Cameroon's opposition Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC) has shifted its political challenge to the legal framework governing political parties, arguing that the ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM) no longer operates in accordance with its own statutes.
In an opinion piece published on July 10, MRC Deputy Secretary General Roger Justin Noah examined the CPDM's internal governance and alleged a wide gap between the party's governing documents and how it functions in practice.
According to Noah, the alleged irregularities affect the mandate of the party's national president, the composition and authority of its Political Bureau, the holding of party congresses, and the procedures used to nominate candidates for elections. He argues that these shortcomings have left the CPDM with what he describes as "a fragile legal structure undermined by irregularities that strike at the heart of its legitimacy."
He goes further, calling the ruling party "an institutional shell that conceals a profound legal vacuum." His arguments, however, are based on his own interpretation of the CPDM's statutes and internal regulations.
MRC says Paul Biya's mandate expired in 2016
Noah's first argument targets President Paul Biya in his capacity as CPDM national chairman.
He contends that the five-year mandate Biya received at the party's September 2011 congress expired on September 15, 2016, and that he has continued to lead the party without a valid mandate ever since.
The MRC official also challenges the legality of a decision by the Political Bureau on November 3, 2016, to extend Biya's mandate. According to Noah, the extension was approved after the original mandate had already expired and by a body whose own legitimacy was, in his view, already in question.
He further argues that more than half of the Political Bureau's 30 members were either imprisoned or living in exile at the time, making it impossible for the body to validly adopt such a decision.
Questions over the Political Bureau
Noah also argues that the Political Bureau itself lost its legitimacy after September 2016. According to his reasoning, a governing body whose mandate had expired and whose membership had been significantly reduced could not legally make decisions binding on the party, including extending the mandate of its national chairman.
The argument seeks to challenge the CPDM's internal chain of legitimacy: if the Political Bureau was not lawfully constituted, Noah contends, then the decisions it adopted would also be open to question.
These claims, however, reflect the position of a senior official from an opposition party and do not constitute a judicial determination of the legality of the CPDM's governing bodies.
Fifteen years without a party congress
The MRC official also criticizes the CPDM for not holding a party congress. According to the CPDM statutes cited in his opinion piece, the congress is responsible for defining the party's political, economic, social, and cultural orientation while electing its principal governing bodies. Under the rules, it is normally held every five years, although the Political Bureau may shorten or extend that timetable.
Noah notes that the CPDM's last ordinary congress took place in September 2011. He argues that the party has not held either an ordinary or extraordinary congress in nearly 15 years, depriving it of its normal mechanism for renewing its leadership and validating its policy direction.
In his view, that prolonged gap has concentrated decision-making in the hands of a small group of leaders.
Election nominations also questioned
The MRC official also disputes the legality of the CPDM's candidate selection process for local elections. He argues that, under the party's statutes, the Central Committee is responsible for approving nominations. In practice, however, he says those decisions have been made in recent years by the secretary general of the Central Committee.
According to Noah, neither the party's statutes nor its internal regulations explicitly grant that authority to the secretary general unless it has been formally delegated by the Central Committee.
He also argues that the Central Committee, which can have up to 350 members, has not met in more than a decade, despite internal rules calling for two meetings each year. Rather than declaring the nominations unlawful, Noah argues that their legal basis has not been sufficiently established under the party's own rules.
A political challenge to the CPDM's stability narrative
Through his analysis, Noah seeks to challenge one of the CPDM's longstanding political messages: that it is the guarantor of institutional stability. He argues that while the ruling party presents itself as the pillar of continuity in Cameroon, its own internal governance suffers from significant procedural shortcomings.
The opinion piece does not resolve the legal issues it raises. Instead, it presents a political argument based on one interpretation of the CPDM's internal rules while raising broader questions about whether Cameroon's political parties operate in accordance with the statutes they have adopted.
Thierry Christophe Yamb