SDF Chairman John Fru Ndi: «The election will not be fair».

© afrol News / SDF

afrol News, 13 September - Cameroon's main opposition party, the Social Democratic front (SDF), this weekend nominated party leader John Fru Ndi to again stand candidate in next month's presidential poll. Mr Fru Ndi however is expected to have small chances against incumbent President Paul Biya due poor transparency in Cameroonian votes.

The SDF on Sunday held an extraordinary congress in Bamenda - the main city in the country's English-speaking part - to prepare for the 11 October presidential elections. Here, opposition to President Biya's authoritarian regime is at its strongest. Almost 1200 party delegates gathered to mobilise for what seems an impossible task - a change of power in Yaoundé presidential offices.

Delegates rallied behind the 63-year-old party leader as 84 percent of them voted for Mr Fru Ndi to make a new attempt to conquer Cameroon's presidency. The prominent opposition leader already in 1992 stood against President Biya, where official results showed a close win for the incumbent. However, both the SDF and international observers held that the 1992 vote had been rigged in favour of President Biya.

In the latest presidential polls, in October 1997, the SDI boycotted the elections as they feared renewed vote rigging by the Yaoundé government. President Paul Biya officially was re-elected by 92.6 percent of the votes. International and domestic observers widely criticised the 1997 poll as "fraudulent" and, according to the US State Department, "electoral intimidation, manipulation and fraud" have dominated Cameroonian polls since 1992.

The SDF nevertheless decided to have a candidate running for the presidency this year. Following his nomination, Mr Fru Ndi however made it clear that the upcoming polls "will not be fair." According to the SDF Chairman, Cameroon's electoral commission is neither independent nor neutral, the national press is mostly under government control and voters can expect electoral intimidation.

Mr Fru Ndi has already announced that he is now to meet other Cameroonian opposition parties with the intention of establishing a united opposition front against President Biya. The opposition should present only one candidate to challenge the incumbent President, according to the SDF Chairman, who stands the biggest chance of emerging the candidate of a united opposition. A ten-party Coalition for National Reconciliation and Reconstruction is to nominate its candidate this week.

As the Cameroonian opposition is rallying behind Mr Fru Ndi, President Biya yet has to announce his candidacy. The ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (RDPC) will have to nominate its candidate in an upcoming party congress. While there has been a split between conservatives and progressives within the RDPC, the 72-year-old President stands unchallenged in the ruling party.

Candidates for the 11 October poll have to be registered with the national electoral commission by next week. President Biya is therefore expected to announce his candidacy within short time, while the opposition has little time decide on whom is to represent them. Few observers however doubt that the two principal foes in next month's poll will be Paul Biya and John Fru Ndi.

Concerns are greater over the possibility of holding free and fair elections in the country. Cameroon has experienced poor democratic traditions since the nation's first President, Ahmadou Ahidjo, made it a one-party state in 1966. President Ahidjo unexpectedly stepped down in November 1982 and turned over powers to his Vice-President Biya - a move he reportedly regretted later as he observed President Biya's authoritarian tendencies.

With Africa's wave of democratisation in the 1990s, President Biya forestalled potential pressures by formally introducing a multiparty democracy in 1992. Presidential elections in 1992 and 1997 and a series of parliamentary polls have however been assessed as strongly manipulated by the ruling party. While this has helped Cameroon maintaining peace and stability in a troubled region, the democratic deficit is increasingly frustrating Cameroonians and potential investors in the country.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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