STATEMENT OF THE CAMEROON DEMOCRATIC UNION – CDU- FOLLOWING THE DEPOSIT OF BILL NO. 2051/PJL/AN EXTENDING THE MANDATE OF MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT AT THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.
What was no longer an open secret has since yesterday become a sad reality: thus, through Bill No. 2061/PJL/AN tabled in Parliament and communicated in plenary to the Deputies today, July 6 2023, the
President of the Republic intends to extend by 12 (twelve) months, from March 10, 2025 to March 30, 2026, the Mandate of the Members of Parliament in the National Assembly.
In the same logic, it is said that will come in the coming hours, a Decree which will also extend the Mandate of the Municipal Councilors whose elections are frequently held at the same time as those of the Members of Parliament.
For the CAMEROON DEMOCRATIC UNION – CDU- by this Act, the President of the Republic demonstrates once again, his affirmed option of ignoring his role as Arbitrator prescribed by the
Constitution, in the regulation of the functioning of public powers, and the democratic game for the general interest of the Republic and the Cameroonian People.
We are in the third extension after the Laws extending the mandates of Deputies No. 2012/018 of December 21, 2012, No. 2019/015 of July 19, 2019 extending the 8th Legislature to 2013 (2007-2013); in 2020 the 9th
Legislature (2013-2020), finally, in 2026 the 10th Legislature (2020-2026)!
PARLIAMENT WOULD BE HALFWAY THROUGH ITS 11TH LEGISLATURE SINCE 2022: SUCH A WASTE.
And how did we get to this point, if not through such repeated tinkering with the Electoral Calendar?
The President of the Republic of Cameroon for Forty-Three years with the CPDM Government is dragging Cameroonians once again into their partisan waters, for selfish partisan purposes.
It becomes difficult to be moved by the same justifications which come up with each of all these recurring extensions: Let us see, since 2007 to go back only there, Article 15 (4) of the Constitution has become the political instrument which the State/Party uses to confiscate the use of the Electoral Calendar by outwitting and excluding other stakeholders, in denial of republican values;
Certainly, the provisions of this Article allow the President of the Republic to extend or shorten the mandate of the Members of Parliament, he must however only do so “in the event of a serious crisis or when circumstances require it”.
The reality is that we have been living with the Anglophone Crisis since 2017 in a crisis more serious than the concern « to lighten the electoral calendar which provides for four elections during the year 2025 »: Discuss the unavailability of human and financial resources seems to be chimerical: the electoral year being known in advance, the related Budget is decided accordingly by the Finance Law for the electoral year.
For the CAMEROON DEMOCRATIC UNION – CDU- like the vast majority of political groups and many Cameroonians, the electoral issues of early or extended elections are managed sustainably not only in respect of an electoral calendar known to all, for the promotion of a culture of free and healthy political competition, but also and above all, in the organization of fair, healthy, transparent and equitable elections through a Consensual Electoral Code.
Therefore,
Recalling that our Country is going through a delicate, even turning point in its history,
And that All his Daughters, All his Sons each have a major responsibility – the holders of Power even more so – for the Future of our Country, Asks the President of the Republic and his Government to invest in a Republican, Patriotic and Democratic
surge to:
- Ultimately respect the initial electoral calendar which prescribes the combined legislative and municipal elections in February 2025;
And therefore, withdraw Bill N2061/PJL/AN, Prolonging the Mandate of Deputies in the National
Assembly, introduced in Parliament;
- Refrain from signing the Decree Extending the Mandate of Municipal Councilors;
- Publish now, for the sake of electoral fairness, the precise dates of the various elections in order to allow the various stakeholders in the electoral process to get involved in the political field with confidence;
- Introduce to Parliament the Draft Amendment to the Electoral Code Law inspired by the Proposal submitted to them by the Platform of Political Parties and Civil Society Organizations committed to the
Participatory and Consensual Reform of the Electoral Code; Any election must be held in a consensual and peaceful climate, with the inclusive participation of all stakeholders.
- To certain members of the Government of the Republic: TO HOLD A MORE CONCILIANT PUBLIC
DISCOURSE; TO STOP MAINTAINING AN ATMOSPHERE OF DE-ESCALING POLITICAL TENSIONS;
- Urges the People to continue to register to vote and to be ready to vote and protect the Vote when the time comes.
- Supports a common approach of all Democratic, Republican, Patriotic and Citizen Deputies for the pure and simple rejection of this Extension Project;
In doing so, each actor and link in the chain will have considerably « defused » – as their role invites them to do – the risks of protests, electoral violence and worked for lasting peace and social cohesion for Cameroon, which is for us all and by all of us.
MAY GOD ALWAYS ASSIST AND COME TO THE HELP OF CAMEROON
YAOUNDÉ, JULY 6 TH 2024
Hon. TOMAINO NDAM NJOYA
