Elections in Cameroon

It's worth a look to every now and then see how Democracy is holding up in other parts of the world.  Today we look at Cameroon, which held elections today.

     

In elections held today, President Paul Biya is expected to win re-election easily.  Complaints about the election included massive purges of voter rolls and the fact that Biya has no single opposition challenger.  However (or perhaps because of the lack of strong challengers), there have been limited complaints of vote fraud.

According to IPS Biya is only the second President of Cameroon since it gained independence in 1960.  The first, Ahmadou Ahidjo, gained power after independence and resigned in favor of Biya in 1982 because of health issues.  Other political parties were banned in Cameroon from 1976 to 1990.  Thus, although ostenibly a democracy since creation, as in many African countries the system is not very different from a dictatorial system, as the voters have never truly chosen a president.

The Constitution of Cameroon provides for a very strong executive branch.  According to Wikipedia, "The president is empowered to name and dismiss cabinet members, judges, generals, provincial governors, prefects, sub-prefects, and heads of Cameroon's parastatal (about 100 state-controlled) firms, obligate or disburse expenditures, approve or veto regulations, declare states of emergency, and appropriate and spend profits of parastatal firms. The president is not required to consult the National Assembly."  However, traditional rulers still enjoy considerable power as well.  The National Assembly has practically no power, and the Senate called for by the Constitution of 1996 STILL does not exist.

According to the Constitution, a president can serve only 2 7-year terms.  This is Biya's second term.  It will be interesting to see whether or not he attempts to stand for elections again in 2011.