A senior member of Cameroon’s Parliament on Tuesday called on the international community and the government to be more “objective” in resolving the conflict in the two English-speaking provinces of the West African country.

The remarks by Enoh Tanjong, the eldest member of Cameroon’s National Assembly, is believed to be made to show the stance of the Parliament for the first time since the armed conflict started in 2017.

“Solidarity and objectiveness of the international community and the government are fundamental in resolving the conflict,” he said while denouncing “in the strongest terms” the violence perpetrated by “gunmen” in the troubled regions.

“The international community particularly has to be more objective in assessing the political tensions in Cameroon,” Tanjong said as the new parliamentary session opened.

According to the United Nations, more than 430,000 people were internally displaced in the clashes between the government forces and the armed separatists seeking to create an independent nation in the English-speaking Northwest Region and Southwest Region.

“For once the dean (eldest member of parliament) has decided to mention the crisis in the Northwest and Southwest regions. I hope this is the beginning of many things to happen. We need peace to become a reality in Cameroon. This session might be very decisive,” another member of the National Assembly, Joseph Mbah Ndam, told Xinhua.

The parliamentary session, which will last through April 12, is widely expected to come up with a blueprint to end the conflict. It will also elect a new executive bureau for the National Assembly and the Senate, the upper house.

Xinhuanet