National Assembly

Parliament name (generic / translated)

Structure of parliament

Leadership

President

Secretary General

Composition

Members (statutory / current number)

Women (current number)

Mode of designation

Term

Last renewal dates

Legal Framework

Electoral law

Mode of designation

Voting system

• simple majority in single-member constituencies
• absolute majority in constituencies where the list system is applicable. If no list obtains an absolute majority, the one with the highest number of votes is allocated half of the seats; the remainder is allocated to the other best-placed lists through proportional representation. Lists obtaining less than 5% of the votes cast are not eligible for proportional distribution. Seats are awarded to candidates in the order in which they appear on each party list.

Voter requirements

• age: 20 years
• Cameroonian citizenship
• permanent domicile or residence for more than 6 months in the constituency (members of the armed forces are registered where based notwithstanding the residence requirement)
• disqualifications: felony, imprisonment, persons under warrant for arrest, undischarged bankrupts, persons convicted of offences against the security of the State, insanity

Candidates

Eligibility

• age: 23 years
• Cameroonian citizenship
• ability to read and write French or English
• ineligibility: allegiance to a foreign State

Incompatibilities

• members of the Government or of the Economic and Social Council
• senior officers of a public or para-statal body
• members of the armed, security and police forces during the discharge of their duties and for six months following the termination of their status

Candidacy requirements

• deposit of candidates' list at least 40 days before polling day
• deposit of Francs CFA 150,000 per candidate, reimbursable if the party list obtains at least 5% of the votes cast at the national level

Appointment and term of office

Title

Term

• duration: 1 year, eligible for re-election
• reasons for interruption of term: resignation or dissolution of the Assembly

Appointment

• elected by the Members of the Assembly, every year at the opening of the first ordinary session in June
• following validation of Members' mandates

Eligibility

• any Member may be a candidate, but formal notification of candidature is required

Voting system

• formal vote by secret ballot in two rounds
• an absolute majority is required for the first round, a relative majority for the second

Procedures / results

• the most senior Member presides over the Assembly during the election
• the Seniority Board (the most senior Member and the two youngest members) and two tellers appointed by the Assembly sitting in plenary supervise the elections
• the most senior Member announces the results without any delay
• the results cannot be challenged

Status

Status

• ranks after the Head of State, whose powers he exercises in the event of a definitive vacancy until new elections have been held
• is assisted by a Board which represents the Assembly with the public authorities
• represents the Assembly in international bodies
• is de facto President of the plenary Assembly, the Conference of Speakers and the Board
• in the absence of the Speaker, the first Deputy Speaker and other Vive-Speakers (according to the order established by the Board) can assume his/her role and functions

Board

• the Board of the National Assembly is set up under the Constitution of the Republic and regulated by the Standing Orders
• consists of 23 members (1 Speaker, 1 First Deputy Speaker, 5 Deputy Speakers, 12 Secretaries, 4 Questors) who are elected for 1 year and are eligible for re-election
• has all powers to preside over the deliberations of the Assembly and to organize its services

• monthly allowance + special allowance for specific expenses
• official residence
• cabinet
• domestic staff
• official cars
• bodyguards and protection by constabularies

Material facilities

• monthly allowance + special allowance for specific expenses
• official residence
• cabinet
• domestic staff
• official cars
• bodyguards and protection by constabularies