By NEB
Members of the Upper and Lower houses of Cameroon’s Parliament (Senate and National Assembly respectively), are already in Yaounde for the June session which opens on Tuesday, June 11. This is the second ordinary session which pundits hold has a number of burning issues to address, notably the MINSEP-FECAFOOT stalemate, rising prices of basic commodities, improper hygiene and sanitation in urban settings as well as forth coming elections in the country.
According to the electoral calendar, the National Assembly is due for renewal in January 2025 through a legislative election, traditionally held concurrently with the municipal election. This marks the end of the five-year term for each deputy, who were elected in February 2020 for the 10th legislature.
However, Article 85 of the Electoral Code states that the electorate for these elections must be convened 90 days before the election date. In practical terms, this means that the electorate for the National Assembly renewal election must be convened no later than October 29, 2024. Therefore, the June session would be the second to last before the December session, which is dedicated to examining and adopting the finance law for 2025.
A provision in the Constitution allows the president to extend the deputies’ mandate. According to Paragraph 4 of Article 15, “in case of a serious crisis or when circumstances require, the President of the Republic may, after consulting the President of the Constitutional Council and the bureaus of the National Assembly and the Senate, ask the National Assembly to decide, by law, to extend or shorten its mandate.” This provision has been activated three times: on August 21, 2012, February 21, 2013, May 21, 2013, and in 2018.
Some observers speculate that the government might once again decide to extend the deputies’ mandate until 2026, allowing only the presidential election to take place in 2025 as scheduled by the electoral calendar.
Cross-secction of Parliamentarians in session