About this election
Cameroon is due to hold parliamentary (and municipal) elections in 2026, to renew the 180-member National Assembly after repeated delays. President Paul Biya, in power since 1982 and one of the world's longest-serving leaders, extended the sitting parliament's mandate to 20 December 2026, and as of mid-2026 a firm polling date had not been fixed. The election follows the contested October 2025 presidential vote and takes place against the backdrop of the long-running Anglophone crisis in the country's two English-speaking regions, making the timing, conduct and inclusiveness of the vote the central questions.
The National Assembly's 180 members are elected for five-year terms in multi-member constituencies based on Cameroon's divisions, using a mixed list system: a party that wins an absolute majority of votes in a constituency takes all its seats, while otherwise the seats are split proportionally between the leading lists. Elections are organised by ELECAM (Elections Cameroon), and the upper house, the Senate, is partly elected by local councillors and partly appointed by the president. In practice the system, combined with the dominance of the ruling party and the president's extensive powers, has produced large governing majorities and a weak parliament.
Cameroonian politics has been dominated for decades by President Biya's Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM, or RDPC in French). The historic opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF) has declined, while newer forces — including Maurice Kamto's Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC), which boycotted the 2020 legislative election — have challenged the government, primarily in presidential contests. The Anglophone crisis, an armed separatist conflict that erupted in 2016 in the North-West and South-West regions, has displaced hundreds of thousands and repeatedly disrupted voting there, raising fundamental questions about how representative any national election can be.
The February 2020 legislative election was held amid an opposition boycott and severe disruption in the Anglophone regions, where separatists enforced a near-total shutdown. The CPDM won a commanding majority.
| Party (2020) | Seats |
| CPDM / RDPC | 139 |
| UNDP | 7 |
| SDF | 5 |
| PCRN | 5 |
| UDC | 4 |
Voting in 11 constituencies of the North-West and South-West was annulled and rerun in March 2020, after which the CPDM's total rose further. Turnout was about 43.8%, and the smaller parties shared the remaining seats.
The central questions are when the election is actually held, whether opposition parties contest or boycott, and how voting proceeds in the conflict-affected Anglophone regions. The broader backdrop is the question of political succession around the 92-year-old president and the durability of the CPDM's hold on the institutions. Security, the economy and the long humanitarian toll of the Anglophone and Far North (Boko Haram) conflicts dominate the political context.
The CPDM's strength is national but concentrated in the Centre, South and East and among the president's home region, while opposition support has historically been stronger in the West, the Littoral around Douala, and the Anglophone North-West and South-West — precisely the regions where conflict has most disrupted voting. ElectioMap will map results across Cameroon's ten regions as official figures are released.
Paul Biya, born in 1933, has led Cameroon since 1982, making him one of the longest-serving heads of state in the world. Over more than four decades he has consolidated power through the CPDM, constitutional changes that removed presidential term limits in 2008, and tight control of the security forces and state institutions. The contested October 2025 presidential election, which extended his rule further, sharpened questions about what happens when his era ends — a transition the country has never experienced in the post-independence period. The 2026 legislative election therefore matters not only for the composition of a historically weak parliament but as part of the wider uncertainty over succession, the future of the ruling party, and whether Cameroon's institutions can manage a peaceful handover of power. These questions are intertwined with the unresolved Anglophone conflict and the security pressures in the Far North.
This page will display the national seat distribution and a regional map as results are declared, once a date is confirmed and counting begins. Figures are sourced from ELECAM (Elections Cameroon), the body that organises and announces the official results.
It is due in 2026 but no firm date has been set. President Paul Biya extended the National Assembly's mandate to 20 December 2026, and a "readjustment" of the election date was announced in early 2026 without a new date.
The 180-member National Assembly is elected for five-year terms in multi-member constituencies, using a mixed system in which a party winning an absolute majority in a constituency takes all its seats, otherwise seats are shared proportionally. Elections are run by ELECAM.
President Paul Biya's Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM/RDPC) has dominated since 1982. The opposition includes the declining SDF and Maurice Kamto's MRC, which boycotted the 2020 legislative election. Biya has been in power since 1982.
An armed separatist conflict in the English-speaking North-West and South-West regions, ongoing since 2016, has displaced hundreds of thousands and repeatedly disrupted voting there — in 2020 polling in several constituencies was annulled and rerun — raising questions about how representative the election can be.
ELECAM announces results after polls close. Live national seat figures and a regional map will appear on this page once a date is confirmed and counting begins.
Compiled and reviewed by Bartłomiej Paruzel, Election Data Analyst, from official results. See our data methodology.