Deputy and jurist Cabral Libii explains that only the vice-president can refer the matter to the Constitutional Court to declare the vacancy. Lawyer Bomo Ntimbane disagrees, citing legal arguments to recognize this competence for the president of the National Assembly.
Two politicians and legal experts disagree on whether it is possible to declare a vacancy in the presidency of the Republic in the current state. The president of the Cameroonian Party for National Reconciliation (PCRN) offers the public a “pedagogical” explanation. According to him, the law of April 14, 2026, which revises Article 38 of the 2004 law on the organization and functioning of the Constitutional Council, makes the vice-president of the Republic the only person competent to refer the Council to declare the vacancy due to the permanent impediment of the head of state.
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Moreover, this legal revision, having not established “the survival of the former provisions of Article 38” which charged the president of the National Assembly with referring the Constitutional Council, no longer allows the latter to exercise this prerogative. Thus, “as long as a vice-president is not appointed, the vacancy in the presidency of the Republic cannot be declared,” the deputy insists.
Questioning these explanations, the lawyer and political party leader presents his argument. Christian Bomo Ntimbane believes that the previous provisions of Article 38 of the 2004 law can still apply. According to him, the law of April 14, 2026 modifies and supplements the 2004 law. But it does not repeal the former provisions that gave the president of the National Assembly the competence to refer the Constitutional Council to declare the vacancy in case of permanent impediment of the president of the Republic.
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“The legislator simply specified the vacancy procedure to follow when the vice-president is designated,” he explains. Continuing his argument, the man maintains that the president of the lower house of Parliament can still refer the Constitutional Council as long as the vice-president is not yet appointed.
The president of the Heritage party contradicts the president of the PCRN, who, according to him, made his statement in response to the president of MP3 Hiram Samuel Iyodi. The latter referred to the president of the National Assembly, Théodore Datouo, last week, asking him to refer the Constitutional Council to declare the vacancy in the presidency of the Republic.
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