Published on : 26/07/2022 – 22:58
After his speech to the French community, the French president was received by his counterpart Paul Biya. The two heads of state had a one-on-one meeting at the Unity Palace for more than an hour. This meeting was also an opportunity to talk a bit about domestic politics in Cameroon. Questioned by the press on the delicate question of the transition, the Cameroonian president let nothing filter of his intentions. Will leave, will not leave at the end of the current mandate and while he will have accumulated 43 years of power without stopping? Paul Biya remained quite evasive.
With our special correspondent in Yaoundé, Amelie Tulet
In a bright, 1970s-style room, President Paul Biya enters slowly, but his voice is assured. After the preliminary remarks of the two Heads of State, time for questions. “ President Paul Biya, do you hope to run for a new term in 2025 or do you want a new generation to wear the colors of your party in the next presidential election? »
Paul Biya then asks that the question be repeated to him. ” I can not hear he says. After a second try, it is finally Emmanuel Macron standing on his right who takes over: “ President Biya, are you seeking a new mandate in 2025 on behalf of the party? »
So, with humor and wit, Paul Biya responds in a voice marked by the years, but firm: “ Cameroon is governed in accordance with its Constitution. According to this Constitution, my term of office lasts seven years. So try to do the subtraction and you will know how much time I have left to run the country. But otherwise, when this warrant expires, you will be informed as to whether I stay or go to the village. »
Response applauded in the press room. Ambitious people on all sides, including in his own camp, will therefore have to be patient for at least three years, the legal time left for Paul Biya to complete the current mandate and gives a little more clarity to the political horizon. Paul Biya, 89, is in his seventh term as head of Cameroon.
War of Succession
The opposition believes in particular that the head of state should stop maintaining the mystery and prepare his succession. ” In his camp, there are today so many people who have accumulated experience and money that ambition necessarily lies dormant in many of them, analyzes Cabral Libii, president of the PCRN party. The wars of the factions that we observe in Cameroon, which are no longer latent, and which unfortunately affect the functioning of the institutions, attest to this. »
« It was a bad choice to preserve the mystery, believes the opposition MP. I believe that we must stop this game of hide and seek which, obviously, does not bear fruit and it should rather be much more precise on the question. We do not want the country to suffer the horrors of internal squabbles. We want a democratic game in 2025 that is holy. »
The succession is fierce. Any indication from the Head of State could aggravate the situation. So I think that given what he has as an idea of the case, we will have to wait a long time. My feeling is that, when you listen to his entourage, everything is done for him to run again in 2025, unless the pressure inside the country leads him to consider a different solution.
Anicet Ekané, president of the opposition African Movement for New Independence and Democracy (Manidem)