by Valentin Zinga, Cameroon, 19 September 1997
THEME = ELECTIONS
After the 1992 presidential election which brought Paul Biya to
power, many opposition parties were convinced that the next
presidential election (scheduled for 12 October 1997) wouldn't be
very different from the one which has just taken place.
The 1992 election was characterised by a storm of criticism over
electoral manipulation and ballot rigging. However, the opposition
parties of that time were badly mistaken in trying to guess the
1997 tactics, because today's main opposition political groupings
are determined not to have their names associated with any election
malpractice. They intend to boycott the 12 October
presidential election.
The opposition groupings in question are: John Fru Ndi's
Social Democratic Front (SDF); Bello Bouba Maigari's
National Union for Democracy and Progress (UNDP); Amadou Ndam
Njoya's Union for Democracy and Change (UDC); Marcel
Yondo's Movement for the Liberation of Cameroon's Youth
(MLJC).
Opposition leaders have made plain why they will not
participate in the presidential election. They say: "Ever
since multi-party politics (as interpreted by the present
administration) were forced on the people, successive elections
have been characterised by increasing electoral fraud, and by what
can only be described as "electoral gangsterism". All
carried out by the party in power which has used every
administrative means to achieve its aims - the army, private
militia, state-controlled funds and the public treasury. We, the
opposition party leaders are convinced that it is impossible to
hold free, fair and open elections under such conditions. Hence, we
have opted for non-participation".
Before the National Assembly's ordinary session ended, the
opposition leaders in question, tabled a motion to the Speaker,
that an National Independent Electoral Commission should be set up.
This Commission should have as its terms of reference: to
organise the elections at every level; control them; supervise the
counting of votes; promulgate the results. Such a Commission had
already been proposed by international observers.
The proposed Bill was not added to the parliamentary timetable,
neither was a motion (made in August) that an extraordinary
session of Parliament (as laid down by the Constitution),
should be held.
So, what had happened? About the same time, Members of Parliament
voted-in an Electoral Law which had previously been drawn up
by the Executive. There was no difficulty in achieving this,
because the Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement (CPDM) (the party
in power) holds 116 of the 180 parliamentary seats. This Electoral
Law which states how the presidential election will be run,
confirms the Constitutional Council as the only legal body
entitled to: control voting procedures; promulgate the results;
decide on challenges to the results.
Two things to be noted at this juncture. 1) The Electoral Law
hasn't yet been activated. 2) All its requirements could be carried
out by the Supreme Court, the highest court of justice in the land
- which is no stranger to this type of civic duty. (During the
previous parliamentary elections, the Supreme Court was called in
for precisely this very reason).
Thus, it's clear that the Administration has a controlling hand in
every aspect of the forthcoming elections - voters' lists;
polling stations; distribution of voters' cards. Moreover, the
Minister of Territorial Administration has the final say as
to the admissibility of presidential candidates. All of which goes
to show that when it comes to elections, the Administration can
hardly be described as "neutral".
One can well understand that the SDF, the UNDP, the UDC and the
MJLC have made their position clear - no elections are possible
without good election laws.
Other opposition leaders who do not have a seat in Parliament have
made a similar judgement on the Electoral Law. They will, however,
vote. For example: there's the case of Samuel Eboua. He used
to be the secretary-general in the President's office and is now
president of the opposition, Movement for Democracy and Progress
(MDP). He has the support of about a dozen other political parties
representing various tendencies across the national scene. Eboua's
decision to go to the polls has given rise to a number of
criticisms from fellow politicians. But he remains adamant:
"It's true that the Opposition can exert pressure on the
regime by boycotting the elections. But I don't think this is the
best way of resolving our present political problems. President
Biya's regime has already deprived a number of our fellow citizens
of their civic rights. He's done this by refusing to allow their
names appear on the voting list and by not giving them their voting
cards. By boycotting the 12 October elections, the Opposition are
inadvertently playing he same game as Biya - depriving
Cameroonians of their right to vote in an all-important election,
even though these elections are flawed.
Paul Biya has already been confirmed as the CPDM's candidate in the
presidential election. On paper, it's clear he's going to be re-
elected. Money is no problem and he's got various administrative
means to fall back on, including the state-controlled Media. Taking
all in all, with Boya's re-election in the bag, and the fact that
the main opposition leaders are boycotting the polls, it doesn't
look as if the 12 October elections will be much of a cliff
hanger.
And there's an additional factor which must be mentioned: If there
is a high absentee rate, it could be that the validity of
the election results will be challenged, with dire
consequences for the whole country. Already, here and there,
people are getting worried about what's going to happen
after the elections. They're afraid of violence, civil
unrest, civil disobedience (all of which has occurred in the
past).
Cardinal Christian Tumi, is the Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Douala. He says: "In 1992, I was among those who did not agree
with the opposition parties which refused to take part in the
parliamentary elections that year. Perhaps they were right after
all. Today, I am not so sure that I can encourage them to
participate in the 12 October 1997 presidential election. One gets
the impression that the election of the next Head of State is going
to be made by acclamation rather than by the ballot box. I'm
afraid. But I'm not a pessimist. Let's do our utmost to avoid what
has happened in other countries. Unfortunately, it looks as if
everything is in place to ensure that the same civil unrest which
has taken place in other parts of the sub region, is going to
happen here, in Cameroon".
END