President of Colombia

Colombian Constitution of 1991 Article 191: states that the president must be a natural born citizen of Colombia and at least 30 years of age.[5]

The President and Vice President serve a term of office of four years after being elected by popular vote. Since 2015, the president is restricted to a single four-year term and is barred from running for reelection, even for a nonconsecutive term.

From 1910 to 2005, the president was limited to a single term. However, on 24 November 2005, the Colombian Congress introduced the Electoral Guarantees Law (Ley de Garantias Electorales), which modified Article 152, of the Colombian Constitution of 1991 and allowed a president to run for a second term. The President or Vice President running for re-election must officially tell in the National Electoral Council and guarantee a fair competition for the other contenders. Participation of acting officials in political proselytism was standardized. If the president or vice president are not running for office, they are prohibited from participating on political proselytism. If one or both are participating, they can engage in political activity only four months before the primary elections. Also, if the president and/or vice president is running for office, he may participate in their political party's selection mechanism to postulate candidates. In 2010, the Constitutional Court of Colombia threw out a planned referendum to allow presidents to run for three consecutive terms. It ruled that Colombian presidents can only serve two terms, even if they are nonconsecutive. In 2015, a constitutional amendment repealed the 2004 changes and reverted to the original one-term limit.[6]

The Vice President of Colombia is the first in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new president of Colombia and completing the remaining term upon leaves of absence or death, resignation, or removal of the President, even if such a vacancy should occur before the President assumes office, as designated by Article 202 of the Constitution of 1991.

In absence of both the President and the Vice President, Article 203 of the Constitution of 1991 establishes that the presidential office will be assumed by a minister in the order of precedence established by law. The assuming minister has to be a member of the same party or movement the original President belonged to, and will exercise the presidency until the Congress, within the 30 days following the presidential vacancy, elects a new Vice President who will assume the Presidency.