, 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. 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.” S/he must be an African by origin and ethnic background and must also have a solid educational background and possess the proper documentation
Moving in to Latin America, Article 89 of the Argentine Constitution states, “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”.
The Article 60, section (3) of the 1983 Constitution of Austria deals with the requirements that must be fulfilled to become the federal President in Austria. “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”. Azerbaijan’s constitution states in its Article 100 that one must be no younger than 35, and must be a permanent resident of Azerbaijan for 10 years. He must also possess the right to vote, have not been convicted of a crime and/or hold no liabilities in other states. In addition an Azerbaijan Presidential candidate must hold a university degree, and not have dual citizenship in order to become president. Meanwhile, the 1995 Constitution of Armenia in Article 50 states, “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.” In our next installment we will see what it requires to be qualified to run as a candidate to the office of President in other countries of the world. Sticking to the Alphabetical Order” approach we followed in this article, we would start with our beloved country, Bangladesh.
The writer is Consulting Editor, Amader Notun Shomy