| Cameroon |
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The National Assembly (French: Assemblée Nationale) is the parliament of Cameroon. It has 180 members, elected for five-year terms in 49 single and multi-seat constituencies.
Although multiparty elections have been held since 1992, the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (RDPC) has always retained control of the National Assembly. The Cameroonian political system invests overwhelming power in the hands of the President of the Republic, Paul Biya, and the RDPC exists essentially to support Biya and his policies; therefore the National Assembly has little meaningful power in practice, and it debates and passes bills as desired by the Presidency.
From 1992 to 1997, the RDPC relied on alliances with two smaller parties to secure a parliamentary majority. Beginning in 1997, the RDPC has won an outright majority in each election; its majorities have consistently improved as the opposition has weakened.
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On 10 April 2008, the National Assembly overwhelmingly voted a bill to change the Constitution of Cameroon to provide the President of the Republic with immunity from prosecution for acts as President and to allow unlimited re-elections of the President (it was previously limited to two terms of seven years) along with a number of other changes. The changes took place after a walk-out of the National Assembly by the opposition SDF representatives and just one month after widespread violence resulting in dozens of deaths and hundreds of arrests protesting price rises and the proposed constitutional changes.[1][2] Five members of parliament voted against the bill. Opposition lawmakers[3] and at least one deputy from the ruling RDPC, Paul Abine Ayah, criticised the bill as a setback for democracy and the country in general.[4]
| Parties | Seats | +/– | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (RPDC) | 153 | +4 | ||
| Social Democratic Front (SDF) | 16 | –6 | ||
| National Union for Democracy and Progress (UNDP) | 6 | +5 | ||
| Democratic Union of Cameroon (UDC) | 4 | –1 | ||
| Progressive Movement (MP) | 1 | +1 | ||
| Total (turnout 62%) | 180 | — | ||
| Source: AFP (for the first 163 seats) Xinhua (for 17 seats decided in a revote) | ||||
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