Politique

Term Of Office Of MPs : Reasons For Extension Explained

Par Eulalia AMABO
09 juil. 2024 12:43
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The Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Relations with Assemblies, François Bolvine Wakata defended the bill before the Committee on Constitutional Laws on July 7, 2024.

The bill to extend the term of office of Members of the National Assembly was defended before the Committee on Constitutional Laws by the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Relations with Assemblies, François Bolvine Wakata, on July 7, 2024.
Providing explications as to why the mandate of legislators of the National Assembly should be extended, the Minister Delegate said the bill translates the political will of the Head of State to lighten the electoral calendar of 2025. “You will agree with me that for a country like Cameroon, organising four elections in one year is a considerable challenge. It is thus a situation which will enable stakeholders in the electoral process to take necessary measures to perfect the organisation of elections for 2025 and 2026, so as to reduce to the minimum bases, eventual malfunctioning that affect the serenity of this process,” he explained.
The said bill was prepared pursuant to the provisions of Article 15(4) of the Constitution which stipulates that "In case of serious crisis, or where circumstances so warrant, the President of the Republic may, after consultation with the President of the Constitutional Council and Bureaux of the National Assembly and the Senate, request the National Assembly to decide, by a law, to extend or abridge its term of office." According to the electoral calendar, four elections are due for 2025; legislative, municipal, regional and Presidential elections. Thus, as further explained by Minister Wakata, organising four elections in a year will be cumbersome for the country as financial, material and human resources need to be mobilised for each of the process. Extending the term of office of lawmakers of the National Assembly by a year, (March 30, 2026), according to him, will permit the apt organising of 2025 elections that cannot be stretched.