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Cameroon: The Debate Is Actively On
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Cameroon Tribune (Yaoundé)
9 April 2008
Posted to the web 9 April 2008
Nkendem Forbinake
One can simply say when Cameroonians say "Cameroon is Cameroon" they know what they are talking about, even if no one can, for sure break down to the satisfaction of all, what this maxim that suddenly came out of the blues means in explaining the natural disposition of Cameroonians to get out of even the most intricate of situations.
A few months ago, few could bet confidently that the Constitutional Amendment Bill would go through so safely in the National Assembly as it is being observed now. There had been so much acrimony within the ruling CPDM ranks itself, with its gluttonous majority in the House, on the timing, the content and the scope of the proposed amendment. Not to talk of the opposition that has, all along, been particularly incisive and irascible about the government-sponsored Bill. So its arrival in Parliament, given this tumultuous background, was going to have the effect of a thunderbolt.
But since the announcement last Friday by the National Assembly that the piece of legislation had arrived at the Ngoa-Ekelle Glass House, there has been a business-as-usual atmosphere. One can even talk of calm or serenity, beating back all ominous intentions that had been conjectured about the arrival of the Bill. The proposed amendment was received unperturbed. Sailing through the chairmen's conference, receiving the required ok before being directed to the competent commission which is that on Constitution Affairs.
It is said that, even a virulent critic such as the Social Democratic Front, allied with other opposing forces such as the Cameroon Democratic Union and the Progressive Movement found the working atmosphere in the Constitutional Affairs Committee conducive and convivial enough to enable them participate positively.
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It is said that committee members studiously examined the 21-odd amendments on the draft bill proposed, in the main, by these opposition parties. After due process, these amendments were not retained, having been rejected by vote. One would say the CPDM kept to its tradition of ceding very little or no ground at all to its opponents. But the significant fact here is that the proposed amendments were ever considered at all. Parliamentary democracy has, therefore, been actively at work. And the fact that the opposition parties have been able to take their rejected proposals to the public place is also a plus for the democratization process. For, even if their minority opinions were not taken into consideration, it is left for all, even beyond the National Assembly, to justify, vindicate or question the wisdom in the choice of the opinion that finally prevailed.
It is difficult to fully grasp the importance of this landmark event without using hindsight to see from how far we have come in matters of procedure in the National Assembly. Not very long ago, propositions from the opposition have hardly been considered or even accepted, let alone being retained for debate. Most have been rejected ab ignitio with procedural considerations being blamed as the cause.
The Constitutional Amendment Draft Bill seems to have brought about a new way in going about National Assembly business. Even if there was no consensus about the draft to be presented in plenary next Friday for examination and consequent adoption, one must recognize the unifying role the presence in the House of the draft bill has engendered; bringing together MPs across the political divide in a purely legislative spirit. The fate of the draft bill is a one matter. That MPs can even make their amendments, see them accepted, then debated before they are over-ruled is another matter which cannot be overlooked.
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