Cameroon approves role of vice president to 93-year-old Biya

Cameroon’s parliament on Saturday overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment to reintroduce the position of vice president, a measure the government says ​will ensure continuity but which the opposition say will consolidate executive power.

In a ‌joint session of the ruling party-dominated National Assembly and Senate, lawmakers voted 200 to 18 in favour, with four abstentions, to pass the bill.

The bill stipulates that the vice president will ​automatically assume the presidency if President Paul Biya dies, resigns, or becomes incapacitated.

Biya, ​93, has led the oil- and cocoa-producing Central African country since ⁠1982 and is the world’s oldest serving head of state. Public discussion about ​his health is banned.

According to the legislation, a copy of which was seen by ​Reuters, the vice president will be appointed and dismissed by the president, serving for the remainder of the president’s seven-year term.

However, the interim leader would be prohibited from initiating constitutional changes or ​running in a subsequent election.

The government has argued that the reform is intended ​to safeguard institutional stability in case of a sudden leadership vacancy. Biya has 15 days to ‌promulgate ⁠the bill.

Critics, including opposition lawmakers, argue the amendment weakens democratic institutions and exacerbates centralisation.

Joshua Osih, a member of parliament and chairman of the opposition Social Democratic Front, said the changes were a missed opportunity to boost national unity and democratic governance in ​the nation torn by ​a civil conflict since ⁠2017.

“This text weakens legitimacy, reinforces centralisation, and ignores a major historical grievance,” Osih said, calling instead for a system where the ​president and vice president are jointly elected, reflecting Cameroon’s origins ​as a ⁠union of British and French-administered territories.

The reintroduction of the vice presidency marks Cameroon’s first major constitutional revision since 2008 when presidential term limits were scrapped in a move that ⁠sparked ​nationwide protests, which were met with a violent ​crackdown by security forces.

The vice presidency was previously part of Cameroon’s governance structure but was abolished in 1972 ​following a constitutional referendum.