Cameroon's Union Démocratique du Cameroun (UDC) has called on the government to appoint a vice president and establish clearer rules governing prolonged presidential absences, arguing that President Paul Biya's extended stay abroad has renewed questions about institutional continuity at the top of the state.
In a statement released on July 18, the opposition party, led by Hermine Patricia Tomaino Ndam Njoya, said the president's stay outside the country highlights the need for a more transparent chain of command during lengthy absences.
The statement, titled Ensuring State Continuity Under All Circumstances, comes nearly six weeks after Biya left Cameroon for what authorities described on June 7 as a private stay in Europe.
Without commenting on the president's personal situation or health, the UDC called on the government to provide regular updates on how state institutions are functioning during prolonged presidential absences.
The party acknowledged that an extended stay abroad does not legally constitute a vacancy in the presidency. However, it argued that the absence of publicly defined delegation mechanisms and official communication fuels uncertainty about how presidential powers are exercised while the head of state is away.
The UDC's statement comes just months after Cameroon reinstated the office of vice president through a constitutional amendment adopted in early April 2026. Under the revised Constitution, the president appoints and may dismiss the vice president, who may exercise only those powers expressly delegated by the head of state. The vice president is also designated to succeed the president in the event of death, resignation or permanent incapacity.
Because no vice president has yet been appointed, the UDC argues that a reform presented as a safeguard for institutional stability remains incomplete. The party therefore called on the authorities to fill the position.
Even so, appointing a vice president would not automatically address the issue raised by the president's current stay abroad. The Constitution does not provide for the vice president to assume presidential powers simply because the head of state is traveling or outside the country. Outside the cases of vacancy or permanent incapacity, any exercise of presidential authority by the vice president would require an explicit delegation from the president.
For the UDC, the priority is therefore not the immediate transfer of power but the establishment of a clear and publicly identifiable chain of command.
The party outlined five proposals. It called for rules defining how prolonged presidential absences should be managed, regular updates to Parliament and the public on the continuity of presidential functions, and the publication of any delegation of powers deemed necessary to ensure the smooth functioning of the state.
The UDC also proposed creating an impartial procedure for determining temporary or permanent incapacity and strengthening safeguards designed to prevent institutional deadlock at the highest level of government.
The party said it was not seeking to turn the president's stay abroad into a political crisis. However, it argued that institutional silence encourages speculation and can undermine public confidence in the state's continuity mechanisms.
Its statement also highlights the distinction between three different constitutional situations: a president's physical absence from the country, which does not suspend presidential powers; temporary incapacity, which the party believes should be more clearly regulated; and a permanent vacancy, which under the 2026 constitutional amendment would trigger succession by the vice president. The reinstatement of the vice presidency, abolished in 1972 when Cameroon transitioned from a federal to a unitary state, fundamentally changed the country's succession framework.
Before the constitutional revision, the president of the Senate would serve as interim head of state until a new presidential election was held. Under the new system, the vice president would complete the remainder of the president's term. The reform has fueled speculation over who will eventually be appointed to the position, but no official nomination had been announced as of the UDC's statement.
By calling for the post to be filled, the UDC is highlighting what it sees as the central weakness of the new constitutional arrangement: a vice presidency created to guarantee continuity of the state that cannot fulfill that role until both an officeholder is appointed and presidential powers are formally delegated.
Ludovic Amara