Cameroon president to run for seventh consecutive term

By Felix Nkambeh Tih

ANKARA (AA) - Paul Biya, the long-serving Cameroonian president, on Friday announced his candidacy for a seventh consecutive term ahead of Oct. 7 presidential polls.

"Dear compatriots in Cameroon and the diaspora, aware of the challenges we must take up together to ensure a more united, stable and prosperous Cameroon. I am willing to respond positively to your overwhelming calls. I will stand as your candidate in the upcoming election," Biya tweeted.

Biya, 85, served as prime minister from 1975 until he succeeded former President Ahmadou Ahidjo in 1982.

Candidates can submit their applications until July 19 and the election campaign will begin on September 24.

Some of the major opposition candidates are Joshua Osih (Social Democratic Front), Akere Muna (Popular Front for Development), Cabral Libii (PURS) and Maurice Kamto (Cameroon Renaissance Movement).

- Tensions

The election is scheduled at a time when the Central African state is marred by violence especially in the two English-speaking regions.

Residents in the North and South West Regions said they have been marginalized for decades by the central government and the French-speaking majority.

They are calling for the independence of the English-speaking part of Cameroon, which they refer to as the "Republic of Ambazonia".

English-speakers frequently complain of exclusion from top civil service jobs and the use of French in government institutions and in courts, although the constitution gives both languages official status.

On July 9, three police officers and seven presumed separatists were killed in clashes in the two regions, according to local authorities.

The secessionists had also announced that no election will be held in the two English-speaking regions which belong, according to them, to the alleged republic of Ambazonia, self-proclaimed since Oct.1 2017, but not recognized by Yaounde.

French Cameroon gained its independence from France in 1960. In 1961, a federal state was set up when British Cameroon gained its independence from Great Britain and joined French Cameroon.

The federal state was, however, dissolved in favor of a unitary state in 1972.