CAMEROONIAN POLITICAL REGIME

SEMI-PRESIDENTIAL REGIME PART II

CONTENT

 Power structure
 1- A dualist executive
 2- A bicameral Parliament
 Relationships among powers
 1- The supremacy of executive power
 2- The means of action of the parliament on the government

NB: When studying a political regime always make sure to observe the way the powers are organized, structured and
organized (the relationships among them). These are the main elements of comparison for any political regime.
I- POWER STRUCTURE

 1- A dualist executive
 The president is the head of State (art. 5 al.1, 2): The President is elected by direct, equal and secret universal suffrage,
by a majority of the votes cast (article 6.1 of the Constitution). The President-elect takes office as soon as he takes the
oath before the Cameroonian people in the presence of members of Parliament. The oath is received by the President of
the National Assembly.
 The President is elected for a term of seven years renewable once. Its mandate in no way coincides with the duration of
the mandate of deputies which is five years
 The President appoints the Prime Minister and, on the latter's proposal, the other members of the Government (article
10.1 of the Constitution); he represents the State in all acts of civil and public life; he embodies the national unity; he has
criminal immunity, except in cases of hatred; he defines the policy of the nation, he insures by its arbitration the regular
functioning of the public powers, he is guarantor of the national independence and the integrity of the territory, of the
permanence and the continuity of the State, of the respect international treaties and agreements (al.2).
 In view of the above it is clearly established that the President of the Republic has huge powers and that in any event, the
relations with the Prime Minister are unequal
I- POWER STRUCTURE
 The Prime Minister is the Head of government (art 12 of the revised Constitution of 1996)
 The prime minister is head of government
 He is responsible both to the parliament and to the President of the Republic
 He is responsible for the implementation of government policy

Remark: In parliamentary regime the Prime minister is not responsible to the Head of State

 2- A bicameral parliament
 The organisation: according to article 14 of the constitution the legislative power is exerted by the parliament
which includes two chambers: the national assembly and the senate. The two chambers are organized around
parliamentary groups, committees and the bureau.
 I- POWER STRUCTURE/2- A BICAMERAL PARLIAMENT
 The functions: under section 14, the functions of parliament are to make laws. The domain of the law is reserved, by virtue of
article 26 which gives its specific content, to Parliament; to be adopted the law goes back and forth between the national assembly
and the senate (like shuttle=navette parlementaire); when the national assembly adopts a text, it transmits it to the senate, the latter
has three possibilities:
Either he adopts the text in question, and in this case the president of the senate returns it to the President of the National Assembly for
transmission to the President of the Republic for promulgation. he has 15 days, if he does not do so, the president of the national
assembly replaces the presidential authority for the promulgation
Either the Senate rejects all or part of the text, in this case its position is transmitted to the National Assembly accompanied by a
statement of reasons to justify the rejection. the national assembly can then confirm the text it adopted at first reading by a majority of
its members
But if the National Assembly does not reach an agreement, the President of the Republic will convene an equal joint commission
composed of deputies and senators with the same number of members. The objectives of this committee are to propose a joint text
between the National Assembly and the Senate. if a common text is adopted at the end of the joint commission, it is transmitted to the
president of the republic for promulgation. if no compromise is found, the President of the republic can ask the national assembly to
adopt the text as a last resort by simple majority
Much more, the constitution gave exclusive competence to the National assembly to vote the budget of the State (article 16 al 2b)
II- RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN POWERS

NB: The constitutional council is the body which guarantees compliance with the constitutional provisions, it issues advisory opinions.

 1- The supremacy of executive power

 Powers of the president over the Parliament: The President of the Republic can dissolve the national assembly; on request, he may
be heard by the National Assembly, the Senate or the two chambers united in congress; he can intervene in the law by taking orders;
this to have the value of laws must be ratified in parliament. According to article 9, in exceptional circumstances, the president can
intervene in all areas by declaring a state of emergency or a state of emergency. He appoints some (30%) of the senators who pledge
allegiance to him
 Powers of the president over Jurisdictional power: The president preside the Higher judicial council. He appoints, dismisses and
sanctions the magistrate; he personally guarantee the independence of the judiciary power; he has the right of pardon.
 Remark: The President always had a parliamentary majority this is also what justifies the importance of his powers; nothing says
that it would be the same if he were to lose this majority in parliament. So he is not responsible to the Parliament.
II- RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN POWERS/2- THE MEANS OF
ACTION OF THE PARLIAMENT ON THE GOVERNMENT
 Parliamentary mechanisms for monitoring government action: Parliamentary control can be done in
three ways:
 Question of confidence: Said of any question on which the government is likely to lose the confidence of the
members of the Assembly. It also designates a procedure whereby the government takes the initiative in asking the
Assembly to express its support for it.
 Written or oral questions: The questions put to the ministers allow the Parliament to bring into play the political
responsibility of the Government.
 Investigative committee: Parliament exercises oversight over government administration through the creation of
Commissions of Inquiry.

 Parliamentary sanctions against the government: When the parliament adopts a motion of censure or
refuses its confidence in the government the Prime Minister must submit to the President of the Republic
the resignation of the government. This control can lead to the dismissal of the government, which is a
heavy penalty.
CLASS ASSIGNEMENTS:

 1- Is executive power responsible in Cameroon?

 2- The parliament in Cameroon.
EXERCISE CORRECTIONS
 Topic: To what extent can we say that the State of Cameroon is a liberal State?

Plan:
I- Cameroon a liberal country: by the virtue of constitutional provisions
1. The Cameroonian constitution recognizes the separation of powers among others rights and freedoms
2. The constitutional council ensures compliance/conformity with the constitutional provisions
II- But, many imbalances in practice for the benefit of the executive
3. Justifications for these imbalances
Majority system for electing the president
The irresponsibility of the President except in the case of treason, for all acts performed during his mandate
The dominant party that slant any parliamentary control
The appointment of senior civil and military posts of the State
2. The consequences of this imbalance
A hierarchy of powers for the benefit of the executive
The people are legally powerless to engage the responsibility of the leaders
The people are politically dislocated
Many authoritarian drifts and abuse of power
EXERCISE CORRECTIONS

 Topic: The theory of the separation of powers today

Plan
1- Constitutional recognition of the separation of powers by the majority of states in the world
A- The recognition of three types of powers by virtue of Montesquieu’s though
B- The usefulness of this theoretical today: (to classify political regime)
II- Distortion of the principle of the separation of powers
A-The rejection of that doctrine by authoritarian regimes (fascism, socialism; focused on carriying out significant transformations of
society to promote the state and achieve socialism …)
B- The imbalances in reality
The supremacy of executive or of the parliament according to different cases. For example the predominance of executives in
African political regimes
Thank you