What countries give ALL its citizens a right to run for its highest office

[_Jumper_]

I heard that Canada does. Is that true? What other countries grant equal rights to all is citizens?

[_Jumper_]

1. No one knows?

I find that hard to believe.

[ButterflyBlood]

2. IG once said that she

could become PM of Canada or Israel if she moved to one of those countries, so I guess Israel does as well.

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3. That's two

Thanks.

[Classical_Liberal]

4. Israel doesn't give everyone an equal shot at becoming citizens

though

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6. Are Arabs and other non-Jews banned legally?

?

[Classical_Liberal]

16. It is much more difficult for them to become citizens

It practically never happens unless they are born their or married to an Israeli.

[SidDithers]

5. Yes, Canada does.

Sir John A. MacDonald, our first PM was born in Scotland, as was Alexander Mackenzie, our second PM. Mackenzie Bowell, our 5th PM was born in England.

We don't directly elect a Prime Minister in Canada. Our PM is the head of the party which holds the most seats in the House of Commons. In order to be elected to the House, one must only be a Canadian Citizen, 18 years of age or older. (This is such a non-issue in Canada, that I was unable to find a link which directly states eligibility for PM, best I could do was Elections Canada candidate eligibility)

http://www.elections.ca/content.asp?section=gen&document=ec90790&dir=bkg&lang=e&textonly=false

Sid

[_Jumper_]

7. Thanks

That is awesome! It is a shame that it is accepted in Canada but at this liberal board 4 out of 5 oppose it. Imagine if we ever had a referendum on this here. It would get less votes than a Nader presidential bid.

[uhhuh]

13. I agree

As soon as we establish a parlimentary government and have our "president" voted for from the majority party. That must be what you mean, of course, since all the governments that have been mentioned have one.

[Art_from_Ark]

11. Ah, but what you conveniently overlook is that everyone you mention

was born in the Mother Country-- Great Britain. And Canada was still a part of the British Empire during the term of Mackenzie Bowell (who, by the way, has the dubious distinction of being the only prime minister in Canadian history who was forced to resign by his Cabinet). How many foreign-born prime ministers have there been since Bowell? For that matter, how many non-Quebecois have been prime minister since Lester Pearson?

[SidDithers]

18. Regardless...

How bout a more recent example? John Turner, who held the office from for about 3 months in 1984, was also born in England. This was 2 years after Trudeau patriated the Constitution in 1982.

The point was that immigrant citizens are not ineligible to be PM.

As to your other point, since Pearson, we've had 3 Quebecois PM's (about to be 4, with Paul Martin) and 3 non-Quebecois. Though I'm sure you knew that. I'm "conveniently" overlooking the length their terms of office.

How many non-southern Presidents have you had since Kennedy?

Sid

[Art_from_Ark]

21. Yes, immigrant citizens have the right to run for PM

as long as they're from the mother country, it seems. But even then, they don't seem to have a very good track record, do they?

And you're right about the South-- it has too much influence in American presidential politics, much like Quebec wields the big stick in Canada. Generally speaking, Southerners are not the kind of people who will vote for a liberal Democrat from the Northeast (or anywhere else outside of the South), so they're certainly not going to vote for a naturalized Democrat-- but they might vote for a naturalized Republican like Arnold. That is why Hatch is pushing to change the Constitution.

[SidDithers]

23. Electablility and Eligibility are two different issues....

However, there are 43 Canadian citizens who were born outside of Canada who were elected and are currently sitting in the House of Commons. That's 43 out of 301. All of them are eligible to be the leader of their party, which in turn makes them eligible to be PM.

http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/house/mpsbo.asp?lang=E&Hist=N

Oh, and note, of the 43, 7 are from the "Mother Country" (England, the UK or Scotland). 8 are from Italy.

Of Canada's 20 PM's, 4 have been born outside of Canada. This discussion was never about the quality of the PM, just his birth place.

Whatever Hatch's motives might be, it's the right thing to do.

Sid

[dutchdemocrat]

19. The other thing is

Eighteen percent of Canadians were not even born in the country. That would cut out a significant amount of eligible people.

[_Jumper_]

24. It is over 10% in America and rising

If the Hatch bill reaches the floor and the Democrats oppose it it will cause a ton of problems for the Democrats with Hispanics and Asians.

[OldEurope]

8. Germany does, too.

You need to be German Citizen, and adult (18 or older). But noone cares, where you were born.

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9. Cool

Thanks.

Nice screen name BTW. ;-)

[gemini_liberal]

10. Australia does

I believe

[BonjourUSA]

12. In France

If you live in the country and you are a UE citizen, you can be elected for any function. Now, we have many British in the council of our towns and some German too.

In theory, you can be elected for the highest function : President. But if you aren't graduate of a great school (ENA, SciencePo, Centrale, Normale Sup, multi-graduate of University...) you have no chance.

[Kellanved]

14. And vice versa

Several French in the local district parliament.

And then there is Danni.

[BonjourUSA]

15. Yes, these clauses are valid for all countries in UE

I'm going to run in a Länder (but I was never able to learn German... It's a very very too difficult language for me !! :) )

[OldEurope]

17. Never mind! There are many Germans who are not

speaking German either...

:D

[muriel_volestrangler]

20. Not valid at all levels in Britain

Citizens of other EU countries can vote, and therefore stand, in local and European Parliament elections, but not for the House Of Commons (I don't know about the Scottish Parliament).
However, citizens of any Commonwealth country, or the Republic of Ireland, who are resident in the UK, are allowed to vote in the national election (and therefore stand as well, I think).
Any MP has to pledge allegiance to the Queen to be allowed into the debating chamber, so that might stop a few (the Sinn Fein MPs haven't done this).

So Britain could get a Jamaican Prime Minister, in theory (same Queen, so no conflict of loyalty there).

[BonjourUSA]

22. Before to say "ALL countries of UE", we should ask ourselves "But UK ?"

;-)