ANB-BIA SUPPLEMENT

ISSUE/EDITION Nr 324 - 15/05/1997

Cameroon

General Elections

by Valentin Siméon Zinga, Cameroon, April 1997

THEME = ELECTIONS

INTRODUCTION

For the second time since the restoration of the multi-party system in 1991, the people of Cameroon are called upon to elect their Parliamentary representatives. Even though the government is already increasing its anti-democratic activities, there are several parties prepared to participate in these elections, which are being held after months of indecision by the legislative power. Any fraudulent activity threatens to plunge the country into chaos, however.

Cameroon's people sighed with relief when the electorate was notified on the 2 April 1997, to prepare themselves for the general elections. These have been scheduled for the 17 May, and are the second to be called under the multi-party system, after those of 1992. In a country where the electoral timetable is known only to the Head of State, this reaction is understandable.

Troubles in the north-west

Just before the decision of the President of the Republic, some people, whose identity has not yet been clearly established, made trouble in the English-speaking province in the north-west. This is the bastion of the Social Democratic Front (SFD), the main opposition party of John Fru Ndi, who was the unsuccessful candidate in the October 1992 presidential elections.
The speed and skill of the attackers gave them the advantage of surprise. They evaded the intelligence services and left three dead among the police, with a total of ten victims in all. They set fire to the police station and the administration offices, and wrecked them. The authorities saw them, without making any serious inquiry into the matter, as supporters of secessionism, backed by extremist, English-speaking movements, who are demanding a return to federalism in order, they say, to end the marginalization and assimilation of English-speakers, by the central authorities. The forces of law and order were deployed in the province in order to contain the incidents, and the governor imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew across the whole district. Given these conditions, many observers considered the troubles were being used by the government as a pretext to delay the much-awaited date once more.

Power vacuum

The response of the President of the Republic should not obscure the fact that before the elections are held, the country has no actual legislative authority in power. Cameroon's constitution states that the period of mandate for elected representatives is five years, and the election for the Assembly "shall take place at the latest by the last Sunday before the date of expiry of the powers of the Assembly". The last legislature began on the 10 March 1997. The country, therefore, is still being ruled by an Assembly, which in principle, may not pass laws, according to legal experts, even though it may continue to run the day-to-day business of the country.
Others, such as the Social Democratic Forum, have spoken of the "spectre of the state of exception", noting that "the regime has engineered this power vacuum". They have drawn public attention to the "effective dictatorship which has arisen from this situation, in which the executive, which already controls the judiciary, has become the sole operational institution". This situation, strongly condemned by the opposition parties, is one of the issues at stake in the ballot next month, which will also be marked by a redistribution of the political cards on the national scene.

Power games

With the election in prospect, the government has been increasingly breaching democratic practices. Local administrators, in their efforts to be loyal to the government, in order to advance their careers, are practising discrimination in the process of registering citizens on the electoral rolls, showing preference only for militants from Paul Biya's Cameroon People's Democratic Union (RDPC).
In a recent statement, the Committee for Monitoring the Democratic Process, Civil Rights and Freedoms (formed from a group of opposition parties), denounced the recent convening of the electorate "which effectively stopped registration on the electoral roll, and which took place before the administrative authorities had allowed registration of a sufficient number of electors, so as to give the ballot a proper level of participation to fulfil the democratic process honourably". At the same time, meetings of opposition parties are still forbidden in areas considered to be under RDPC control.
As well as this, the activities of the President of the Republic himself should also be considered. Before the legislative assembly was prorogued, the deputies called an extraordinary session of Parliament. The only item on the agenda was a consideration of the modification to be made to the 1991 law governing election to Parliament.
Two conditions in the text voted for, have raised a storm of protest among politicians. The first allows the government to create special electoral constituencies, in addition to those already existing. Many saw this as a way for the government to glean seats from the opposition benches. When a decree implemented these special apportionments, the critics became even more vociferous, despite the deputy Prime Minister's reassurances that the apportionment respected the demographic distribution and socio-cultural balance of each region. Mr.Tchwenko (SDF), spoke of "provocation". Mr. Hameni Bieleu of the Union of Democratic Forces of Cameroon (UDCF) stated clearly: "The government has tried to ensure that the RDPC" can win extra seats, to gain a significant number of deputies.
The second condition covered the strengthening of the powers of the still non-existent Constitutional Court, whose prerogatives are presently exercised by the Supreme Court, which is solely authorized to declare the official election results. Since last January, the President of the Republic has been engaged in giving significant salary increases to the magistrates, many of whom work in the Supreme Court, giving the most senior among them, significant material benefits. For example, the salary of the President of the Supreme Court has increased from 200,000 to 1,150,000 CFA Francs! It is difficult to grasp that these presidential measures have been applied only to this group of civil servants. What is more, the proximity of the dates on which the decree was issued, and the date of the elections are surprising, to say the least. In this context, Paul Biya has problems trying to persuade public opinion, that this is not a pre-eminently political action, for which he is expecting the favour to be returned in due course.
Significantly, this expansion of the prerogatives of the Supreme Court, occurred after the latter issued its decision against the admissibility of the law creating an independent Electoral Commission. However, such an authority which the regime has always opposed, but which the accredited diplomats, many political parties and the Cameroon bishops have all wished to see, would have been a clear commitment to the voting procedures, and a factor for peace in the post-electoral period.
As if this was not enough, the deputy Prime Minister responsible for Territorial Administration, recommended the establishment "of special security procedures for ensuring order throughout the whole territory, before, during and after the elections". Cameroonians, with many unhappy memories of what took place every time the police were called in on such occasions, are well aware what this means for them.

Participation or confrontation?

All these conditions could have led the political parties to decide to boycott the general elections. But the stakes are too high. Each political grouping wants to test its own worth during the elections, which are going to lead to a revision of future political groupings, or to new divisions among them. There is more, however. Many political groups want to make their mark in Parliament. The most important of these hope to bring fresh energy to the National Assembly.
The government is in a position to prevent chaos in the country. The most influential of the opposition parties, are prepared to force the government to observe the minimum rules of democracy, and if they do not, then they will consider confrontation.
Celestin Bedzigui, the vice-chairman of the UNDP's Central Committee, stated a little while ago: "In promulgating the new electoral law, President Biya has halted the democratic process in our country in the most unacceptable way...The people of Cameroon have every right, and I might even say, have the duty today, to prepare to defend their democratic rights. With this in prospect, all options lie open. Cameroonians, in the next few months, may choose their path, as have many other people, such as the Poles in 1980, the Rumanians with Ceauscescu, the Serbs of Belgrade..." This is echoed by the remark of John Fru Ndi, heavy with meaning, referring to the ballot-rigging of 1992: "I do not want war...but if they (the government) try again, as they did in 1992, we'll see who's who...". The destiny of the country may be at stake during this month of May!

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