BY ATIA TILARIOUS AZOHNWI
36 lists of candidates presented by nine political parties are expected to compete for 70 seats at the March 25 senate elections.
The March 7 publication of the lists by Elections Cameroon was followed by the submission of petitions at the Constitutional Council.
According to Section 131 of the Electoral Code, the Constitutional Council has a maximum of ten days to rule on the petitions. At the close of the period of receiving petitions, six petitions were said to have been tabled for consideration.
The SDF and the UNDP are asking that the CPDM list in the Adamawa Region be disqualified. The CDU and the SDF also want the cancellation of the CPDM list in the West Region.
Some CPDM officials in the South West allegedly bankrolled a petition against the CPDM list in the region but failed to sail through with their ill-intent.
Campaigns were expected to start on March 10 and end on March 24. The campaigns have however remained timid, apparently given that the Electoral College is small and known.
Voter lists ready
Elections Cameroon has made known the list of results obtained in the 360 Councils in the September 30, 2013 municipal elections classifying the score for each political party.
As political parties preparing to run for seats in the senatorial election of March 25, 2018, finalise the list of candidates to submit to Elections Cameroon (ELECAM), they very well master their potential electors.
The presidential decree convening electors to the polls indicate that the Electoral College is essentially the municipal councillors voted during the September 30, 2013 council election.
The elections organising institution, ELECAM is updating the electoral list for the election of senators by deleting the names of municipal councillors elected in September 30, 2013 who have already died and those who have lost their voting rights following the provisions of the Electoral Code.
The same ELECAM has detailed results of the 2013 municipal election that already enable the political parties preparing to participate in the election to measure their winning chances in each region that constitutes a constituency for the 70 elected Senators.
CPDM has it all
In the Adamawa Region, that has 21 councils, a total of 597 councillors were voted in September 2013. Seven political parties are sharing the councillors. The ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) that controls 14 of the councils, has the initial 392 councillors, the second political party, National Union for Democracy and Progress (NUDP) controls seven councils with a total of initial 192 councillors.
The Centre Regions with 70 councils after the September 30, 2013 election had a total of 1,946 councillors. CPDM controls 65 of the councils having 1,821 councillors and the Union of the Population of Cameroon (UPC) controls five councils with 125 councillors.
The East Region has 33 councils with a total of 857 councillors, all controlled by the CPDM. The Far North Region has 47 councils with a total of 1,537 councillors. The CPDM controls 40 of the councils that have an initial 1,295 councillors, Movement for the Defence of the Republic (MDR) controls five councils with a total of 147 councillors. The NUDP controls two councils with 87 councillors, while the National Alliance for Democracy and Progress (NADP) has six councillors and ADD has two councillors.
The Littoral Region with 34 councils has a total of 1,026 councillors. The CPDM controls 28 councils with a total of 776 councillors, Social Democratic Front (SDF), three councils with 135 councillors, UPC two councils with 54 councillors and the Union for Fraternity and Prosperity (UFP) one council with 25 councillors.
Other political parties have councillors. Out of the 21 councils in the North Region with a total of 699 councillors, CPDM controls 15 with 448 councillors. The NUDP controls six councils with 233 councillors. Parties like FSNC, SDF and ADD won some councillors.
It is only in the North West Region that the CPDM and the SDF are almost sharing the 1,088 councillors in the 34 councils. CPDM controls 19 councils with 565 councillors, SDF 15 councils with 522 councillors. The CPDM controls 33 of the 40 councils of the West Region having 983 out of the 1,216 councillors. Cameroon National Union (UDC) has five councils with 161 councillors.
In the South Region with 29 councils and a total of 769 councillors, the CPDM controls everything. Finally the CPDM controls 27 of the 31 councils in the South West Region.