Whether Losing, Whether Winning. Essays in Political Realism: Essays in Political Realism

6. The October 2004 Presidential elections

[62] 6 The October 2004 Presidential elections lections are the marketplace where political parties sell their ideologies. The elected buyers, must it be said, are the people; and franchise, that is to say the ballot paper, their money. Armed with their ballot paper, the voters examine the political ideologies and programmes on offer and buy, that is to say vote for, the one that best appeals to them in terms of its ability to protect their interests. Having voted for such a programme, they then take it home so that their lives thereafter become governed by it. That is why there is no worse crime against democratic practice than to deprive the citizens of their right to vote the political programme of their choice, or to deny them the free enjoyment of such a programme once they have voted it. Each time voters detect a discrepancy between their voting and its outcome, they manifest their displeasure, at times violently. The 1992 presidential elections produced just such a situation. Violent demonstrations tore through the North West Province at the proclamation of the results and although the rest of the country did not openly express the same reproof, the seething mood was no less indignant. Democracy is a crystal absolute that magnifies the least blot into a scarlet cloak of shame. The programme that each party markets summarizes its ideals for the society. This programme grows out of a close scrutiny of past and present, and seeks to correct pitfalls while consolidating strengths. The Motto of the Social Liberal Congress rests on a 17-point Manifesto that seeks constant recourse to the will of the citizenry. The preamble to the Manifesto states: The Social Liberal Congress, the citizen’s Party which believes in the cardinal virtues of Work, Justice and Progress, hereby resolves to build a Cameroonian nation dedicated to the citizen. This set goal then yields the following programme: E [63] 1) A decentralized State with semi-autonomous Regions. 2) A semi-presidential system with independent legislative and judiciary powers. 3) An independent electoral commission. 4) Non-participation of traditional rulers in partisan politics. 5) Members of government, of the judiciary, and senior civil servants who declare their assets, liabilities and interest in any undertaking or enterprise. 6) A President of the Republic elected by universal suffrage for a five-year mandate renewable once. 7) Two-round presidential elections and victory by simple majority. 8) A Prime Minister appointed by the President of the Republic on the proposition of the Parliamentary majority and answerable to Parliament. 9) Parliamentarians elected by universal suffrage in single-member constituencies, these constituencies being carved out by population density. 10) A National Assembly with independent powers, that legislates and sanctions government action, and controls the Executive. 11) An independent Judiciary that guarantees legality and the respect of the Constitution. 12) A Constitution that is the supreme law of the land. Drawn up by a constitutional commission, it shall be adopted by referendum. 13) Governors elected by the Regions they administer according to the laws of the Republic. 14) A free-market economy in which private investment shall be encouraged mainly through tax incentives, low customs tariffs, and minimal government intervention. 15) A government that shall protect minority interests and promote the social status of women, children, youths, old people, and the disabled. [64] 16) An educational policy that ensures free primary education and lays stress on science and technology as agents of progress. 17) Transport and communications policies which give priority to roads and telecommunications as means through which to achieve meaningful and lasting development. On 20 August 2004 the country woke to the news that the SDF Chairman for the Balikumbat Electoral District, Mr John Kohtem, had been beaten to death. This incident provides a befitting illustration of the purpose of manifestos in politics. The special SDF National Executive Committee, NEC, Resolution of 28 August 2004 on the matter stated: Considering the murder of Mr. John Kohtem on 20 August 2004, following a political meeting with the Governor of the North West Province, at which Mr. Kohtem had death threats from Fon Doh Gah Gwanyin III, MP for Ngoketunjia South Constituency, Mayor of Balikumbat and Member of the Central Committee of the CPDM; Considering that these death threats were a result of the accusations levelled on Fon Doh Gah Gwanyin by Mr. Kohtem, for undertaking parallel registration of voters in Balikumbat, for his...