Cavaye, Niat sure to retain National Assembly, Senate leaderships

The Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. Cavaye Yeguie Djibril and the President of the Senate, Marcel Niat Njifenji are likely to be re-elected this Tuesday in the election of a new bureau of both houses.

Both chambers of parliament returned from recess last Tuesday for a session whose main business will be the voting of a new bureau as well as examination and adoption of bills.

Inaugural plenaries last Tuesday were programmed hours apart to permit the Prime Minister and his entire cabinet to be present in both chambers as the oldest members of parliament chair deliberations.

Until new bureaus are elected, the lawmakers cannot undertake any significant business related to legislation.

New and without premises of its own, the Senate is sitting at the Yaounde Conference Center, where its offices are also located.

Cavaye Yegui Djibril will be seeking re-election as National Assembly Speaker for the 22 time while Marcel Niat Njifenji will run for his second year as Senate President.

Traditionally there are no challengers to the candidates selected by the ruling party, which has a crushing majority in both house.

The Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, (CPDM), party is unlikely to make any significant changes in the choice of Speakers and bureau members.

Meantime, the opening session of the 2014 legislative year of the Senate provided an opportunity for the eldest Senator Nfon V.E. Mukete in his keynote address to called on his peers and members of the National Assembly to work together with commitment at all levels in order to accompany President Paul Biya in his Greater Accomplishment programme.

Over at the National Assembly, Hon. Enow Tanjong, the eldest MP emphasized on the presidential decree of February 18 that commuted and remitted sentences of some convicted persons in Cameroon. He argued that it was a presidential prerogative that should not be opened to any misinterpretation. Enoh Tanjong equally requested Cameroonians to extend the spirit of the fiftieth anniversary of the reunification of Cameroon.

It is worth noting that real business shall begin in the upper and lower houses only after election of a permanent bureau must have been conducted.