{"id":47210,"date":"2026-04-04T11:21:48","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T15:21:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/cameroon-parliament-establishes-vice-president-role-for-93-year-old-leader\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T11:21:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T15:21:48","slug":"cameroon-parliament-establishes-vice-president-role-for-93-year-old-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/cameroon-parliament-establishes-vice-president-role-for-93-year-old-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"Cameroon Parliament Establishes Vice President Role for 93-Year-Old Leader"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n

Cameroon’s legislative body has voted decisively to establish a vice presidential position, marking the first significant constitutional change in the Central African nation since 2008.<\/p>

During a combined meeting of both legislative chambers on Saturday, lawmakers cast 200 votes in favor of the constitutional modification, with only 18 opposing and four choosing not to vote. The ruling party holds dominant control in both the National Assembly and Senate.<\/p>

Under the new constitutional framework, the vice president would immediately take over presidential duties should President Paul Biya pass away, step down, or become unable to serve. The 93-year-old leader has governed the oil and cocoa-rich nation for more than four decades since taking power in 1982, making him the globe’s eldest active head of government. Authorities prohibit public conversations about his medical condition.<\/p>

The constitutional text, reviewed by news outlets, specifies that the president will have sole authority to select and remove the vice president, who would serve out the remaining portion of the president’s seven-year mandate. The temporary leader would face restrictions preventing them from altering the constitution or seeking election to the presidency afterward.<\/p>

Government officials defend the reform as necessary to maintain governmental stability during unexpected leadership transitions. President Biya has two weeks to sign the legislation into law.<\/p>

Opposition figures have denounced the amendment as harmful to democratic principles and an expansion of concentrated authority.<\/p>

Joshua Osih, who serves in parliament and leads the opposition Social Democratic Front, characterized the modifications as a lost chance to strengthen national cohesion and democratic leadership in a country experiencing civil unrest since 2017.<\/p>

“This text weakens legitimacy, reinforces centralisation, and ignores a major historical grievance,” Osih said, advocating 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.<\/p>

The restoration of the vice presidential office represents Cameroon’s most substantial constitutional overhaul since 2008, when lawmakers eliminated presidential term restrictions in a decision that triggered widespread demonstrations and violent government suppression.<\/p>

The vice presidential role had existed in Cameroon’s governmental framework previously but was eliminated in 1972 through a constitutional vote.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cameroon’s legislature has voted to create a vice president position that would automatically succeed the current president if needed. The move comes as 93-year-old President Paul Biya, the world’s oldest serving head of state, continues his decades-long rule since 1982.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":47209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[832],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/news-1775316107898.jpg?fit=450%2C295&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbtNqq-chs","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":47407,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/cameroon-parliament-restores-vice-presidency-expanding-93-year-old-leaders-power\/","url_meta":{"origin":47210,"position":0},"title":"Cameroon Parliament Restores Vice Presidency, Expanding 93-Year-Old Leader’s Power","author":"Admin","date":"April 5, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Cameroon's legislature has brought back the vice presidency position after more than 50 years, giving 93-year-old President Paul Biya complete control over appointing and removing his deputy. Opposition groups are calling the move undemocratic and warn it creates a pathway to monarchy in the African nation.","rel":"","context":"In "World News"","block_context":{"text":"World News","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/world-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/news-1775370983155.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/news-1775370983155.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/news-1775370983155.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/news-1775370983155.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53476,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/pope-leo-xiv-draws-massive-crowd-in-cameroon-during-africa-tour\/","url_meta":{"origin":47210,"position":1},"title":"Pope Leo XIV Draws Massive Crowd in Cameroon During Africa Tour","author":"Admin","date":"April 17, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Pope Leo XIV is drawing an estimated 600,000 people to Mass in Cameroon as part of his 11-day African tour. 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