From the outset, the CRM sends its warmest congratulations, thanks and deep gratitude to the overwhelming majority of the Cameroonian people who, following their watchword of boycotting the twin elections of February 9th, 2020, sent a clear message to the powers that be and to the international community on their deep aspirations in the face of the multiple crises that are taking a heavy toll on our country.
Indeed, municipal and legislative elections were held on Sunday February 9th, 2020 in our country. The CRM had decided, by decision of its National Council held on November 25th, 2019, not to take part in these elections.
Our political party then explained this serious decision by the regime’s refusal to end the civil war in the North-West and South-West and the absence of an electoral system capable of guaranteeing transparent and fair elections.
The stake in these elections, won in advance by the CPDM, was the turnout. There is a very high abstention rate, around 77%. Cameroonians therefore sent a very clear message to the illegal and illegitimate regime of Mr BIYA.
The particularly low participation rate of 23% shows that Cameroonians have, by this massive abstention, rejected the partition of the country by excluding from these elections the populations of the English-speaking regions of the North-West and South-West and reaffirmed their demand for consensual reform of the electoral system. This very low participation rate remains artificial if we take into account massive fraud and ballot stuffing orchestrated by the administration and ELECAM for the benefit of the CPDM. For comparison, during the municipal and legislative twin elections of September 30th, 2013, the participation rate brought by the entry into competition of the CRM, which was only a few months old, was 75.4%.
Credible observers such as the African Union, the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (Cenc), national and international civil society organisations, and the independent national and international press unanimously noted that the call for boycott launched by our party was massively observed. This is after all logical because since the presidential election of October 7th, 2018 that we won in the polls and that our victory was stolen by the CPDM-ELECAM-Administration-Constitutional Council coalition, all independent and serious observers, both at national and international level, knows that people in favour of the Renaissance constitute a significant majority in the country and in the diaspora.
Despite its lead of 134 Members of Parliament (MPs) out of a total of 180, earned before polling day, the CPDM regime has not given up its usual savage and coarse fraud. Indeed, these twin elections confirmed, after the presidential election of October 7th, 2018, that fraud is consubstantial with the political beliefs of the regime.
These twin elections, unfortunately marked by violence in some places and even death, especially in the Noun division, allowed a certain clarification of the national political field, and clears the way for a new political cartography in our country.
Some people, at the national and international level, blamed the CRM for having called for a boycott of these elections, which, according to our party, will not solve any of the serious political and security problems currently facing Cameroon. Now that these elections are over, the CRM hopes that the time has finally come for the regime to establish a broad, inclusive national dialogue to put an end to the civil war in English-speaking regions and reform the State on the one hand, and to consensually reform the electoral system, on the other hand. The African Union and the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (Cenc), in their respective reports, do not recommend anything other than these legitimate demands of our party and the overwhelming majority of the Cameroonian people.
The CRM intends to reiterate to the Cameroonian people, now mobilised, that they will always remain by their side.
CRM President,
Maurice KAMTO
February 13th 2020
