Parliamentary elections were held in Cameroon on 22 July 2007,[1] with voting in some districts re-run on 30 September.[2] Local elections were held on the same day, with seats on 363 town councils at stake.[3] The result was a victory for the ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (RDPC), which won 153 of the 180 seats in the National Assembly, whilst the main opposition party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF), won 16 seats.[4]
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the Bight of Biafra, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. Although Cameroon is not an ECOWAS member state, it geographically and historically is in West Africa with the Southern Cameroons which now form her Northwest and Southwest Regions having a strong West African history. The country is sometimes identified as West African and other times as Central African due to its strategic position at the crossroads between West and Central Africa.
The Cameroon People's Democratic Movement is the ruling political party in Cameroon. Previously known as the Cameroonian National Union, which had dominated Cameroon politics since independence in 1960, it was renamed in 1985. The National President of the CPDM is Paul Biya, the President of Cameroon, while the Secretary-General of the RDPC's Central Committee is Jean Nkuete.
The Social Democratic Front is the main opposition party of Cameroon. It is led by Ni John Fru Ndi and receives significant support from the Anglophone regions of the western part of the country.
A total of 1,274 candidates stood for the 180 seats in the National Assembly, with 41 parties participating in the elections.[1][5] In the local elections, 24,820 candidates contested the 6,514 available positions.[1] The RDPC was the only party to have candidates in all districts.[6]
During the campaign, there were claims that the RDPC was given disproportionate airtime on television and radio; Jean-Jacques Ekindi, the President of the opposition Progressive Movement (MP), complained that the MP received only six seconds of airtime on television per day, giving it a total of one minute and 24 seconds for the whole campaign. According to Ekindi, this represented discrimination against small parties and was illegal.[7] On 18 July 2007, the MP formalized an alliance with the Cameroonian Democratic Union (UDC); as part of this agreement, the parties decided not to run candidates in the same constituencies.[8]
Jean-Jacques Ekindi is a Cameroonian politician. He has been the National President of the Progressive Movement, an opposition political party, since its foundation in 1991, and he was a Deputy in the National Assembly of Cameroon from 2007 to 2013.
The Progressive Movement is a minor opposition political party in Cameroon. It was formed on 23 August 1991 and is led by Jean-Jacques Ekindi.
Conduct
On 17 July, John Fru Ndi, the leader of the opposition SDF, which suffered from divisions in the years preceding the election, claimed that the preparations for the elections were plagued with irregularities, including poor distribution of voter registration cards (with some people receiving multiple cards and others receiving no cards) and the redrawing of electoral districts even though census results had not been published. Fru Ndi said that the election would not be transparent and blamed President Paul Biya for this; he said the ruling RDPC wanted a two-thirds parliamentary majority so that the constitution could be changed in order to allow Biya to run for president again in 2011. The SDF participated in the election, with 103 candidates from the party seeking seats; according to Fru Ndi, a boycott would be useless.[9]
Ni John Fru Ndi is a Cameroonian politician. He founded the Social Democratic Front (SDF), the main opposition party in Cameroon, in 1990, and he has led the party since then.
Paul Biya is a Cameroonian politician serving as the President of Cameroon since 6 November 1982.
Voter turnout in the election was reportedly low, with one estimate placing turnout in Douala at about 20%,[6] although the Minister of Territorial Administration, Marafa Hamidou Yaya, said late on the day of the election that turnout was "very honorable" across the country. He also said that the election had gone smoothly and without major incidents. Others, however, said that there were irregularities, including widespread cases of people being allowed to vote with only voter registration cards and not identity cards as well.[6][10] The opposition denounced the election as fraudulent, with Fru Ndi labelling it a "sham"; it alleged that ballot papers were withheld from some people, that the indelible ink could be washed off, and that one town in the north did not receive ballot papers.[11] There were also opposition allegations that some people were enabled to vote for the RDPC in place of other voters.[10]
Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region. Home to Central Africa's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Airport (DLA), it is the commercial and economic capital of Cameroon and the entire CEMAC region comprising Gabon, Congo, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic and Cameroon. Consequently, it handles most of the country's major exports, such as oil, cocoa and coffee, timber, metals and fruits. As from 2018, the city and its surrounding area had an estimated population of 1,338,082. The city sits on the estuary of Wouri River and its climate is tropical.
In addition to the SDF, the UDC also alleged fraud, and the SDF and the UDC announced that they would appeal in every district where they were defeated. Another opposition party, the Alliance of Democratic Forces (AFP), said that it would not appeal because it considered the legal system so corrupt that it would be useless to do so.[10]
President Biya, voting in Yaoundé, said that he expected "a comfortable majority, which will enable me to build and modernise the country."[11] He said that campaigning occurred "in a calm, serene and peaceful atmosphere", and expressed his hope that this atmosphere would remain and that people would accept the results.[12]
Results
Following the announcement of the results, 103 appeals were filed with the Supreme Court by a number of parties;[13] most requested the annulment of results in certain districts, although some sought only a neutral recount. The UNDP filed the most appeals, with 33, while the SDF filed 30, the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC) filed six, and the RDPC filed four.[14] Fru Ndi said on 2 August that the entire elections should be annulled due to fraud, claiming that if the election had been "free and transparent", the SDF would have won a majority in both the parliamentary and municipal elections.[15]
On 10 August, final results were announced by the Supreme Court. The RDPC won 140 seats, the SDF won 14 seats, the UNDP and the UDC won four seats each, and the Progressive Movement won one seat.[16][17] The Supreme Court annulled the election in five districts, leaving 17 seats vacant until new elections are held there.[16][17][18] Of the 163 deputies elected, there were 23 women, 14% of the total.[19]
Partial re-run
On 29 August it was announced that the elections in the five electoral districts where the results were cancelled—Wouri-East, Mayo-Tsanaga-North, Nyong and Kellé, Mungo South, and Haut-Nkam—would be held on 30 September.[2][20][21] Campaigning for the partial election began on 15 September.[22]
Provisional results showed the RDPC winning 13 of the 17 vacant seats, with the SDF winning two and the UNDP winning two. The RDPC won majorities in three of the five districts at stake, Haut-Nkam, Moungo-South, and Nyong-and-Kellé, taking all three of the available seats in each of those districts. In Wouri-East, the SDF won a plurality, with the RDPC close behind, and the two parties each took two of the four available seats there. In Mayo-Tsanaga-North, the RPDC won a plurality, with the UNDP close behind, and the two parties each took two of the four available seats there.[23] The SDF disputed these results, with Fru Ndi claiming that it had actually won six seats: he said that it had won a majority (over 52%) in Wouri-East, giving it all four of those seats, and that it had also won one additional seat in Haut-Nkam and another additional seat in Mayo-Tsanaga-North.[24]
On 10 October the Supreme Court ruled that six appeals regarding the partial election were inadmissible, and rejected two other appeals.[25] It confirmed the final results of the partial election on 15 October, giving the RDPC 13 seats (and a new total of 153), the SDF and UNDP won two seats each, giving them 16 and six seats respectively.[4]
In the local elections for the 363 town councils,[3] provisional results from the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization showed the RDPC winning control of 310 councils, the SDF winning 21, the UNDP 13, the UDC eight, the MDR five, the UPC three, and the National Alliance for Democracy and the People (ANDP) one.[26] The RDPC was said to have won all of the councils in Yaoundé and five of the six councils in Douala; the SDF was credited with winning the remaining council in Douala, the 4th district.[3] 216 requests for annulment regarding the local elections were filed with the Supreme Court.[27]
Along with the five districts where the parliamentary election was cancelled, the municipal elections in Lobo were also re-run on 30 September,[2][20] and in early September the Supreme Court cancelled the municipal results in a further nine electoral districts (Bana, Bafang, Bafoussam III, Kekem, Peté, Matom, Messondo, Mokolo, and Douala V), with new elections there also planned for the same date.[27] In Lobo, the RDPC won the 30 September vote overwhelmingly, with nearly 90%, according to provisional results.[23]
Aftermath
On 14 August Biya expressed a desire for opposition parties to participate in the government.[28] Two days later Fru Ndi said that the SDF would only join the government if it would follow certain policies:[29] decentralization and federalism, greater priority to the social sector, the establishment of an independent electoral commission, the reduction of taxes to encourage investment, and the improvement of living standards.[28] The SDF did not join the government in the cabinet reshuffle on September 7.[30]
The newly elected National Assembly held its first session on 21 August.[19][31] Although 17 seats were still vacant, only a two-thirds majority was necessary for the National Assembly to meet.[16] On the same day, a joint statement of the American, British, and Dutch embassies criticized the election due to irregularities and urged the creation of an independent electoral commission.[18]Cavaye Yeguie Djibril was re-elected as President of the National Assembly on August 31.[32]
Related Research Articles
The Cameroon Democratic Union is a political party in Cameroon. It was founded by Adamou Ndam Njoya, a former Minister of National Education under President Ahmadou Ahidjo, on 26 April 1991.
"Pa" Simon Achidi Achu is a Cameroonian politician who served as the Prime Minister of Cameroon from 1992 to 1996. Previously he was Minister of Justice from 1972 to 1975. A leading member of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM), Achidi Achu was appointed as Chairman of the National Investment Corporation in 2003, and he was elected to the Senate of Cameroon in 2013.
Bello Bouba Maigari is a Cameroonian politician. He was the 2nd Prime Minister of Cameroon from 6 November 1982 to 22 August 1983 and has been the National President of the National Union for Democracy and Progress (UNDP) since January 1992. Although he was a key opposition leader for much of the 1990s, he has participated in the government since December 1997; he was Minister of State for Industrial and Commercial Development from 1997 to 2004, Minister of State for Post and Telecommunications from 2004 to 2009, and Minister of State for Transport from 2009 to 2009. Since December 2011, he has been Minister of State for Tourism and Leisure.
Adamou Ndam Njoya is a Cameroonian politician, lawyer, author, and professor. He was Minister of National Education from 1977 to 1980, and he has been the President of the Cameroon Democratic Union (UDC), an opposition party, since 1991. He has also been the Mayor of Foumban since 1996, and from 1997 to 2007 he was a Deputy in the National Assembly. He unsuccessfully ran as a presidential candidate in the 1992 and 2004 elections.
Augustin Frédéric Kodock was a Cameroonian politician who was Secretary-General of the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon from 1991 to 2011. He worked in Cameroon's state administration during the 1960s and then worked at the African Development Bank through the 1970s. After a stint as head of Cameroon Airlines in the mid-1980s, he participated in the beginnings of multiparty politics in the early 1990s, becoming Secretary-General of the UPC. Allying himself with President Paul Biya, he was appointed to the government as Minister of State for Planning and Regional Development from 1992 to 1994 and then as Minister of State for Agriculture from 1994 to 1997. Subsequently he was again Minister of State for Agriculture from 2002 to 2004 and Minister of State for Planning from 2004 to 2007.
The National Union for Democracy and Progress is a political party in Cameroon, drawing its main support from the north of the country. It was established as an opposition party in the early 1990s and won the second largest number of seats in the 1992 parliamentary election. The UNDP's National President is Maigari Bello Bouba, who is currently a Minister of State in the government.
Dakole Daïssala is a Cameroonian politician and the President of the Movement for the Defense of the Republic (MDR), a political party based in Cameroon's Far North Region. He served in the government of Cameroon as Minister of State for Posts and Telecommunications from 1992 to 1997; subsequently he was a Deputy in the National Assembly from 1997 to 2002 and then Minister of Transport from 2004 to 2007. He has served in the Senate since 2013.
René Emmanuel Sadi is a Cameroonian politician who has served in the government of Cameroon as Minister of Territorial Administration since 2011. Under President Paul Biya, he was Second Assistant Secretary-General of the Presidency from 2004 to 2009 and Minister for Special Duties from 2009 to 2011. Sadi also served as Secretary-General of the Central Committee of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (RDPC), the ruling political party in Cameroon, from 2007 to 2011.
Issa Tchiroma Bakary is a Cameroonian politician who served in the government of Cameroon as Minister of Transport from 1992 to 1996 and has been Minister of Communication since 2009. He is the President of the Front for the National Salvation of Cameroon, a minor political party.
Grégoire Owona is a Cameroonian politician who has served in the government of Cameroon as Minister of Labor and Social Security since December 2011. He previously served as Minister-Delegate at the Presidency for Relations with the Assemblies from 1997 to 2011, and he has also been Deputy Secretary-General of the Central Committee of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (RDPC) since 1992.
Garga Haman Adji is a Cameroonian politician. He served in the government of Cameroon as Minister of the Civil Service from 1990 to 1992 and is currently the President of the Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD), a minor political party. He is also a municipal councillor in the First Arrondissement of Maroua.
Jean-Bernard Ndongo Essomba is a Cameroonian politician. He was President of the Parliamentary Group of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (RDPC) in the National Assembly of Cameroon from 1992 to 1997 and he has held that post again since 2002.
Parliamentary elections were held in Cameroon on 30 September 2013, alongside local elections. They were originally scheduled for July 2012, February 2013 and July 2013, but were repeatedly postponed.
Edith Kahbang Walla, popularly known as Kah Walla, is a Cameroonian politician, entrepreneur and social activist. She went into politics in 2007 with the Social Democratic Front (SDF), the main Cameroonian opposition party and was then elected into the municipal council of Douala I. In 2010, she resigned from SDF following a divergence over strategy and declared her intention to run for the 2011 presidential election on October 23, 2010. On April 30, 2011, she was elected as the president of the Cameroon People's Party (CPP) and party candidate for 2011 presidential election.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
