National Assembly: Bureau okays Biya’s proposal for another mandate extension.

As per the report, the 23-member bureau gave its okay for the proposal, during the first bureau meeting held last Wednesday.

The meeting, held at the Right Honourable Cavaye Yeguié Djibril's Committee Room at the Paul Biya Glass House, was presided by House Speaker, Rt Hon Datouo Théodore.

Going by the CRTV report, the Presidency of the Republic is proposing a nine-month mandate extension for MPs, till December 2026. 

The current mandate of the MPs, it should be recalled, was extended through Bill N°2061/PJL/AN, from March 10, 2025, to March 30, 2026. 

The said bill was adopted during plenary at the CPDM-dorminated National Assembly, on Saturday, July 6, 2024, amidst disapproval and outcry of opposition politicians.

No reasons have filtered so far as to why the Presidency of the Republic is pushing for another mandate extension for MPs, whose mandate, officially was to come to an end this March 30. 

However, during his address to youth on February 10 this year, the Head of State, Paul Biya, had hinted that the forthcoming local elections could further be postponed. 

“…the timeframe for the elections may require a minor adjustment due to pressing constraints, in compliance with the relevant provisions of our laws, especially the Constitution,” President Biya had stated. 

With the proposal for another mandate extension already discussed by the new bureau of the National Assembly, expectations are high that a bill to that effect will soon be sent the lawmaking house. 

Once it is received, the bill will be presented to the Constitutional Laws Committee. It will later be communicated to the house for general debates. 

The Minister Delegate at the Presidency of the Republic in charge of Relations with the Assemblies, Bolvin Wakata, would defend the bill and respond to worries of MPs. 

Revisiting gov’t’s last mandate extension justification 

In 2024, government justified that the move to extend the mandate of MPs was simply to ensure better organisation of the polls. 

Government said the move was “warranted by the need to lighten the electoral calendar,” which provided for four elections in 2025. 

It was also explained that apart from the election of Regional Councillors in 2025, “the other elections, which are direct ballots, require the deployment of substantial human, material and financial resources”. 

The bill had further justified that based on the aforementioned reasons, it is “judicious to spread the abovementioned elections over the years 2025 and 2026, so as to ensure better organisation”. 

The bill, it should be noted, was prepared pursuant to the provisions of Article 15 (4) of the Constitution, which states 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".

This article article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3736 of Thursday March 19, 2026