At stake in this election:

• 180 seats in the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Paul BIYA
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Philemon YANG
• Assembly: Cameroon has a bicameral Parliament (Parlement) consisting of the Senate (Sénat) with 100 seats and the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) with 180 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by plurality vote to serve a 7-year term.
• Prime Minister is appointed by the President.
• In the Senate (Sénat), 70 members are indirectly elected by regional governing councils to serve 5-year terms and 30 members are appointed by the President to serve 5-year terms*. In the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale), 34 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms and 146 members are elected by plurality vote in multi-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms.**

* A 1996 constitutional amendment called for the establishment of a 100-seat upper house, the Senate (Sénat). The April 14, 2013 election established this Senate for the first time. Senators are elected through an electoral college consisting of municipal councilors. Each region will be represented in the Senate by 10 senators, 7 of whom will be indirectly elected, and 3 will appointed by the President. Therefore 70 members will be chosen by electors from 360 local councils and the President will appoint the 30 remaining senators.

** The president can either lengthen or shorten the term of the legislature. Cameroon is divided into 85 electoral constituencies. There are 34 single-member districts, where candidates are elected by plurality vote. There are 146 multi-member constituencies with magnitudes ranging from 2 to 7.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM) / Rassemblement Démocratique du Peuple Camerounais (RDPC)
  • Leader: Paul BIYA
• Seats won in last National Assembly election: 153
  • Seats won in this National Assembly election: 148
• Party: National Union for Democracy and Progress / Union Nationale pour la Démocratie et le Progrès (UNDP)
  • Leader: Maigari BELLO BOUBA
  • Seats won in last National Assembly election: 6
  • Seats won in this National Assembly election: 5
• Party: Social Democratic Front (SDF) / Front Social-Démocratique
  • Leader: Ni John FRU NDI
• Seats won in last National Assembly election: 16
• Seats won in this National Assembly election: 18
• Party: Union of the Peoples of Cameroon / Union des Populations du Cameroun (UPC)
• Leader: Pierre SENDE
• Seats won in last National Assembly election: 0
• Seats won in this National Assembly election: 3
• Party: National Alliance for Democracy and Progress / Alliance Nationale pour la Démocratie et le Progrès (ANDP)
• Leader: Hamadou MOUSTAPHA
• Seats won in last National Assembly election: 0
• Seats won in this National Assembly election: 0
• Other Parties
• Seats won in this National Assembly election: 6

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 20,549,221 (July 2013 est.)
• Registered Voters: 7,251,651 (September 2011 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 11,107,952 (2013)

·         Is Cameroon a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (6 June 1983)

·         Has Cameroon ratified CEDAW: Yes (23 August 1994)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 56(National Assembly) (following 2013 parliamentary elections); 20 (Senate)

·         Human Development Index Position: 153 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: High (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Cameroon a signatory to CRPD: Yes (1 October 2008)

·         Has Cameroon ratified CRPD: No

·         Population with a disability: 3,331,674 (est.)