By Louis Marie Kakdeu*
As if we wanted to go back to a one-size-fits-all thinking, some people on the Cameroonian political scene are
struggling to promote the idea of a single opposition candidate. It is a mirage, a seductive and deceptive idea
in appearance, but irrelevant and too insufficient to dismantle and overcome the CPDM. A mirage of a victory
assured by the simple fact of having a coalition? Together, let us consider it!
No further distractions!
It is in the sole interest of the CPDM to disseminate the information that the opposition can never win without
a coalition. But if the entire opposition comes together and does not fulfill its civic duty, then defeat will
always be assured. What is it all about?
– Securing the vote/Representatives in the polling stations
We will need around 30,000 representatives in the polling stations and around 60,000 scrutineers. A coalition
that does not achieve this objective has no added value. In the past, the CPDM won because the opposition
was not even represented in 3% of polling stations. Defeat was guaranteed. Diverting the debate to a coalition
is a pure distraction.
-The abstention rate:
The CPDM has always won because Cameroonians did not massively go out to vote. Despite the fraud, the
abstention rate always exceeded 50%. Even those who were registered did not vote. Why is this? Because
many people believed that the outcome was a foregone conclusion and that there was no point in going out to
vote. Who benefited if not the CPDM? So, every time the political debate aims to attack the electoral code and
Elecam in an election year, the message sent to voters is not to go to the polling stations. This is a mistake
that must be avoided. The SDF won the 1992 elections with an electoral code that was worse than the one we
have today. So instead of talking about coalitions every day, let’s concentrate on the essentials. If the turnout
is high, then the CPDM will lose the elections. In some parts of the country, such as the three northern
regions, the actual turnout has never exceeded 10%. It is not true to say that northerners have always voted
massively for Paul Biya. The truth is that in their 89 councils, the political opposition has always been absent
and the CPDM and its allied parties manipulated the reports at will. Let’s stay focused!
-Representation on the joint Elecam commissions.
It’s wrong to believe that Elecam is in charge of the voters’ registration since the provision of such mission is
assigned to the joint commission. The problem is that the opposition parties did not always send their
representatives in compliance with the law. As a result, Elecam found itself working alone. As members of the
joint commissions, political parties would no longer even have to battle for the famous NATIONAL
ELECTORAL LIST. Why? Because their representatives in the commissions are entitled access to the electoral
roll. It is because the political opposition keeps waging irrelevant wars that certain claims are making the
headlines of newspapers. Worse still, the law provides for the joint commission to become a post-election
vote-counting commission. It is in this latter commission that the reports from the polling stations at
councils’ level are validated. What does this mean? It means that if opposition political parties are not
represented, then the wrong reports will be validated to their detriment. Basically, this is where we lose the
elections for good.
All in all, you can see that we often have false debates in Cameroon. We talk about coalitions with people who
have absolutely nothing to contribute. It’s pointless. As in arithmetic, 1+0 +0+0+0+0 =1. If you bring together
20 parties who have no representatives in the polling stations or who are not represented in parties in areas
such as the North where the CPDM has established a nest of frauds, then it’s pointless.
I mean that the coalition of zeros brings us nothing. The coalition of parties all located in Douala and Yaoundé
is of no benefit to us.
The SDF is mature. The SDF has acquired experience. The party has spent 30 years in office and has not
succeeded in coming to power because the main thing is to establish itself territorially. That’s what’s
occupying most of our time at the moment. If the need arises, we comply. But first of all, we carry out our
duty. We make up for our weaknesses. The weaknesses of the opposition.
Louis Marie Kakdeu , MPA, PhD & HDR
Second National Vice-President of the SDF