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Elections in Cameroon occur in a system of electoral autocracy, as the ruling party (which has been in power since independence in 1960) manipulates elections and represses political opposition. [1] [2] [3]
Cameroon elects on a national level, a head of state – the president – and a legislature. The president is elected for a seven-year term by the people; a two-term limit on the office was removed through a parliamentary vote in April 2008. [4] The National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) has 180 members, elected for a five-year term in 49 single and multi-seat constituencies. Cameroon also has a Senate, with 100 elected officials, each serving 5 years. 70 of these are elected by a regional council, while 30 are elected directly from the president. [5]
Cameroon is a one party dominant state with the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement in power. Opposition parties are allowed, but are widely considered to have no real chance of gaining power. Elections are manipulated in favor of the ruling party. [3] [6] [7]
Independent candidates are barred from running in parliamentary and municipal elections. They are permitted to run in presidential elections, but there has never been an independent presidential candidate due to the very exacting legal requirements for an independent candidacy. [8]
Since 1990, multiple parties have been able to run in federal elections, with 1992 being the first year of municipal elections. [9] 1996 was then the first year of multiple parties running for the presidential office. [9] Later down the line, The National Assembly worked to limit the amount of issues by passing a National Elections Observatory in 2000. [9] The NEO works to supervise local and legislative elections across the country. [9]
In order to be able to vote in Cameroon, voters must be at least 20 years of age on the day of the election. [10] As of 2009, people are able to be register to vote between January 1st and April 30th and must register to vote at that time to vote. [10] During this period, people head to registration offices located throughout the country. [10]
There are numerous criteria to be able to run for Parliament such as being able read and write in French or English, be nominated or presented by a political party, be 23 years of age, being a Cameroonian born citizen, paying the Treasury to indicate a parliament run and not have been declared ineligible to run. [10]
According to Article 8 of the Chapter 1 of the Cameroonian Constitution, those attempting a presidential bid must be at least 35 years of age and born in Cameroon. [11] The person must than be able to show that they live in Cameroon as further prove as citizenship. [10]
The politics of Cameroon takes place in the context of an electoral autocracy where multi-party elections have been held since 1992, the ruling party wins every election, and Paul Biya has been president since 1982. Since Cameroon's independence in 1960, it has been a single-party state and ruled only by two presidents: Ahmadou Ahidjo and Paul Biya. Political opposition are repressed and elections are manipulated in favor of the ruling party.
Paul Biya is a Cameroonian politician who is the second president of Cameroon since 6 November 1982, having previously been the prime minister of Cameroon from 1975 to 1982. He is the second-longest-ruling president in Africa, the longest consecutively serving current non-royal national leader in the world and the oldest head of state in the world. He is regarded as an authoritarian leader and a dictator.
A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President.
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The National Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Cameroon. It has 180 members, elected for five-year terms in 49 single and multi-seat constituencies. Together with the senate, it constitutes the legislative arm of government.
Parliamentary elections were held in Cameroon on 22 July 2007, with voting in some districts re-run on 30 September. Local elections were held on the same day, with seats on 363 town councils at stake. 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.
Dakole Daïssala was a Cameroonian politician and the President of the Movement for the Defence 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 served in the Senate from 2013 until his death.
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Cavayé Yéguié Djibril is a Cameroonian politician who has been the President of the National Assembly of Cameroon since 1992. He is a leading member of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM).
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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.
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