Voting underway in Cameroon's Senate elections

YAOUNDE, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Voting for Senate elections is underway in Cameroon, officials said Sunday.

The voting, which began on Sunday morning in 198 polling stations in ten regions of the country, will continue until 6:00 p.m. local time.

"The atmosphere is calm and everything is moving on smoothly," Gabriel Bihina Effila, a municipal councilor who voted in the capital, Yaounde, told Xinhua.

Municipal and regional councilors will elect 70 senators from ten political parties which are taking part in the elections, according to the country's electoral body, Elections Cameroon (Elecam).

The Elecam said all the necessary facilities and security arrangements to ensure free and fair polling had been provided.

Cameroon Senate, or the Upper House of the Parliament, has 100 seats. The elections will be held for 70 seats as 30 senators will be appointed by President Paul Biya.

The senators will be elected for a five-year mandate.

The central African nation held its first Senate elections in 2013.