Cameroon
Controversial Cameroon election postponement

afrol News, 24 June - Cameroon's parliamentary and local elections, scheduled to start yesterday, were suddenly postponed by presidential decree. President Paul Biya puts the blame on his Interior Minister, whom he had sacked, while observers hold there wear concerns of political violence in Cameroon's Anglophone provinces.

Yesterday, on Sunday morning, polling stations throughout Cameroon were far from ready to receive the 4.5 million registered voters. The Cameroon Printing and Publishing Corporation (CPPC) had not managed to have the ballot papers ready for the voters. Further, many voting booths and other material at the polling stations had not yet been installed. Voters were turned back from the poll stations this morning and told the poll would be organised on 30 June.

President Biya today sacked Interior Minister Ferdinand Koungou Edima for failing to organise the poll in time. Also the CPPC leader was replaced today. The two leaders were accused of being solely responsible for the embarrassing poll delay. 

Observers however hold that an even more important reason to postpone the elections was the big risk of political violence in Cameroon's two Anglophone provinces. Here, a separatist movement is steadily growing, based on the claim that the provinces' inhabitants have been discriminated ever since they were included in French-dominated Cameroon.

Only last week, more than ten people were injured in clashes in the Anglophone provinces. The separatist movement has also called for a boycott of the elections and seemed to be mobilising for further clashes during the poll, which it labelled illegal. 

On the other hand, state media reporting on Prime Minister Peter Mafany Musonge's elections campaign in Buea - capital of the Anglophone South West Province - claimed the PM had gotten a warm welcome and was thanked for his government's big achievements. One expected "a 100 percent vote" for the ruling People's Democratic Movement (CPDM) in Buea. No mention was made - or is ever made - about the separatists boycott.

President Biya had originally hoped to widen his CPDM parliamentary majority in these elections. According to opposition parties, a long list of irregularities had already been registered, all favouring the ruling party. Cameroon under Paul Biya has a strong tradition of manipulating the polls. 

While Biya has not made any public statement on the elections postponement yet, the opposition claims this is yet another proof of the President's will to manipulate elections. 

Biya, on the other hand, called for peace and tranquillity a few days before the planned poll. Said the President: "Let calm and peace reign during this pre-election period so that we can show the world at large that we are a united and strong nation, though we may have divergent opinions which must be expressed through the ballot box." 

Sources: Based on Cameroonian govt, press reports and afrol archives

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