Cameroon assembly clears way for Biya third term
(Adds quotes, details, analyst comment)
By Tansa Musa
YAOUNDE, April 10 (Reuters) - Cameroon's parliament adopted a constitutional bill on Thursday removing a two-term limit to allow President Paul Biya to extend his 25-year rule over central Africa's biggest economy past 2011.
Opposition lawmakers, who criticise the bill as a setback for democracy, stormed out of the chamber before the vote.
The proposed change was a major cause of riots in February that killed dozens of people, many shot dead by security forces.
The violence shook the world's fourth biggest cocoa grower, which ranks in sub-Saharan Africa's top 10 economies. Cameroon lies on the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea, though its modest crude oil output of around 90,000 barrels per day is half its 1980s peak.
Analysts say the change, which coincides with 84-year-old Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's bid to extend his own 28-year rule, means Biya's 2011 re-election will likely be a formality.
Biya's Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM) enjoys a huge majority, controlling 153 of 180 parliamentary seats.
The CPDM oversaw the introduction of a new constitution in 1996 which limited presidents to two seven-year terms. Biya's second term under that constitution expires in 2011, but he made it clear in a New Year speech that he would like to stay on.
Parliament members from the Social Democratic Front (SDF), the main opposition with 15 seats, walked out of the assembly in protest, saying parliament should not amend a constitution that emerged from cross-party negotiations in the early 1990s.
The bill, submitted just six days ago, was approved on Tuesday by the assembly's constitutional law committee which dismissed more than 20 opposition amendments. The plenary vote had originally been expected on Friday but was brought forward.
There was little visible reaction in the capital Yaounde, whose streets were empty late on Thursday due to heavy rain.
A Reuters reporter saw members of Cameroon's military rapid reaction force patrolling parts of the city on Wednesday night. The force has spent the last few months combating banditry near Cameroon's eastern border.
Biya won more than 75 percent of the vote in a 2004 election which opponents said was rigged. Biya's party denies cheating.
"HOLD-UP"
"It is common knowledge that incumbent presidents in Africa use the government machinery and all the powers at their disposal to manouevre the electoral process," SDF parliamentary chief whip Joseph Barnadzem told reporters outside the chamber.
"To try now to amend this article only through the National Assembly, for us is tantamount to a hold-up," he said.
CPDM chief whip Jean Bernard Ndongo Essomba said the bill, which also reduces presidential terms to five years, "will enhance democracy, maintain political stability, national unity and territorial integrity" of Cameroon.
"It is in tune with international accepted standards as practised in old democracies such as France and the United Kingdom. It therefore warrants the enthusiastic support of all Cameroonians of good faith," he said.
A number of African presidents have abolished two-term limits introduced in the 1990s in a wave of multi-party rule after the end of the Cold War. But efforts to do so in Nigeria, Zambia and Malawi have been blocked in recent years.
Ozong Agborsangaya-Fiteu, senior programme manager for Africa at U.S.-based democracy watchdog Freedom House, warned in an opinion column published on the International Herald Tribune Web site on Thursday of dangerous tensions building in Cameroon.
"It is unclear what may happen next. ... Unless there is clear political reform that will allow citizens to finally enjoy basic civil liberties -- including full freedom of expression, free elections and the rule of law -- a crisis is inevitable," Agborsangaya-Fiteu said. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: africa.reuters.com) (Reporting by Tansa Musa; Writing by Alistair Thomson; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Mary Gabriel)
By Tansa Musa
YAOUNDE, April 10 (Reuters) - Cameroon's parliament adopted a constitutional bill on Thursday removing a two-term limit to allow President Paul Biya to extend his 25-year rule over central Africa's biggest economy past 2011.
Opposition lawmakers, who criticise the bill as a setback for democracy, stormed out of the chamber before the vote.
The proposed change was a major cause of riots in February that killed dozens of people, many shot dead by security forces.
The violence shook the world's fourth biggest cocoa grower, which ranks in sub-Saharan Africa's top 10 economies. Cameroon lies on the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea, though its modest crude oil output of around 90,000 barrels per day is half its 1980s peak.
Analysts say the change, which coincides with 84-year-old Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's bid to extend his own 28-year rule, means Biya's 2011 re-election will likely be a formality.
Biya's Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM) enjoys a huge majority, controlling 153 of 180 parliamentary seats.
The CPDM oversaw the introduction of a new constitution in 1996 which limited presidents to two seven-year terms. Biya's second term under that constitution expires in 2011, but he made it clear in a New Year speech that he would like to stay on.
Parliament members from the Social Democratic Front (SDF), the main opposition with 15 seats, walked out of the assembly in protest, saying parliament should not amend a constitution that emerged from cross-party negotiations in the early 1990s.
The bill, submitted just six days ago, was approved on Tuesday by the assembly's constitutional law committee which dismissed more than 20 opposition amendments. The plenary vote had originally been expected on Friday but was brought forward.
There was little visible reaction in the capital Yaounde, whose streets were empty late on Thursday due to heavy rain.
A Reuters reporter saw members of Cameroon's military rapid reaction force patrolling parts of the city on Wednesday night. The force has spent the last few months combating banditry near Cameroon's eastern border.
Biya won more than 75 percent of the vote in a 2004 election which opponents said was rigged. Biya's party denies cheating.
"HOLD-UP"
"It is common knowledge that incumbent presidents in Africa use the government machinery and all the powers at their disposal to manouevre the electoral process," SDF parliamentary chief whip Joseph Barnadzem told reporters outside the chamber.
"To try now to amend this article only through the National Assembly, for us is tantamount to a hold-up," he said.
CPDM chief whip Jean Bernard Ndongo Essomba said the bill, which also reduces presidential terms to five years, "will enhance democracy, maintain political stability, national unity and territorial integrity" of Cameroon.
"It is in tune with international accepted standards as practised in old democracies such as France and the United Kingdom. It therefore warrants the enthusiastic support of all Cameroonians of good faith," he said.
A number of African presidents have abolished two-term limits introduced in the 1990s in a wave of multi-party rule after the end of the Cold War. But efforts to do so in Nigeria, Zambia and Malawi have been blocked in recent years.
Ozong Agborsangaya-Fiteu, senior programme manager for Africa at U.S.-based democracy watchdog Freedom House, warned in an opinion column published on the International Herald Tribune Web site on Thursday of dangerous tensions building in Cameroon.
"It is unclear what may happen next. ... Unless there is clear political reform that will allow citizens to finally enjoy basic civil liberties -- including full freedom of expression, free elections and the rule of law -- a crisis is inevitable," Agborsangaya-Fiteu said. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: africa.reuters.com) (Reporting by Tansa Musa; Writing by Alistair Thomson; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Mary Gabriel)
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