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Cameroon
At stake: President
Background
Cameroon was formed after the union of two French and British colonies. The African nation achieved independence in 1960, and has only known two leaders during its life as a sovereign nation.
Founding president Ahmadou Ahidjo established Cameroon as a one-party state in 1966. Ahidjo turned power over to prime minister Paul Biya in 1982.
Biya has acted as the country's president for the past 22 years, heading the Rassemblement démocratique du Peuple Camerounais / Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (RDPC/CPDM). In the early 1990s, Biya authorized Cameroon's first multi-party parliamentary and presidential elections.
In 1992, Biya earned a new presidential term after defeating John Fru Ndi of the Front Social-Démocratique / Social-Democratic Front (FSD/SDF) by four per cent. Biya also won the 1997 election—criticized by international observers and the U.S. State Department as "fraudulent"—with 92.6 per cent of all cast ballots. Transparency International once classified Cameroon as the world's most corrupt country.
In 1994, Cameroon was involved in a border dispute with Nigeria over the oil-rich Bakassi peninsula. An October 2002 ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) awarded control of Bakassi to Cameroon. Nigerian forces exited 32 area villages in December 2003, and both countries have since agreed to dual security patrols.
In the 2002 National Assembly ballot, the ruling RDPC/CPDM elected 149 lawmakers, with the opposition FSD/SDF a distant second with 22 legislators.
2004 Presidential Election
On Sept. 13, the government of Cameroon announced that the presidential election would take place on Oct. 11. The ruling Rassemblement démocratique du Peuple Camerounais / Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (RDPC/CPDM) faced internal problems, as Mila Assouta—the leader of the party's progressive wing—announced he was considering his own candidacy.
Current president Paul Biya, now 72, officially announced his re-election bid on Sept. 15. Adamou Ndam Njoya of the 10-party Coalition pour la Réconciliation et la Reconstruction Nationales / Coalition for National Reconciliation and Reconstruction (CNRC), 63-year-old John Fru Ndi of the Front Social-Démocratique / Social-Democratic Front (FSD/SDF) and Garga Haman Adji of the Alliance pour la démocratie et le développement / Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD) were the main opposition contenders.
Early on, opposition parties expressed their concern over the possibility of fraud. Cameroon's electoral commission does not work independently from the government, and the voter roll—which was effectively completed with the announcement of the presidential ballot—allegedly included only 3.8 million of the country's 8 million potential electors. Britain and Japan donated 25,000 transparent ballot boxes to be used on election day.
Voting took place on Oct. 11. Vice-president of the government-appointed National Elections Observatory (NEO) Diane Acha said that more than 600,000 names were removed from the electoral roll due to double listings, illicit age or death. Presidential candidate Black Yondo Mndengue was unable to cast a ballot after failing to receive a voting card and being unable to find his name on the register.
Early vote counts put Biya in the lead, followed by Fru Ndi. SDF secretary general Tazoacha Asonganyi complained about the process, saying, "In the face of these irregularities that have greatly influenced the outcome of the poll, we call for the annulment of the elections by the Constitutional Council."
Several international monitors observed the election, including a delegation from the British Commonwealth led by former Canadian prime minister Joe Clark. Teams from the United States and the International Organization of French-speaking Countries (OIF) were "reasonably satisfied" with the election. A monitoring team deployed by the Roman Catholic Church in Cameroon denounced widespread fraud.
On Oct. 15, the NEO released results from all but 43 of the country's almost 22,000 polling stations. Biya received 75.23 per cent of all cast ballots, followed by Fru Ndi with 17.12 per cent, Njoya with 4.71 per cent, and Garga Haman with 1.49 per cent. Twelve other candidates shared the remaining 1.45 per cent.
Fru Ndi dismissed the results as "pre-fabricated" and said the SDF's own partial tallies showed him leading with 45 percent of the vote. Turnout was tabled at 79 per cent.
On Oct. 18, the Commonwealth released its report on Cameroon's election. The delegation said the list of voters was improperly managed, leaving many people unable to cast their ballot. The team endorsed the results of the election, but recommended setting up an independent electoral commission for future democratic processes.
On Dec. 8, Biya appointed Ephraim Inoni as prime minister, replacing Peter Mafany Musonge.
Political Players
President: Paul Biya - RDPC
Prime minister: Ephraim Inoni - RDPC
The president is elected to a seven-year term by popular vote.
Legislative Branch: The Assemblée Nationale / National Assembly has 180 members, elected to a five-year term in 49 single-seat and multi-seat constituencies.
Results of Last Election:
President - Oct. 11, 2004
(Results from 99.8 per cent of all polling stations)
Vote% | |
Paul Biya - | 75.23% |
John Fru Ndi - | 17.12% |
Adamou Ndam Njoya - | 4.71% |
Garga Haman Adji - | 1.49% |
Other candidates | 1.45% |
National Assembly - Jun. 30 and Sept. 15, 2002
Seats | |
Rassemblement démocratique du Peuple Camerounais / | 149 |
Front Social-Démocratique / | 22 |
Union Démocratique du Cameroun / | 5 |
Union des Populations du Cameroun / | 3 |
Union Nationale pour la Démocratie et le Progrès / | 1 |
