Massive Fraud Alleged by Observers and Opposition Parties in Cameroon Elections
By Daniel Hollingsworth
July 26, 2007 | Printer Friendly

The BBC reports that Cameroon’s ruling party increased its already sizable majority in the National Assembly in elections held Sunday, July 22.  Results show that President Paul Biya's Democratic Rally of the Cameroonian People (RDPC) will hold at least 152 of the 180 seats in the country’s parliament, while the main opposition party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF) lost eight seats, leaving it with only 14. 

In an interview with Voice of America, SDF chairman John Fru Ndi indicates his party’s plan to file a protest with Cameroon’s electoral commission, saying that “the elections were rigged right from the beginning.”  The Associated Press reports that international observers have joined with SDF in alleging fraud: “Among the problems they cited were the widespread absence of ballot papers at voting booths, and the ferrying of pro-ruling party voters from precinct to precinct so that they could vote multiple times.”

Fru Ndi tells Voice of America that his party expected the vote manipulation but decided to participate in the elections to call international attention to the problems.  “[We] are drawing the attention; the commonwealth came in trying to regularize it, and a couple of other international organizations. The foreign embassies here tried to intervene to let Mr. Biya come out with free fair and transparent elections. And if we didn’t go into it, they were going to make things look very free and fair…”

The BBC reports that Cameroon is consistently ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in Africa by Transparency International, and “critics also accuse Mr Biya of trampling on democracy and human rights.”  The report adds that “the opposition says the RDPC might try to use its two-thirds majority in the assembly to amend the constitution to allow Mr Biya, already head of state for 25 years, to seek a new term in 2011.”

References:

BBC News: Big win for Cameroon ruling party

Voice of America: Cameroon’s Opposition to Challenge Sunday’s Election

Associated Press: Landslide victory for Cameroon’s ruling party in marred election