Cameroon flag Cameroon: Economic and Political Overview

The political framework of Cameroon

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders
President: Paul BIYA (since 6 November 1982)
Prime Minister: Joseph Dion NGUTE (since 4 January 2019)
Next Election Dates
Presidential: October 2025
Senate: 2028
National Assembly: 28 February 2025
Main Political Parties
Cameroon has a multi-party system, yet more than two-thirds of parliamentary seats are delegated to the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM) party. The most notable political forces include:

- Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM): right-wing, has the vast majority of seats in the parliament
- Social Democratic Front (SDF): centre-left, main opposition party, promotes social democracy
- National Union for Democracy and Progress (UNDP): anti-communist
- Cameroon Democratic Union (UDC): anti-corruption, decentralization
- Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC): left-wing.
Executive Power
The President is the chief of the state and holds the executive powers. The President is also the head of the armed forces. He is elected by popular vote for a seven-year term. He appoints the Prime Minister (who is the head of the government) and the Cabinet. The President has the power to dissolve the National Assembly and declare by decree a state of emergency which shall confer upon him special powers.
Legislative Power
The legislature is bicameral. The Parliament consists of the National Assembly and the Senate. The 180 members of the Parliament are directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by simple majority vote to serve five-year terms. Among the 100 members of the Senate, 70 are indirectly elected by regional councils and 30 are appointed by the president, and they serve five-year terms. The main responsibility of the National Assembly is to pass laws, but rarely has it changed any laws or blocked the passing of legislation.
 

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

Definition:

The world rankings, published annually, measures violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position are assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire incorporating the main criteria (44 in total) to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. This questionnaire was sent to partner organisations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

World Rank:
135/180
 

Indicator of Political Freedom

Definition:

The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Ranking:
Not Free
Political Freedom:
6/7

Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House

 

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Latest Update: April 2024