The national president of the Patriotic Movement for the Prosperity of the People MP3 finds that the method of appointing the Vice President of the Republic does not align with democratic principles.
Guest on the show l’Arène on Sunday, May 24, 2026, on Équinoxe television, the former candidate in the October 12, 2025 presidential election addressed several issues including the reinstatement of the Vice President position in Cameroon. The position, inserted during the last amendment of the Constitution, as provided for in the fundamental law, draws criticism from Samuel Iyodi Hiram. Firstly, for the politician, the creation of the position is surprising as it was not clearly announced by the Head of State in his political project. The latter justifies its creation by the desire to ensure the political stability of institutions.
The president of MP3 also highlights other unclear points surrounding the introduction of the Vice President position in Cameroon. These particularly concern the criteria on which the President of the Republic bases his choice of the Vice President, the requirements that the person to be appointed must meet to be elevated to this position. Samuel Iyodi Hiram specifies on this subject that the revised constitution “does not exactly state the conditions to be met to actually be Vice President” and insists on the power given to the Head of State to appoint the person by nomination.
The text provides that the President of the Republic “may appoint a Vice President,” excluding the people from this appointment, who are vested with full sovereignty. In applying this provision, Cameroon will end up with “a Vice President appointed by the Head of State, who can succeed him in case of vacancy and therefore, a President of the Republic who has not been designated by Cameroonian citizens,” regrets the president of MP3.
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Listening to Samuel Iyodi Hiram’s analysis on the subject, the revision of the Constitution prevents the exercise of popular sovereignty. Yet the Vice President is called upon to exercise presidential functions in case of impediment of the Head of State or vacancy of the President of the Republic’s office and this until the end of the term. According to him, designation by electoral means as was the case within the federal state would be the indicated method to preserve popular legitimacy.
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