By Norbert Wasso
Contrary to the much anticipated Bill on the re-introduction of the post of vice president, the government has just introduced a Bill at the level of the National Assembly giving the President of the Republic powers to extend the mandate of councillors in case of force majeur.
According to the explanatory note accompanying the Bill government insists that the mandate of councillors is five years but in case of force majeur, the President can extend their mandate by decree without recourse to Parliament for approval. Govt also justifies the need to extend the current councillors mandate inorder to align it with other elections especially those of members of the National Assembly.
The Bill is expected to be voted by MPs tomorrow Tuesday.
The mandate of current councillors was extended by 15 months through a presidential decree signed last year and was to expire on May 25, 2026. The current provisions of the electoral law put a cap on extension at 18 months which is August 2026.
With this Bill it is expected that councillors’ mandate will run to December 20 like that of MPs.
The speculation is that legislative and municipal elections may likely hold in February 2027 giving an extended mandate of seven years.