Cameroon - 2023 Election
Elections to the Senate of Cameroon were held on 12 March 2023. Tthe 11,134 members of the electoral college headed to the polling stations to choose their respective candidates for the third legislature of the Cameroonian Senate. The elections, involving designated members of the Senate electoral college, were free of glitches across the central African country. Voters in the restive western regions defied separatist threats and carried out their duties.
The ruling CPDM hired buses to transport all municipal and regional councilors who constitute the electoral college to polling stations. The CPDM also used threats, bullying and vote-buying to deprive voters of their freedom to make democratic choices. While in the buses, officials of the CPDM distributed money and threatened to punish voters who refused the bribe.
The party of President Paul Biya, who has ruled Cameroon for more than 40 years, unsurprisingly won all 70 seats in the indirectly elected Senate. The Rassemblement démocratique du peuple camerounais (RDPC) even strengthened its total domination of the upper house of parliament since the opposition had seven seats in the outgoing Senate. The 90-year-old omnipotent head of state must also appoint 30 more senators in the next 10 days.
Although each region constitutes an electoral constituency, it should be noted that the vote takes place in the capital of each of the 58 departments of the country. Voters are required, at the risk of exposing themselves to forfeiture, to take part in the ballot. It is, for this purpose, legally provided that the State bears the costs relating to the participation of the members of the electoral college in the vote according to the methods which are specified to them. Any absence of a voter in this consultation can be filled by his representative, who must be a member of the electoral college and holder of a maximum of one power of attorney.
Each of the 198 polling stations to accommodate voters for these 2023 senatorial elections is held by a local polling commission headed by a president. Elections Cameroon provides each committee with a ballot box, a voting booth, seals, a garbage bag, an indelible ink pad, a date stamp, ballpoint pens, a calculator, a lamp if necessary, two copies of the electoral list, a copy of the decision establishing the organization of polling stations, a copy of the guide for presidents and members of local polling commissions, ballot papers for each political party in competition, minutes of tally sheets, tally sheets, appropriate envelopes, office supplies.
Cameroon is a republic dominated by a strong presidency. The president retains power over the legislative and judicial branches of government. The ruling political party, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, has remained in power since its creation in 1985. In 2020, the country held simultaneous legislative and municipal elections. The next Senate elections are scheduled in 2023, while legislative, municipal, and presidential elections are scheduled in 2025. In 2018, Paul Biya was reelected president in an election marred by irregularities and against the backdrop of protracted sociopolitical unrest in the Northwest and Southwest Regions.
Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: unlawful or arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings; enforced disappearances; torture and other ill-treatment by the government and nonstate armed groups; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrests or detention; political prisoners or detainees; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; punishment of family members for offenses allegedly committed by an individual; serious abuses in a conflict, including abductions and physical abuse, by nonstate armed groups; serious restrictions on freedom of expression, including violence, threats of violence, or unjustified detentions of journalists and censorship; substantial interference with the right of peaceful assembly and freedom of association; serious restrictions on freedom of movement; inability of citizens to change their government peacefully through free and fair elections; serious and unreasonable restrictions on political participation; serious government corruption; lack of investigations and accountability for gender-based violence; crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting members of ethnic groups, including the Massaga and Oliti communities in the Southwest Region and herders and farmers in the Northwest Region; trafficking in persons; crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex persons; and the existence or use of laws criminalizing same-sex sexual conduct between adults.
In 2020, security concerns constrained voter participation in the Northwest and Southwest Regions. The courts annulled the legislative elections in 11 constituencies of the Northwest and Southwest Regions due to voter turnout of less than 10 percent. Legislative reruns occurred in the 11 constituencies. The ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) won 152 of the 180 National Assembly seats and 316 of 360 local councils. Opposing political parties lost significant numbers of seats when compared with previous elections. Overall, eight opposition political parties won seats in the National Assembly, and nine won control of local councils. Additionally, the Constitutional Council annulled some legislative elections, citing irregularities including lack of equal access to media and campaign space, restrictions on the ability of opposition candidates to register for the election, ballot stuffing, lack of ballot secrecy, voter intimidation, inconsistent use of identification cards, and lack of expertise among local polling officials.
As of the end of 2022, the country had approximately 330 registered political parties. The CPDM remained dominant at every level of government due to restrictions on opposition political parties, gerrymandering, unbalanced media coverage, the use of state funds to promote party campaigns, interference with the right of opposition parties to register as candidates and to organize during electoral campaigns, and undue influence of traditional rulers. Traditional rulers, who received salaries from the government, openly declared their support for President Biya prior to the 2018 presidential election, and some reportedly compelled residents of their constituencies to prove they did not vote for an opposition candidate by presenting unused ballots. Traditional rulers who refused to associate with the government were either removed or threatened with the loss of all income. Membership in the ruling political party conferred significant advantages, including in the allocation of key jobs in state-owned entities and the civil service.
Human rights organizations and opposition political actors considered the drawing of voter districts and distribution of parliamentary or municipal councilors’ seats unfair. They complained that smaller districts considered CPDM strongholds were allocated a disproportionate number of seats compared with more populous districts where the opposition was expected to poll strongly. Managers of state-owned companies and other high-level government officials used corporate resources to campaign for candidates sponsored by the ruling party.
No laws limit participation of women or members of minorities, or persons with disabilities, in the political process and members of many of these groups did participate. No laws explicitly limited the participation of LGBTQI+ persons; they did not openly participate in the political process, and observers surmised that social stigma and the criminalization of same-sex conduct deterred LGBTQI+ persons from openly participating.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
