As Indonesia prepares for the 2024 presidential elections, on October 16, 2023, the Indonesian Constitutional Court ruled against a petition for judicial review in search of to lower the minimum age of presidential and vice-presidential candidates to below 40 years.
However, the Court granted an exception for people under 40 who had previously served as or been elected regional leaders. This final ruling finally clears the way in which for President Joko Widodo’s eldest son, 36-year-old Gibran Rakabuming Race, to run within the 2024 elections.
Every week after the Court’s judgment, on October 23, 2023, an official statement was released recognizing Gibran as Prabowo Subianto’s vice-presidential candidate.
Still, the query arises: Is Indonesia the nation to finally allow the youngest leader amongst Southeast Asian nations to take office?
Official data was collected on the minimum age of individuals applying for the position of head of presidency in Southeast Asian countries. Regulatory information for Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, East Timor and Vietnam was unfortunately unavailable.
According to the infographic above, the Philippines also has a minimum age of 40, as does Indonesia – with the above exceptions for Indonesian candidates. In each Singapore and Myanmar, the minimum age requirement for any presidential candidate is 45, which is the oldest minimum age requirement within the region.
However, Thailand’s official records show that the youngest person to steer the federal government was at the very least 35 years old.
Even though Thailand has set the formal age limit for its leaders at 35, Cambodia notably recorded the youngest leader in Southeast Asian history. Hun Sen began serving as Prime Minister of Cambodia on the age of just 33, and reigned for nearly 40 years from 1985 to 2023. Meanwhile, Mr. Seni Pramoj became the youngest to first turn into Prime Minister of Thailand, on the age of 40 in 1945.
Since the present minimum age to run for president in Burma amongst Southeast Asian countries is 45, historical records indicate that Win Maung was the youngest president to assume the position on the age of 41 in 1957, a period when it was the Union. Burma.
Apart from Burma, one of the vital historically distinguished figures in Singapore’s political landscape, Lee Kuan Yew, was appointed the country’s first Prime Minister in 1959 on the age of 36 and served as head of presidency for nearly 31 years.
Do you think that it matters how old a pacesetter is? Are there another aspects reminiscent of experience, honesty or another necessary element which are of great importance when selecting the top of presidency?
