According to data collected from Elections Cameroon (Elecam), the body in charge of polls and referendum operations, 35 political parties will go to the double poll on February 9 for more than 6.8 million voters and 25,000 polling stations.
Propaganda operations in the French-speaking part will certainly not be disrupted from this Saturday, the campaign’s opening date. However, it may be otherwise in the English-speaking North West and South West (NOSO) regions.
As a reminder, secessionists, in activity since October 2016, warned that they will not back down and reiterated their intention to prevent the holding of these elections. Beside them, in another format, the MRC also invites a boycott.
In addition, the Social Democratic Front (SDF), the leading party in the parliamentary opposition and whose English-speaking part constitutes the main electoral ground, has experienced in recent weeks chain defections from several of its plenipotentiaries from NOSO, under pressure and threats from secessionists.
To limit possible intrusions by combatants in this part of Cameroon, the government has introduced the concept of “voting centers”. It will consolidate several local polling stations into a single secure site in addition to the additional 700 soldiers who have been deployed in these areas with some 1.1 million voters.
Leave a Reply