President Paul Biya: «Peace and unity secured for two decades.»

© afrol News / Gouvernement française

afrol News, 6 October - A totally divided opposition makes Cameroon's incumbent President Paul Biya the favourite to win the polls on 11 October, with or without the expected vote rigging. Instead of choosing one uniting presidential candidate, the opposition has launched 15 different candidates to challenge President Biya.

The election campaign is strongly dominating the political life in Cameroon less than a week to go before the important polls. The large number of presidential candidates are touring the provinces and holding political rallies explaining their programmes. Most Cameroonians, however, are more worried about the ongoing harvests and only the ruling Democratic Rally of the Cameroon People (CPDM) is managing to gather large crowds at its rallies.

CPDM leader Biya, who has been in power for 22 years, also counts on the support from more than 20 minor political parties, campaigning for him. The ruling party's message is clear. President Biya has for two decades assured peace and unity in Cameroon; a country located in a turbulent region.

Rallies in favour of President Biya also focus on more popular and nationalist issues. These include the great sports achievements of Cameroonians during the last decade and several soccer players are rallying to the support of the President. Also the "diplomatic achievements" of Mr Biya are emphasised, including the international recognition of Cameroon's sovereignty over the Bakassi Peninsula, which remains under Nigerian control.

The undisputed successes of President Biya's authoritarian government nevertheless cannot hide the desire of Cameroonians for a political change. Hopes were high as the country's main opposition parties last month met to choose a unity candidate to challenge the incumbent. John Fru Ndi, leader of the Social Democratic Front (SDF), was largely expected to be elected the opposition's candidate, based on his merit of almost beating Mr Biya in the rigged poll of 1992.

The September opposition meeting however chose former Education Minister Adamu Ndam Njoya to represent the coalition. Mr Fru Ndi thus stepped back on his earlier promise to accept any "credible single candidate" from a united opposition and the SDF leader announced his candidacy.

As a result, 16 presidential candidates are now in the race to the great disappointment of the population. At rallies of Mr Njoya's coalition and of Mr Fru Ndi's SDF party, the candidates consequently have to spend most of the time answering questions why the opposition failed to unite. Most opposition voters already see the polls lost due to the fragmentation.

Mr Fru Ndi and his party, which normally focuses on the lack of democracy and transparency in Cameroon, meanwhile are rallying with a programme to fight poverty and strengthen the education and health sectors. Mr Njoya and his coalition are promising the return of "ethics and values" into Cameroonian government offices.

While the fragmentation of the opposition greatly has increased the incumbent's re-election possibilities, most observers hold that the upcoming poll also will repeat the Cameroonian tradition of vote rigging. The opposition has already pointed to two possible strategies of the ruling CPDM to manipulate the elections.

The lack of voter roll computerising was allegedly allowing for a repeat of the so-called "electoral charters" practice, meaning that the CPDM pays for transporting supporters from one polling station to another to vote several times.

The ruling party has also been accused of giving supporters the euro 4 that are needed to by an identity card, which again is needed to obtain a voting card. A large part of Cameroon's 4.6 million potential voters cannot afford buying an identity card.

To raise the standards of the upcoming poll, a team of about 20 Commonwealth election observers have already arrived Cameroon. "We are here at the invitation of the government of Cameroon," former Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark, the head of the observer team, emphasised when speaking to the press in Yaoundé.

- We have to determine in our own judgment whether the conditions exist for a free expression of will by the electors and determine if the results of the elections reflect the wishes of the people, added the chief observer. In addition to the polling and counting process, the team would also observe the campaign, the media coverage and the electoral process as a whole, Mr Clark announced.

In the latest presidential polls, in October 1997, the opposition boycotted the elections as it feared renewed vote rigging by the Yaoundé government. President Biya officially was re-elected by 92.6 percent of the votes. International and domestic observers however 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.

By staff writers

© afrol News

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