Parliament: Biya tables bill to allow him ‘confiscate’ municipal poll timetable.

Bill No.2093/PJL/AN, critics are saying, if adopted in Parliament, will give the Head of State the powers to ‘confiscate’ the timetable for municipal election.

Members of Parliament, MPs, are perusing through the bill to amend Section 170 (2) of Law No.20212/001 of 19 April 2012; relating to the Electoral Code.

With the CPDM-dominated parliament expected to clap through the bill, analysts say it is a big deviation from what the civil society and other opposition actors have been clamouring for, in the past years.

They argue that the bill rather seeks to strengthen the President’s powers over the organisation of municipal election. 

The powers to indefinitely extend the mandate of councillors, others are saying, will make the President the sole person to determine when such an election takes place.

Gov’t’s justification

According to an explanatory note addressed to MPs, President Biya had already exploited 15 months of the 18-month timeframe provided for in Section 170 (2), to extend the mandate of municipal councillors. 

That extension will end on May 31, 2026, leaving the President with just a three-month window, which should be August 25, 2026.

The note states that given the situation of things, more time is needed to mobilise logistics and resources for the municipal election. 

This, the note, which The Guardian Post read through, calls for another mandate extension.

“A second extension is therefore being considered, but this can only be done by amending Section 170 of the Electoral Code for such extension to exceed a period of 18 (eighteen) months,” the note indicates.

According to the explanatory note: “It is in this light that Section 170 (new) has been reworded to give it an unlimited timeframe. The President of the Republic will therefore have free rein to set the time limit, after consultation with the Government and the Bureau of the Senate”.

MPs are told in the note persuading them to amend the Electoral Code, that the modification will give Biya the rare window to extend the mandate of the current batch of councillors without any hindrances.

First extension

Biya had through Decree No.2024/328 of July 24, 2024, postponed the mandate of municipal coucillors, by 15 months. 

The mandate of municipal councillors, was due to expire on February 25, 2025. The current batch of councillors was voted on February 9, 2020. 

Biya then wrote that he had received a letter, dated July 5, 2024, from the Prime Minister, Head of Government, approving the decision. 

He had also disclosed consulting the Bureau of the Senate, which reverted through its then President, Senator Niat Njifendji, on July 8, 2024. 

What was, what will now be

According to the Electoral Code in place since April 2012, in its section 170 (1): “All the seats of municipal councillors shall be renewed every 5 (five) years at the same date”.

In Section 170 (2), the Code provides that: “However, if need be, the President of the Republic may, be decree, extend or abridge the term of office of municipal councillors for a period of 18 (eighteen) months after consultation with the government and the bureau of the Senate”.

With the proposed amendment before MPs, Biya wants Section 170 (2) to now read: “...however, if need be, the President of the Republic may, by decree, extend or abridge the term of office of municipal councillors, after consultation with the government and the bureau of the Senate”.

Buying time after difficult Presidential poll?

Beyond government’s justifications before lawmakers, observers are reading a deeper meaning in President Biya’s request for MPs to adjust the Electoral Code.

Many analysts are inferring that the shifts are not unconnected to the difficult October 12, 2025, presidential poll, in which the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, CPDM, party got one of its lowest scores in years.

Official results, which the Constitutional Council made public, showed the CPDM candidate, Biya, was re-elected with 53.66 percent of votes cast.

It was a drop of over 20 percent, the worst after the hotly disputed 1992 presidential election, wherein Biya scored a little close to 40 percent of votes cast.

Given the statistics, coupled with the post-election protests of 2025, analysts say the CPDM could be playing with time for tempers to calm down.

Political observers have continued to argue that the CPDM is aware it lost grounds and needs to work extra hard to win councils and parliamentary seats, especially in key cities.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3746 of Monday March 30, 2026