Cameroon's ruling party wins all seats in Senate elections

By Aurore Bonny

DOUALA, Cameroon (AA) - Cameroon's Constitutional Council announced the results of the March 12 Senate elections Thursday, confirming the victory of the ruling party in the country's 10 regions.

The Cameroon People's Democratic Rally, the party that has been in power for more than 40 years, won all 70 eligible seats in the upper house of parliament.

The president of the Constitutional Council, Clement Atangana, said the elections were conducted "without hindrance in respect of the law and in a climate of peace throughout the national territory."

According to the national body in charge of elections, overall turnout was 99.11% in the presence of more than 3,000 local and international observers and 11,134 members of the electoral college, including regional and municipal councilors and traditional chiefs.

The Constitutional Council rejected appeals by the opposition after a hearing Tuesday. The appeals, launched by several political parties, constituted the partial and total annulment of the elections in parts of the central, far north, and north west regions.

For the opposition, the fact that the electoral advisers were known beforehand eliminated any element of surprise.

"These results were predictable. They are not surprising because the electors of the senators are already known. In 2020, the ruling party had already won these regional and municipal council seats by a large majority. We were expecting some surprises in the senatorial elections, which was not the case," Cabral Libii, president of the Cameroonian Party for National Reconciliation, told Anadolu.

The outcome of the Senate elections marks, according to him, "an incredible democratic setback in Cameroon" because 31 years after 1992, the year that marked the return of multiparty politics in Cameroon, the party in power at the end of an election racks up all the elective seats.

"This is the first time that this has happened in an election since 1992 in our country. So we are almost back to the single party. This is the result of a democratic manipulation orchestrated by the party in power. We are going backwards and forwards. In reality, (President) Paul Biya has worked for 30 years to reinstall the single party, and we are at the result,” Libii added.

For this third legislature and as required by Cameroonian law, the other 30 senators will be appointed by Biya in the coming days.