One party senate: A time bomb for Cameroonians!.

Last month, Prof Jacque Fame Ndongo, Minister of State for Higher Education and spin-doctor of the ruling CPDM, in rejecting an article in Le Monde newspaper that Cameroon is an authoritarian regime, said there were 329 political parties in the country.

But the result of the March 14 senatorial election, announced by the Constitutional Council last Wednesday, annihilates that political theatre of defending the indefensible. The senatorial election, as we announced in this same column before the polling, was a one horse race.

Justice Clement Atangana, President of the Constitutional Council, proclaimed that the ruling party won all 70 senatorial seats in a contest that 10 "political parties" took part. Some 11,134 electors registered for the exercise and 10,124 effectively cast their votes on March 12.

The figures, the Constitutional Council proclaimed, represented a turnout of 99.11 percent. The Constitutional Council noted that there were 210 abstentions and 161 null votes. The CPDM swept the poll with a total of 9,316 votes cast, which is 86.56 percent of the votes.

The ruling party has improved its performance, compared to the last poll in which the SDF won seven seats in the North West Region, against the 14 it had when the senate went operational in 2013.

Seven political parties are represented in the outgoing senate, but only thanks to President Paul Biya, who has the constitutional prerogative to appoint 30 more to hit the 100 limit.

In appointing the 30 in the last legislature, President Biya picked only six from the "opposition" parties it has some alliance with. Five of the parties are embedded in the Biya government.

They are the National Union for Democracy and Progress, UNDP, of Maïgari Bello Bouba, who is the Minister of State, Minister of Tourism and Leisure. Two senators were appointed from the UNDP.

The Front for National Salvation of Cameroon, FSNC, of Issa Tchiroma Bakary; the National Alliance for Democracy and Progress, ANDP, of Hamadou Moustapha, Minister of Special Duties at the Presidency; the Movement for the Defense of the Republic, MDR, of the former Minister of Transport, the late Dakolé Daïssala, and the Union of the Populations of Cameroon, UPC, had a seat each.

With the exception of the SDF, beneficial "opposition parties" had entered the Senate through the same means in 2013, during the creation of the institution provided for by the constitution since 1996.

Following last week's landslide "victory" of the CPDM, what Cameroonians are watching to see is if the Head of State, in his magnanimity, will, this time, extend his largesse to the real opposition parties or limit it only to those in government.

Even if he gives all the seats to the real opposition parties, the senate will still be controlled by the CPDM, which is known to coerce its legislators to dance to the music played by "party hierarchy".

So, whether Biya appoints opposition senators or not, the results of the poll are indicative that the country is veering towards a one party state which would be synonymous to authoritarianism!

But do Cameroonians, imbued with the spirit of patriotism, want to be governed in such a manner; even if they belong to the CPDM? How will those celebrating a "victory" in which the electoral law is crafted to favour them feel when, by some divine afflatus, an implosion in their party turns it to an opposition bench in future?

In his book, The Danger of One Party Rule, Pat Toomey writes that a "one party governed state means that a small number of party leaders can steer the agenda, demand loyalty to that agenda, and punish those who push back. Either way you slice it, single party government is bad for a vibrant democracy. Even if it’s your party that enjoys political dominance".

Would the CPDM senators-elect have swept the poll if the Electoral Code met the internationally accepted standard of free, fair, transparent and credible elections?

Be it as it is, the CPDM has had its majority. What changes are they going to make to hold government to account? What debates have they made to investigate all the scandals of COVID-19 funds, scams in AFCON projects management, gross human rights violations in the North West and South West Regions and refusal to implement Article 66 of the constitution for declaration of assets by top state officials, to justify their appellation as Upper House? Which private member bills have they passed? Do they screen nominations for top government jobs before they are appointed as is the tradition of all senators in countries that have senates? Do they set up commissions to investigate some of the financial scandals and murder cases in the country? Do councils they are said to represent feel their impacts?

There are credible reports that the senate costs the public treasury some 18 billion FCFA every year.

In Senegal, President Macky Sall disbanded the senate, which had a similarity like that of Cameroon and the country suffered nothing.

We at this daily newspaper are not agitating for the senate to be discarded, but it should live up to the billings by holding government to account.

Such action should include the review of the Electoral Code, which at the moment international election observers have criticised as carefully designed to favour only the ruling party.

Political analysts say it's a shame Cameroon is swinging towards a one party system that has no time for debates or new ideas. They say this is dangerous for Cameroon's democracy.