Authorities in Cameroon appear to want to postpone
October's general election to a later date.
The
Median has obtained a copy of a letter from President Paul Biya to the
president of the senate, requesting that it debate the possibility of
postponing elections for a year.
This
follows last week's news that only 3% of new voters registered since the start
of the year are from the two Anglophone regions, although English speakers
account for about 20% of the population.
Separatists in Cameroon's two mainly English-speaking
areas - the North-West and South-West regions - have taken up arms and are
demanding their independence.
Tens of
thousands of Anglophone Cameroonians fleeing violent clashes with Francophone
security forces have crossed into neighbouring Nigeria in recent months. Thousands
others are living in the bushes or as internally displaced in towns across the
country.
Lawyer
and presidential challenger Akere Muna told BBC’s Focus on Africa that the
proposal to delay elections "shows the level of incapacity in taking care
of issues that concern the common man".
But he
describes the document as a "simple, procedural letter... asking the
opinion of the president of the Senate before such a proposal goes to
parliament".
He says
that Cameroonian dictates that only municipal and legislative can be postponed
- not senatorial nor presidential elections.
He adds:
By the
constitution you cannot defer the presidential elections. To defer those you'd
have to change the constitution. I don't think it will be tampered with. It
would mean that the president is trying to extend his term of office, which is
rather irregular."
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