Cameroon sets February date for long-delayed parliamentary and local elections

"See you on February 7," read the headline of the state-owned Cameroon Tribune on Tuesday, a day after a decree from 93-year-old President Paul Biya announced the date for the polls.

The elections, which have been postponed twice, will be the first nationwide vote since Biya was declared the winner of the contested presidential election in October 2025, which handed him an eighth term after more than four decades in power.

The settling of the date was met with enthusiasm on the streets of the capital Yaounde.

"We want a renewal of the political class and, really, young people in power," Nkopipie Kodjo, head of an association, told AFP.

"We're in a country where it feels like the political class is a bit has-been, it's outdated," he said.

“The wait has been very long,” said businessman Henri Etene, noting that MPs had been in office for seven years, two years beyond their normal term.

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Test for the ruling party

The elections will test the ability of Biya's Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (RDPC) to maintain its dominance in parliament and local government.

In the previous elections in 2020, the party won 152 of the 180 seats in the National Assembly and control of 316 of the country's 360 municipalities.

But political observers believe the party could face a tougher contest, particularly in the north, a stronghold of Issa Tchiroma, a former government ally who is now in exile.

The opposition Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon (MRC), which boycotted the 2020 elections, is also expected to take part.

“Let the electoral contest begin,” political scientist Alphonse Bernard Amougou told RFI, welcoming confirmation of the vote.

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Calls for change

Political analyst Cyrille Tchamba told RFI that the ruling party would need to halt "a loss of ground" following the 2025 presidential election while the opposition would be seeking to build on the electoral momentum of Tchiroma's presidential campaign.

"Cameroonians have been eagerly awaiting this election because the will of the people today is to breathe new life into this deadlocked situation," Tchamba said. "Cameroonians could use these combined elections on 7 February to send the signal for change that everyone is waiting for."

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Businessman Etene looked forward to that change in political direction. “The country is completely bogged down on all fronts,” he said, adding that “Nothing works”.

While weakening political parties, Biya has silenced all opposition since 2018, when he arrested and convicted hundreds of peaceful demonstrators, including presidential rival Maurice Kamto.

(with newswires)