New Parliamentarians Officially Known

The results of the September 30 legislative elections were proclaimed October 17, 2013.

The 180 new Members of Cameroon's the National Assembly elected during the September 30, 2013 twin legislative and municipal elections are henceforth ready to start work for the ninth legislative period of the National Assembly. The Supreme Court acting as the Constitutional Council officially proclaimed the legislative election results yesterday, October 17, 2013 in Yaounde.

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Alexis Dipanda Mouelle chaired the court session in the presence of some cabinet ministers led by Prime Minister, Head of Government, Philemon Yang, members of the diplomatic corps, leaders of some political parties, heads of some State institutions, some candidates in the election and the anxious population. During the solemn event that ran from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the President of the Administrative Bench of the Supreme Court, Clement Atangana in an alternating manner read the detailed results of the election per constituency. The atmosphere during the ceremony was void of excessive euphoria, though some UPC and CPDM supporters could be spotted in party uniform.

What remains historic is the fact that 5,481,226 people registered for the election using the biometric technology and 4,208,796 of them voted. Statistics from the Constitutional Council indicate that there were 1,272,430 abstentions, 185,503 void ballot papers, real votes being 4,023,293 registering a participation rate of 76,79 per cent.

In the ninth legislative period of the National Assembly that will run for five years up to 2018, seven political parties will share the 180 seats. The ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement, CPDM has 148 seats down from the 153 seats in the eighth legislative period. The leading opposition Social Democratic Front, SDF has 18 seats up from 16 in the eighth legislative period, the National Union for Democracy and Progress, NUDP five seats down from six, Cameroon Democratic Union, CDU maintained its four seats. The Union des populations du Cameroun, UPC staged a come back with three seats as well as the Dakole Daissala's Movement for the Defence of the Republic, MDR with one seat. The new comer is Maurice Kamto's Cameroon Renaissance Movement, CRM with one seat. The term of office of the Members of the National Assembly will begin on Tuesday, October 29, 2013 when they will hold the first parliamentary session as of right.