Editorial: 2025 elections; Lawmakers should pre-empt electoral violence.

He praised President Paul Biya for being the "architect of this wind of openness in our country", even though some analysts would attribute it to the late SDF National Chairman, John Fru Ndi, and the global democratic wind of change of the nineties.

Be that as it is, Cavaye went under the skin of some opposition personalities like the leader of Cameroon Renaissance Movement, MRC, Prof Maurice Kamto, the Hon Cabral Libii-led faction of the Cameroonian Party for National Reconciliation, PCRN, and Now Movement leader, Barrister Akere Muna.

Though he didn’t mention their names, Cavaye left no one in doubt that he just did not want to curry their ire.

“Some compatriots have, for want of a clear political vision or due to their quest to accede to power, already promised to foment post-electoral violence, nay chaos, in the event where their opponent wins the election. Is that democracy?", he questioned.

They have, in various statements, predicted violence, if the upcoming elections are rigged, which is a sad phenomenon in many African countries, where sit-tight regimes craft electoral laws to favour those in power.

Organisations like the Bretton Woods Institutions and the Bishops of Cameroon have also warned of a precarious future for the country, if the upcoming elections are not free, fair, transparent, inclusive and credible.

But does the Electoral Code in place guarantee those values of a peaceful election? 

The House Speaker said: "…for decades, with method, wisdom and the support of the vast majority of compatriots, Cameroon has been building its democratic edifice".

He questioned if with such "edifice", the regime has not made so much effort to the point it has to "reap violence during an election? No, no and no!"

The House Speaker further said Cameroonians have "acquired the necessary maturity which now allows them to distinguish the wheat from the chaff”. 

“I invite my compatriots to remain calm and vigilant in the face of these ominous owls. Their current posture is only an admission of their weakness, of the absence of a profitable strategy on their part, because they have nothing of value to offer to Cameroonians," he said. 

He extended his "sincere congratulations and also my encouragement to Elections Cameroon, ELECAM, for the work carried out on the ground".

Surprisingly, he didn't specify what work ELECAM has carried out on the ground. 

What is known, however, is that the organisation has been grappling to register 7.5 million voters in a country with an estimated population of 30 million people.

By those statistics, and judging by democratic norms, Cameroon should be counting at least some 15 million registered voters. 

The youth of 18 and 19 years old are being disenfranchised by legislation. They are excluded from deciding who rules them. Could that not be an invitation for violence?

Shouldn't it be the duty of Hon Cavaye and his lawmakers to amend the electoral law and take voting age to 18, as is the practice in all democratic and civilised countries?

Does the law, where only the result sheets of ELECAM at polling stations are tenable in law and not also those of other representatives who sign the same sheet, not designed to rig elections, which could trigger violence if an unscrupulous ELECAM official tinkers with his results?

Why does the CPDM regime, swimming in debts, continue to use multiple ballots which are expensive and prone to rigging, instead of single ballots, which are in vouch in all democracies?

What debates have the lawmakers carried out to find peaceful solutions to the blood-oozing conflict in the North West and South West Regions, that makes peaceful elections impossible?

Have various elections observers, such as the African Union, Commonwealth and Francophonie, not recommended that Cameroon’s Electoral Code be revised to ensure credible elections, given that flawed polls are an invitation to violence?

The Guardian Post flies its flag on the same pole as Hon Cavaye to ensure free and fair elections devoid of violence. 

He should however be reminded that it is their duty and responsibility as lawmakers to ensure tranquility before, during and after the 2025 elections, by amending the Electoral Code, to provide a level playing field as being recommended by the credible opposition parties, Bishops and international elections observers.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post Issues No:3140 of Thursday June 13, 2024