Deposit of Legislative Election Drops to FCFA One Million

Members of the Committee on Constitutional Laws in the National Assembly will today, November 19, 2012 from 11:30 a.m. scrutinise amendments in the Electoral Code.

Those of the Committee on Finance and Budget will on their part, examine the settlement bill for the 2011 Financial year and the bill relating to the ratification of ordinance N° 2012/001 of 28 June 2012 amending and supplementing some provisions of Law N° 2011/020 of 14 December 2011 relating to the Finance Law of the Republic of Cameroon for the year 2012.

The three bills were tabled during the plenary sitting of November 16, 2012 chaired by House Speaker, Hon. Cavaye Yeguie Djibril whose first part was dedicated to question time to cabinet ministers starting with Prime Minister, Head of Government, Philemon Yang.

Electoral Code

Government in bill N° 918/PJL/AN to amend and supplement some provisions of Law N° 2012/1 of 19 April 2012 relating to the Electoral Code, proposed that the deposit to be paid by a candidate and his alternate to run for Parliament be reduced from FCFA 3 million contained in the Electoral Code to FCFA 1 million.

The amendment to Section 166 of the Electoral Code, government argues, "is designed to rationalise nominations and to maintain an amount that does not seriously undermine the financial capacity of citizens aspiring to political roles of MPs or senators." The amendment is also in response to concerns voiced by some MPs regarding the increase of deposits required to run for parliament and is "part of the efforts to improve the electoral system as prescribed by the President."

Other amendments in the Electoral Code concern Section 84 in which a fourth paragraph had been added to extend the period for distributing voters cards. It specifies that in the event of recompilation, such distribution may take place once such cards are issued, under appropriate technical conditions.

The bill further adjusts the time-frames specific to senatorial elections contained in Sections 230 and 231 of the Electoral Code. In view of election of senators, the electoral college shall be convened by the President of the Republic at least 45 days before the date of the poll, instead of 90 days as provided in the Electoral Code.

Settlement Bill

The Committee on Finance and Budget of the National Assembly will today examine the Settlement Bill for the 2011 Financial year. The adopted State budget for 2011 was FCFA 2,571 billion. Revenue in terms of cash flow stood at FCFA 2,531,754,050,964, representing an execution rate of 98.47 per cent. Expenditure stood at FCFA 2,454,250,747,633 against the initial appropriations of FCFA 2,570 billion, with an execution rate of FCFA 95.46 per cent. The difference in cash flow and settlements give a budget surplus of FCFA 77,503,303,331, which government explains was taken into account in the State financial strategy for 2012.

June 2012 Ordinance

The Committee on Finance and Budget of the National Assembly will today equally examine the bill relating to the ratification of ordinance N° 2012/001 of 28 June 2012 amending and supplementing some provisions of Law N° 2011/020 of 14 December 2011 relating to the Finance Law of the Republic of Cameroon for the year 2012. The ¨President of the Republic signed the ordinance increasing by FCFA 250 billion the amount of authorised loans by the State. The 2012 finance law had only FCFA 200 billion and with the ordinance the amount rose to FCFA 450 billion. Government explains that the additional loan of FCFA 250 billion contained in the ordinance enabled the State to have resources with which to finance development projects, among which is the Yaounde-Douala super highway.