Cameroon: The Idea of a Single Opposition Candidacy Is Illusory
By Louis Marie Kakdeu
As if we were trying to return to a single-track approach, some on the Cameroonian political scene are fighting to promote a single opposition candidacy. It’s a mirage, that is, a seemingly seductive and misleading idea, but irrelevant and insufficient to defeat the CPDM—the mirage of a victory assured by the simple fact of a coalition. Let’s look at it together!
Stop the distraction!
It is the CPDM that has an interest in widely disseminating the information that the opposition cannot win without a coalition. However, if the entire opposition unites and fails to fulfil its civic duty, then defeat will always be assured. What is this about?
– Vote security/Polling station representatives: We will need approximately 30,000 polling station representatives and approximately 60,000 poll workers. A coalition that fails to achieve this objective has no added value. In the past, the CPDM won because the opposition wasn’t represented in even 3% of polling stations. This was a sure sign of defeat. Shifting the debate toward the coalition is a pure distraction.
– Abstention rate. The CPDM won because Cameroonians didn’t vote. Despite the fraud, the abstention rate has always exceeded 50%. Even those who are registered don’t vote. Why? Because some people make it seem as though the cards are already stacked and there’s no point in voting. Who benefits from the crime if not the CPDM? So, every time the political debate aims to attack the electoral code and Elecam in an election year, the message sent to voters is not to go to the polling stations.
This is a mistake that should not be made again. The SDF won the 1992 elections with an electoral code worse than the one we have today. So, instead of talking about coalitions every day, let’s focus on what matters. If the turnout is high, then the CPDM will lose the elections. In parts of the country like the three northern regions, the actual turnout has never exceeded 10%. It’s false to say that northerners vote overwhelmingly for Paul Biya. Rather, in the 89 municipalities, the political opposition is absent, and the CPDM and its allied parties manipulate the minutes as they see fit. Let’s stay focused!
– Representation in the Elecam joint commissions. It’s false to believe that Elecam handles voter registration. The law stipulates that a joint commission does so. The problem is that opposition parties didn’t send their representatives following the law. And as a result, Elecam found itself working alone. As a member of the Joint Commission, political parties would no longer even have to request the famous NATIONAL LIST. Why? Because their representatives have access to the electoral register by right. It’s because the political opposition conducts false debates that certain demands make headlines. Worse, the law stipulates that the joint commission will become a vote-counting commission after the elections. It is in this latter commission that the minutes from polling stations at the municipal level are validated. What does that mean? If you are not represented there, then the bad minutes will be validated against you. Basically, this is where you definitely lose the election.
In the end, you see that we often conduct false debates in Cameroon. We talk about coalitions with people who have nothing to contribute. It’s pointless. Like in arithmetic, 1 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 1. If you line up 20 parties that have no representation in the polling stations or that are not represented in parts of the country like the north, where the CPDM is nesting fraud, then it’s pointless.
I mean, the coalition of zeros doesn’t bring us anything. The coalition of parties, all located in Douala and Yaoundé, doesn’t help us.
The SDF is mature. The SDF has acquired experience. The party has made 30 years of noise and hasn’t come to power because the most important thing is territorial establishment. That’s what takes up most of our time right now. If the need arises, we comply. But first, we do our duty. We address our weaknesses. The opposition’s weaknesses.
Louis Marie Kakdeu, MPA, PhD & HDR
Second National Vice President of the SDF
Cameroon: The Idea of a Single Opposition Candidacy Is Illusory
