Cameroon's ruling party, the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (Rassemblement démocratique du Peuple Camerounais: RDPC), is due to hold a major party conference on 13 February during which members are expected to ask President Paul Biya, who has been in office for 32 years, to stand again for election in 2018.
However, local sources and newspaper reports point to Biya's increasing unease about likely objections in 2018 to another term from newly elected French and US presidents. Therefore, the calls for President Biya's renewed candidacy are likely to become calls for early polls, to be held in the first quarter of 2017, securing Biya an additional seven-year mandate before French presidential elections due in April 2017.