March 12 Senate Election :Lists Reflect Sociological Components, Changes

Representatives of political parties that got the nod of the elections management agency, ELECAM, to contest for seats during the March 12 senatorial election say they are immediately swinging into action in order to reap fruits.

This is however pending the final verdict of the Constitutional Council in the event where there are pre-electoral litigations.

The party reps were speaking shortly after the list of candidates for the election was unveiled Tuesday February 7 by the Chairman of the Electoral Board of ELECAM, Abrams Enow Egbe.

Speaking for the ruling CPDM was the deputy Secretary General of the party’s Central Committee and Minister of Labour and Social Security, Gregoire Owona. He said the announcement that all the lists of the party were accepted came as no surprise to them as they had taken all necessary measures to ensure that the candidacy papers were all in conformity with the law.

The National Vice President of the National Union for Democracy and Progress (NUDP), Senator Pierre Flambeau Ngayap said the fact that all the four lists they submitted were endorsed by ELECAM, gives them joy. However, they have to get back to the field in order to ensure that they place their cards right, he said.

Hon Koupit Adamou of the Cameroon Democratic Union (CDU), whose lone list in the West Region was accepted, said they were going to the election with optimism even as they do not have enough party electors for a possible win.

The National President of the Cameroon Democratic Front (FDC), Denis Emilien Atangana whose party’s list was accepted in the Centre Region, was upbeat when asked whether he was sure of a win even without enough electors. His response was that they were going to do the best they can given that no election with a challenger, no matter how weak, can be taken for a ride.

Meanwhile, incumbent Senator Vanigansen Mochiggle, speaking for his Social Democratic Front (SDF) party, expressed gratitude to ELECAM for what he said was a good job. On whether the party would file a petition over the rejection of its list in the Adamawa Region, he said their legal teams will evaluate that and see if any such petition would have merit.

Zoom On The Candidatures

Speaking during the ceremony to unveil the list of candidates last Tuesday February 7, Abrams Enow Egbe said after six days of meticulous scrutiny of the files, members of the electoral board found 22 of the 32 lists compliant with the laid down regulations.

The ruling CPDM has lists in all the ten regions of the country, and the party will be running unopposed in the South and South West Regions. This means the outfit already boasts of 14 Senators even before the race begins.

The party with the second highest number of lists is the NUDP with four. All the party’s lists submitted in the Adamawa, East, Far North and North Regions were validated.

The other parties whose lists were accepted are the Cameroon Democratic Front in the Centre Region, the National Alliance for Democracy and Progress in the Far North, the Democratic Movement for the Defence of the Republic in the Far North, the Cameroon Party for National Reconciliation in the Littoral, the Cameroon National Salvation Front in the North, the Social Democratic Front in the North West, the Cameroon Democratic Union in the West, and the Union of Socialist Movements in the same region.

It’s worth nothing that the various lists have a mix of youth and women, with some renowned academics also coming on board in some regions like in the Centre where the former Director of the Advanced School of Mass Communication (ASMAC) Prof Charles Boyomo Assala, and the former Director of the International Relations Institute of Cameroon (IRIC) Pierre Emmanuel Tabi, are among the substantive candidates.

About 20 outgoing senators of the ruling CPDM have also been knocked out of their positions, while some like Senator Laurent Nkodo, who is currently an appointed Senator, wants to maintain his seat at the Upper Parliamentary chamber through the ballot box.