A 93 year old president gets a deputy

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1:05Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service.

1:27This is The Fifth Floor, at the heart of global storytelling with BBC journalists from all around the world. I'm your host, Farhanak Amidi.

1:41At 93, Paul Bia is the oldest head of state in the world. In June, he will have been the leader of Cameroon for 44 years and is currently serving his eighth consecutive term. It was announced in April that for the first time in his leadership, the position of vice president will be created in the country. The forming of this new position has drawn attention to the lack of certainty within Cameroon over who will take over from Paul Bia. BBC Africa's Paul Njieh is from Cameroon himself and joined me to tell me more.

2:19Paul Njie:Well, when Paul Beer came into power, he took over from President Amadou Ahijo on health grounds, and he's been there ever since. And at the time, the country was under a one-party state, the Cameroon National Union, the CNU. And basically, it also came at a time when there were calls for the country to transition from that form of government. In terms of the political situation, his supporters believe that there's been progress, But the opposition say that it's not any different because there appears to be repression of the opposition, civil society and the media. And what would you say are some of the hallmarks of his leadership?

3:00Paul Njie:Well, Bia has quite a mixed legacy, if you could call it that. Many people think of him as somebody who restored multi-party politics during the era where the wind of change was blowing across Africa for states to abolish the one-party system. And so Bia, after pressure from the opposition, instituted a multi-party system in 1990. And in 1992, we had the very first multi-party elections in the country. And so his supporters say that the fact that he could restore multi-party democracy, which had been hindered as far back as 1966, meant that he was a champion of free speech, of freedom, of democracy and democratic values.

3:44Paul Njie:Other people credit infrastructural development to Paul Beers' reign and also say that he has maintained a friendly relationship with international partners. But when you ask people on the other side of the aisle, they have quite a contrasting view of Paul Beer, because many people criticize his longevity in power, 43 years that he's been in power, going to 44. and people believe that he has been able to maintain his grip on power as a result of rigged election, as a result of ruling the country with an iron fist. Although his supporters and his ruling party, the CPDM, has refuted these claims saying that Bia has always won legitimately during elections.

4:27Paul Njie:But there's also the corrupt nature of the country, which analysts say that is denting the image of the country internationally. Additionally, he himself, President Paul B., has acknowledged on several occasions during several speeches to the nation that corruption remains a very big scourge in the country that needs to be repelled. He has launched several operations to crack down on corruption, but it doesn't really seem like he has his hand firmly on that. And another issue is his absentee leadership, especially in the past. That's what some critics and analysts have pointed to, to the fact that he spent for some time a great number of time abroad.

5:08Paul Njie:And according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project that conducted an investigation as far back as 2018, they said that as of that time, he had spent at least four and a half years of his rule on private stays abroad. And most of that was in Geneva, Switzerland. And that cost huge sums of money in millions of dollars. So you can imagine how people really have viewed his presidency here in Cameroon. But also, finally, if I could just wrap up as it pertains to the hallmarks of his presidency, it would also be the fact that under his watch, the country is, you know, riddled with armed conflicts and also Boko Haram insurgency.

5:49Paul Njie:In the far north, for over a decade now, the Boko Haram sect has continued to wreak havoc on populations, killing civilians, looting property, installing a system of fear, terror, and people are unable to comprehend why it is that the government has not been able to tackle this for such a long time. and in the Anglophone regions of the country for nearly 10 years there is an armed conflict brewing there. The Pope has just left Cameroon and he visited the Anglophone northwest region, specifically the town of Bamenda, which has been the epicenter of fighting and he called for peace. But, you know, observers have said that for nearly a decade President Paul B has been unable to tackle this and they wonder if he will be able to solve it within his period as president.

6:38And recently there is talk of him having a vice president for the first time. Why for the first time?

6:46Paul Njie:For the first time, because when Paul Beer came into office, the position of vice president had been scrapped in a referendum. That was in 1972. The country used to be a federal state linking the Anglophone part of the country and the Francophone part. But that was scrapped in 1972 after a referendum to merge both systems as one form. And the country became a unitary state. So since then, the president has been ruling with a prime minister and other members of government. So it's been a semi-presidential system. And just recently, then Paul Beer decided that it was time he reintroduced the role in order to make institutions and administration more efficient.

7:36Paul Njie:and also to reduce the burden on the Senate so that the Senate could focus on legislative affairs. And do we know how the vice president is going to be chosen and who it might be? That's a very good question. The vice president will be appointed, appointed by Paul Biya himself. He'll be handpicked to say it bluntly. It's unclear who that person might be. But social media space has been replete with rumors, with speculation that the president might want to hand over power to somebody very close to him. And at some point, the name of his son, Frank Beer, has been popping up in such open spaces. But the president himself has not openly commented about who will succeed him.

8:24Paul Njie:Frank Beer himself has not openly commented about having presidential ambitions. but analysts and observers have said that sometimes by their analysis of things there might be a semblance that something of that nature might be in the works but again i should stress that we have no confirmation of that paul bia is very unpredictable so he might just play a last minute card on people uh you never know who might be there but so in the past we've seen the president's son attend international events with his father. And even as the Pope arrived, he was at the unity palace there to welcome the Pope.

9:00Paul Njie:So it has prompted analysts to suggest that there might be something of a handover, a father to son, handover of power, as has been the case in several other African countries. But the government has been quick to say that the president is free to choose whoever he wants. And it could be anybody, just anybody he feels is appropriate or best suited to handle the role. So again, I'd stress that it is unclear who will take that role. The president of the republic will appoint that person and only then shall we be confident enough to say this is the person that is the vice president. And do we have any idea why now is the time that they want to look into having a vice president?

9:48Paul Njie:Yeah, well, it comes at a time when there are concerns over Cameroon's succession plan. And off the back of those concerns are fears of possible political instability when the president is no longer in power. And that's primarily because many analysts feel that the elite might want to scramble for power at a time when there is no constitutional, no clear constitutional successor, which might mean that if the president of the republic leaves power due to perhaps incapacity, perhaps a vacancy or death, then there might be a struggle among those who are still in place to want to cling to power. but now with the decision to introduce the post of vice president it would mean that that is the person who is going to take over power when the president is no longer there.

10:46Paul Njie:Now the vice president will stay in place, finish the mandate and then organize elections but then the opposition are also criticizing this policy because they believe that the vice president needed to have been elected with the president and not appointed. And they fear that giving an unelected official a constitutional mandate to lead the nation might not be a legitimate thing to do. And that's why many people are very critical of the move, saying that it was done with little or no consultation with the opposition and civil society. And one senator from the ruling party even said that the process was rushed and also suspicious.

11:29Paul Njie:So there's a lot of controversy surrounding this position of the vice president. Paul, he's been in power for 44 years, as you said. How old are you? I'm 28 years old. So he's the only leader you've ever known. It must be really, really difficult for Cameroonians, for the public to imagine a Cameroon without Bia. That's right. That's right. For most people in Cameroon, Paul Bia is the only president they've known. I, for one, have only known of Paul Bia. I only heard of President Amadou Ahidou and read of him in history books. The country is made up of mostly young people. So Paul Bia really has some sort of an incarnation of Cameroon, if I could put it in those words.

12:18And so people tend to attribute or refer Cameroon to Paul Beah.

12:25Paul Njie:So Paul Beah is synonymous with Cameroon. And people now are starting to feel that, well, what would become of this country if the man who incarnated the state institutions is no longer there? It's true the opposition say that there will always be continuity, but it's really going to be some sort of a mystery that people will want to find out what would be the future of Cameroon. Are we going to be stable? Are we going to be in peace? Are we going to witness change from things as we used to know them before? Are we going to have a new president who might ensure that women and young people have more opportunities?

13:04Paul Njie:Who are going to ensure that there are jobs, that people are free to express themselves, The media are free to do their job without being fearful of whether they'll be repressed. So these are some of the things that people are thinking that's on the minds of people. But I should say as well that most people have gotten too used to the president of the republic. And when you ask people from the ruling party, they'll tell you that, well, the president of the republic has been there. We know him. He's the wisest man in the country. So it's of no benefit to start thinking of what would happen when he's not there, because we need to make the most of his wisdom now that he's in place.

13:43Paul Njie:And those are the words of his supporters in the ruling party. But the opposition also says that, well, we are hopeful that we've already seen 44 years of his leadership. And it's time that another person also came on board for us to measure or compare if at all there is any major difference between Paul Beer and the next person. BBC Africa's Paul Njieh. You're listening to the documentary from the BBC World Service. What's actually happening inside Iran? I'm Tristan Redman, host of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. Iranians have been under a near-total internet blackout for several months.

14:25Few Western journalists have been permitted to operate in the country. But in recent weeks, the BBC's chief international correspondent, Lise Doucette, has been reporting on the ground in Tehran. For more, listen to the Global Story on bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

14:45This is The Fifth Floor, and I'm Farina Kamidi. Sasha is a young Russian man in his 20s. He lives in Germany on a humanitarian visa and cannot go back to Russia. This means he can't easily meet up with friends and loved ones who live back home. Recently, however, he came up with a unique solution to his problem, and the film he made about it for social media has attracted online attention. Tatiana Kovtun from BBC Russian joins me now from Riga to discuss this in more detail. So Tatiana, let's talk a little bit about Sasha's circumstance and situation. He's living in Germany. Why? Sasha, he's an immigrant.

15:27He moved to Berlin in 2022. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, he was working at one of the Russian independent media outlets, Echo of Moscow. Actually, during that time, he was able to work from Russia, but then his editorial office was shut down by the authorities because of word censorship. Besides, mobilization was already announced. So it became dangerous for him to stay in Russia because he was about 20 years old and could have been mobilized. So he emigrated to Berlin and joined one of the Russian media outlets in exile. He had to seek asylum, didn't he? Yes. So for Russians like Sasha, who are in that situation, how easy is it to keep in touch with their friends and family who are back in Russia?

16:24There is very, very complicated for that kind of immigrants, actually. Some of them are labeled as foreign agents and some of them are labeled as so-called undesirable organizations. So you can face up to six years in prison. So for journalists who cover war-related topics, it's impossible to visit Russia because it's a huge risk. But our loved ones are staying in Russia. There are many circumstances for them. They cannot leave their home country because immigration is very expensive and not all of us have this kind of opportunity. So what are the options? How can you meet with your loved ones?

17:14It's very hard for Russians for now to obtain visas to Europe. I think the most common way is to go to a third country like Turkey, Georgia, Armenia and Serbia. But still, it's not so affordable for Russian people right now. Tell me, why did Sasha decide to meet his friends at the Russia-Estonia border? So it was convenient for Sasha to go by bus to this Estonian town, Narva. It's on the Estonian-Russian border. On the other side of the river, the river is also called Narva, There is a Russian site, the Russian town of Evangaret, and it's just 100 meters between this Estonian town and Russian town of Evangaret.

18:06Between these sites, there is a small river just 100 meters wide. So Sasha was going to Narva, and his friends went to this Russian town Evangaret. it's a border zone controlled by security services so you need this special permit and they decided to wrote their application that they wanted to visit a museum and they even booked tickets for that so sasha made a poster with his friends names and the name of their hometown Volsk. And he showed this poster on the Estonian side of the border. And on the other side, his friends could even see the letters on this poster. And they spoke with each other by phone, but also they could hear each other from the sides of this river.

19:08Even that gave them like very strong emotions. This fact that all of this was possible. Wow. I think we have a clip from Sasha who talks about how he met up with his friends. Let's have a listen. The meeting was only about 20 minutes, but we're very happy to see each other. It's not the same feelings like when you talk on a video call. Even now, when I talk about it, I still get goosebumps. Of course, we could have a match in a third country like Turkey, but it just wouldn't have felt the same. It's clear how emotional he is and how important it was for him. A lot of Russians who are also away from home found this video very, very emotional.

20:00They could relate with the story and they really wanted to do this kind of meeting with their friends also. Thank you so much, Tatiana. Thank you so much. Thanks to Tatiana Kovtun from BBC Russian. In March, a 24-year-old Thai drag performer called Godland won the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race UK versus the world. Godland is the first Thai winner of the All-Star Series and also the first non-native English speaker to win. Her triumph took some by surprise, but for fans of Drag Race, she's seen as a trailblazer, planting a flag for East Asian drag queens. For BBC Thai, Panissa Emocha sat down with her and Panissa joins me right now from Bangkok.

20:50Welcome to the Fifth Floor. It's great to have you. Hi, Swatika. Thank you for having me. Panissa, who is Godland? What's her real name? What is her background? So Gotland's real name is Tara Tebtawipun. And we have to emphasize on her first name because we're going to circle back to that because that is actually her inspirations of the state name Gotland. So when she went to the competition, she was only 23 years old and actually grew up in a quite humbling and financially challenged situation. But he came to Bangkok to study and graduated from a top university in Thailand. So what does her name refer to, Godland?

21:33So in Thailand, a little bit of background, everybody's first name has a meaning. So Tharatep means God of land. So hence the Godland, but the God with new ways of spelling to make it jazzed up a little bit. So that's the inspiration of the Godland state name. Ah, I love that. And she's relatively new to drag performing, isn't she? she is so when when we sat down with her and interviewed her she said that she only has a few year maximum four year in drag performance before go to like the worldwide internationals competition but she said that um she learned from these drag queens in thailand in bangkok and she said that she learned it from real world experiences and she listened to a lot of criticism So that's why despite she only have a few years in her back, she could back the crowd back home.

22:29Wow. And from what I understand, she actually competed in the drag race in Thailand, but she didn't win the title. Tell me about her and that competition. So actually, one of the viral moments, she lost, right? But she said that she took it in for a split second and she said she will come back and compete. So that tells everyone how she's so resilient and like she will fight back. So we have a clip from the interview you did with Gotland and she is explaining why this win is so important to her. I come from the countryside from the north of Thailand and that was where the dream has started. And I just dream big since I was a little kid and I just want to go further.

23:19I want to prove them wrong. I want to prove people around me when I was young that they are wrong, that I cannot go far, that I'm going to end up in poverty, that I'm not going to find the success in my career. today I mark my history not just my history is Southeast Asia history that anything can happen as long as you try hard as long as you work hard for that as long as you you know put your effort in it one day it gonna it gonna reward you that was quite quite a powerful thing to hear from from her wasn't it yeah I mean in Thailand even though we last year right in January 2025 we legalized the same-sex marriage but when you are an LGBTQ especially from the rural area and you want to go into like the performance industry it has always been looked down upon that why she said that she want to prove them wrong because it's feel like you for for the older generation it feel as if you're selling your body, you wouldn't go far.

24:31This is one of the reasons that drive her to her success as well. What do you think was her secret to success? Yeah, I mean, apart from her drive, her hard work, we could see the one thing that's make her outstanding is actually her outfit as well. So I actually have talked to the designer that worked with her as well. So the competitions with eight weeks so basically you have at least eight dresses i talked to a designer that helped decide two of her dress and one of the dress i would argue that is one of the most iconic dress in the drag race competition is the siami fighting fish so this fighting fish siami's fighting face was originally designed for a miss universe competitions a few years back but then when got then sat down and talked to the designer they come up with a more dramatic and more drag-like if I might add to that dress so I would say Thainess is part of it as well yeah it seems that she has this sense of duty and responsibility to represent Thailand and she's quite proud of it Yeah, she bear the name of being the representative of Thailand.

25:44Everybody who's in her shoe, I would argue that they would bear the same feeling like you want to make them proud, right? So on one hand, it is very exciting and very, some things to be honored to. On another hand, that's a lot of pressure for 23 years old. And not only that, because in order for her to win to the UK and compete, it took about 1 million Thai baht. that's about 23 000 pounds of course some of the fun come from the tv program itself but it's not enough so she has to go to like the senior in the drag community tell them that please lend me money and i will bring back the crown so that's a lot of like pressures that put into her for that person to to do but she also want to do it but for the thainess as in like the dress she said that this is something good about thailand about thai aesthetic i will pick and choose things that suit with the competition so a lot of layers into yeah so how has the win been received in thailand are people talking about it enormously drag queen and competitions like for drag race thailand is more of a niche interest but no one got the same level in steam's interest as got landed because She has been on the first page and she got her headline.

27:10She go to main media stations in Thailand constantly. She said that when I did an interview with her, it was about two weeks after the announcement. And she said that I haven't been asleep yet. And I go to all medias after medias after medias. And a lot of people are congratulating to her. And some of them didn't even know about RuPaul, drag queen, drag race universe before. But they started to kind of be more interested in this because, oh, it's the first Thai person to win. It's the first ASEAN, Southeast Asian, Asian person, queen to win. Best of luck to Gotland and the other drag queens of Thailand.

27:52Thank you so much, Panissa. Thank you for having me. Thanks to Panissa Emocha from BBC Thai.

28:04You've been listening to the documentary from the BBC World Service.