By Mwalimu George Ngwane
The 19th December 1990 Law of Association that opened the floodgates of multiparty politics has resulted, close to twenty years after, in mixed fortunes especially in the areas of citizen election participation and democratic development dividends. With hindsight the July 22nd and September 30th 2007 twin elections in Cameroon confirmed an earlier appraisal of our electoral democracy-one characterized by the increasing rate of voter apathy in our elections.
From a 60.6 % voter turn out in the Parliamentary elections in 1992, through a less than 45 % in the twin elections of July 2007 to a ridiculous 20% participation in the twin re-run of September 30th 2007 the electorate seems to be now voting with their feet. Analysts have been quick at advancing reasons for this downward trend some of which vary from lack of an effective neutral and independent election body, selective disenfranchisement, insensitive international community, mass rigging, to sterile political debates occasioned by the trading of accusations of illegitimacy between the ruling party and the Opposition parties and the collective lethargy of the civil society.
Yet another very fundamental reason for voter apathy in Cameroon is the loss of faith in the party system by Cameroonians. This is leading our country to a dominant party state reminiscent of the one party system and the disconnection of a large percentage of citizen stakeholders wary of party politics.
In my opinion therefore, the real battle for the sustenance of citizen democracy in Cameroon lies on what happens between 2010 and 2011. In other words we are confronted by two challenges: the leveling of the electoral playing field and the emergence of a new dynamic leadership.
Level playing field
It would be necessary for ELECAM (the election body that will manage subsequent elections) in spite of some of its shortcomings that were publicly acknowledged by the President Biya in his 2009 end of year speech, to recruit people of courage, independent stance, integrity and sterling patriotic qualities to manage the body. In other words it is not the name of the institution that makes it independent it is the people chosen to manage it.
Related to this would be the need for a second round or run-off electoral process to be introduced during the 2011 Presidential elections. Still in this connection the civil service, the judiciary and the army must be depoliticised.
Furthermore, while the elite should resist the peddling of compensatory development advantages by parties, the Cameroonian electorate would have to rise above its present inertia, blind party adherence, and refuse to be cheaply bought over by allurements and material inducements (bags of rice and bottles of beer etc). The youth in particular must see the long term advantage of building a sustainable development policy for Cameroon rather than trivial immediate interests that border on greed and gluttony. This means constant citizen education on massive youth voter registration and alternative election monitoring should be provided by activist elements of the civil society with funding assistance from Development Agents.
Emergence of a new dynamic leadership
A political Observer Peter Vakunta remarked that “the democratic impasse in Cameroon is not just systemic; the personalities running the show are obsolete and should be gotten rid off without further ado. Anything short of that would be tantamount to political suicide for as all”.
While political parties should consider the option of limiting Presidential/Chairmanship mandates within their party structures, the civil society would have to make its voice heard and in a more peaceful manner through the revision of the electoral law to allow Independent Candidates to run for Presidential elections without the infamous 300 signature clause.
Constraints of the 300 signature condition
It has been argued that the 300 signature condition is:
(a) Discriminatory, in the light of the constitution which determines the fundamental rules with regards to elections.
(b) Unrealistic, considering the prevailing situation in Cameroon where some Provinces cannot produce 30 of such “special high profile voters”,
(c) Unconvincing, because none of these “special high profile voters” is Independent enough to endorse an Independent candidate. Almost all of them are members of parties who would rather maintain party discipline or toe party line.
Yet between 1945 – 1966, individuals stood as Independents for elections in Cameroon in both what was then West and East Cameroon without this controversial clause that stipulates that any candidate vying for Independent status must produce 300 legalised signatures from the electoral college (voters) who should be members of the National Assembly, Consular Chambers, Councilors, and First class Chiefs (special high profile voters) from all the Provinces, making 30 per Province.
Why Independent Candidates
(i) Article 2.1 of the 18 January 1996 Constitution prescribes that “National Sovereignty shall be vested in the people of Cameroon (….) no section of the people shall arrogate to itself the exercise thereof”.
Making eligibility for election conditional only to membership in political parties is excluding a great section of the people since political parties represent only a section of the people.
(ii) Article 2.2 of the 1996 Constitution stipulates “the authorities responsible for the management of the state shall derive powers from the people through elections”.
People can organize themselves as parties or Independents since parties are only one of the ways through which universal suffrage can be expressed. To reduce elections merely through parties is to penalise citizens who do not belong to political parties.
(iii) Part II, chapter 1, Article 5.5 of the 1996 constitution says “Candidates for the office of President of the Republic must be Cameroonians by birth”
Article 20.3 says Candidates for the post of Senator and personalities appointed for the post of a senator by the President of the Republic…(…)…, In both cases the word “Candidate” is not specific to party candidates; it could therefore be extended to cover Independent candidates. Moreover, the same constitution through Article 48.2 reads “Any challenges in respect of the regularity of one of the elections (…) may be brought before the Constitutional Council by any candidate, political party that participated in the election in the constituency concerned”.
It is therefore clear that the 18th January 1996 constitution is Independent candidate – friendly. The real problem lies with an Electoral code (Law) that should provide humane and realistic conditions for the participation of Independent candidates in elections in Cameroon as from 2007.
(iv) The OAU (now African Union) during its 38th session in Durban on 8th July 2002 resolved that:
- Individuals and political parties shall have the right to freedom of movement to campaign and to express political opinions with full access and information within the limits of the laws of the land.
- Every individual and political party participating in elections shall recognize the authority of the Electoral Commission.
The emphasis here is on the two carefully separated words of “individuals” and “political parties”
(v) Article 21(1) of the United Nation Declaration on Human Rights states that “everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives”.
These representatives can therefore be chosen either through party–centered electoral system or through candidate-based electoral system or both.
(vi) A candidate – based electoral system would enhance competition and expand the democratic space that is already being narrowed by party-centered system in Cameroon.
(vii) In addition to a party – based system, a candidate – centered election would permit the electorate to focus on individual merit and independent philosophical or political opinions.
(viii) Independent Candidature would act as a buffer to party candidates who, out of their veiled personal interest or contradictory party ideology are obliged to defect from one party to another.
(ix) So far party – centered elections have only favoured an old generation that has monopolized the political arena in Cameroon. Independent candidature would therefore provide the young generation with the opportunity of bringing a new vision and fresh agenda to the body-politic of our country. Indeed Independent candidature is now regarded as an antidote to gerontocratic politics and a rite of passage to generational democracy.
(x) Through Independent Candidate participation, the process of building a consociational democracy based on power – sharing not only among political parties, regions and ethnic groups, but also between the state society and the civil society will be enhanced.
Other Experiences elsewhere:
(a)Independent candidates have made an impact in some Presidential elections in Africa between 1990 – 2006. Independents have run in countries like Algeria, 1999) Cote d’lvoire (2000), Guinea Bissau (2000), Senegal (2000), Sudan(2000) Cape Verde (2001) Sao Tome (2001), Zimbabwe (2002 and 2005), Mauritania (2003)
(b) Independents have won Presidential elections in some African countries for example Marc Ravalomanana who swept 51.5% of the votes during the 16 December 2001 in Madagascar; Ahmadou Toumani Toure who won 64.4% of the votes during the April – May 2002 Presidential elections in Mali; and the spectacular victory of Yayi Boni who won 74.51% of the votes during the March 2006 Presidential elections in Benin.
(c) In Cote d’lvoire, the municipal election of 25 March 2001 saw 38 of the 195 local councils being grabbed by Independents. Independents were now recognised as the third political force in the country. In 2000, Rwandese local government election was candidate-based.
(d)Since 1990, Independent candidates have run and won legislative elections in countries like Mauritania, Central African Republic, Cote d’lvoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Mauritius, Ghana, Algeria, Congo Republic, Madagascar etc.
(e)In the September – October 1993 legislative election in the Kingdom of Swaziland, all the 30 members of the Senate were elected as Independents.
(f)The most conspicuous practice of Independent candidature in Africa was the ‘no party democracy movement’ in Uganda where between 1986 – 2006, legislative and municipal elections were conducted essentially through Independent candidates.
(g)In Ethiopia, Parliament passed Proclamation 255/94 in 2001 stipulating that only Independent, non-partisan Parliamentarians are eligible for election to the position of President of the Republic.
Conclusion
From all indications, the fruits of the second independence have still not been borne and may be a new democratic transition bringing all active forces together in an ALL Cameroonian Congress may help chart a new course that would go beyond routine elections and usher in bold, creative and indigenous development programs that resonate with human and infrastructural development. Even where the pendulum of leadership has oscillated between ruling party and the Opposition or between state actors and civil society actors in most African countries , the masses have still not felt the impact of people driven programs and nation building projects.
It is therefore my hope that what happens between 2010 and 2011 (and this means every patriotic Cameroonian should speak up and out) would lay a solid citizen democratic foundation that would give birth to a vision that shall inspire citizen confidence and democratic development.
*Mwalimu George Ngwane is presently a Chevening Fellow at the University of York (UK) on a Conflict Prevention and Resolution course
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