Cameroon’s parliament on Saturday overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment to reintroduce the position of vice president, a measure the government says will ensure continuity but which the opposition say will consolidate executive power.
In a joint session of the ruling party-dominated National Assembly and Senate, lawmakers voted 200 to 18 in favour, with four abstentions, to pass the bill.
The bill stipulates that the vice president will automatically assume the presidency if President Paul Biya dies, resigns, or becomes incapacitated.
Biya, 93, has led the oil- and cocoa-producing Central African country since 1982 and is the world’s oldest serving head of state.
Public discussion about his health is banned.
According to the legislation, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, the vice president will be appointed and dismissed by the president, serving for the remainder of the president’s seven-year term.
