In recog­ni­tion of the finan­cial bur­den shoul­dered by the Inter­na­tion­al Sec­re­tari­at the IARU Con­sti­tu­tion gives the Inter­na­tion­al Sec­re­tari­at the pre­rog­a­tive to nom­i­nate sin­gle can­di­dates for Pres­i­dent and Vice Pres­i­dent fol­low­ing an exten­sive con­sul­ta­tive process to iden­ti­fy qual­i­fied can­di­dates who have a broad base of sup­port. As in the case of all mem­bers of the IARU Admin­is­tra­tive Coun­cil, nei­ther may have a pro­fes­sion­al inter­est that con­flicts with the objec­tives of the IARU.

The Con­sti­tu­tion­al pro­vi­sions regard­ing the Pres­i­dent and Vice Pres­i­dent are:

• The Pres­i­dent shall be a Radio Ama­teur, and a mem­ber of a Member-Society
• The term of office of the Pres­i­dent shall be for a peri­od of five years from the date of rat­i­fi­ca­tion of his nom­i­na­tion, and he shall remain in office until the nom­i­na­tion of his suc­ces­sor has been ratified.
• The term of office of the Pres­i­dent shall be for a peri­od of five years from the date of rat­i­fi­ca­tion of his nom­i­na­tion, and he shall remain in office until the nom­i­na­tion of his suc­ces­sor has been ratified.
• No lat­er than 12 months pri­or to the expi­ra­tion of the term of office of the Pres­i­dent then in office, the Inter­na­tion­al Sec­re­tari­at shall ini­ti­ate dis­cus­sions with the Admin­is­tra­tive Coun­cil to iden­ti­fy suit­ably qual­i­fied can­di­dates avail­able to serve as Pres­i­dent. The nom­i­na­tion of a sin­gle can­di­date shall be made by the Inter­na­tion­al Sec­re­tari­at, but not until agree­ment has been reached between the Inter­na­tion­al Sec­re­tari­at and the Admin­is­tra­tive Coun­cil that the can­di­date is suit­ably qualified.
• A Pres­i­dent shall be eli­gi­ble for re-election.
• The nom­i­na­tion of a Pres­i­dent by the Inter­na­tion­al Sec­re­tari­at shall be sub­ject to rat­i­fi­ca­tion by a vote of the Mem­ber-Soci­eties in accor­dance with Arti­cle VI.
• The office of Pres­i­dent shall become vacant if the President: 
  • dies
  • gives notice in writ­ing of his res­ig­na­tion to the Sec­re­tary, or
  • is removed by the adop­tion of a joint pro­pos­al put for­ward by at least 10% of the Mem­ber-Soci­eties in accor­dance with the pro­ce­dure described in Arti­cle VI.
• The pres­i­dent shall have gen­er­al super­vi­sion of the affairs of the IARU in accor­dance with for­mu­lat­ed poli­cies and shall serve as chair­man of the Admin­is­tra­tive Council.
• The qual­i­fi­ca­tions, method of elec­tion, and term of office for the Vice Pres­i­dent shall be iden­ti­cal with that of the President.
• The Vice Pres­i­dent shall serve in the absence of the Pres­i­dent and shall be respon­si­ble for such mat­ters of gen­er­al super­vi­sion as may be del­e­gat­ed to him by the President.