Opinion: What the law provides if no vice president is appointed and the president of the Republic is permanently unable to serve

Christian Ntimbane Bomo, executive president of the HERITAGE party, disputes the claim that failing to appoint a vice president would block the transfer of power in Cameroon. He says paragraphs 6 and 7 of Article 6 of the Constitution provide for a new presidential election within 20 to 120 days if the vice-president’s office is unfilled. In his interpretation, the Senate president automatically serves as interim president “by operation of law,” without a prior referral to or ruling by the Constitutional Council. He argues that these provisions are specifically intended to address the absence of a vice president.