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

7. The National Coalition for Reconciliation and Reconstruction (NCRR)

[67] 7 The National Coalition for Reconciliation and Reconstruction (NCRR) he dying months of 2003 and the early ones of 2004 were employed by the different political parties on the national scene to plot electoral strategies ahead of the presidential elections of October 2004. One such strategy was to pool resources into a common front against the ruling CPDM party. The electoral code allowed for only a one-round election in which whoever emerged first by whatever percentage was declared winner. In 1992 Paul Biya had been declared winner with 39%. Under such circumstances, and given the tight hold the regime had on the electoral process, no single opposition candidate could launch a successful challenge against the incumbent. As a result, opposition parties thought out a way of circumventing the difficulty: they would create alliances and throw in whatever weight they could muster behind a single candidate. One such alliance was the National Coalition for Reconciliation and Reconstruction, NCRR, which the Social Liberal Congress joined on 9 August 2004. It had begun sometime in October 2003 as a bilateral venture between the Social Democratic Front, SDF, of John Fru Ndi, and the Cameroon Democratic Union, CDU, of Adamou Ndam Njoya. At the time of our coming on board, it had grown into the single most important opposition movement that comprised: John Fru Ndi, SDF; Adamou Ndam Njoya, CDU; Yondo Marcel, MLDC; Jean Pahai, PPC; Sanda Oumarou, Issa Tchiroma, Antar Gassagay, all of la Dynamique du Nord; Mukuri Maka, MDP; UPC-Hogbe Nlend; UNDP- Bedzigui; and Sindjoun Pokam of the Civil Society. Our reasons for joining the NCRR were provided in an elaborate interview we accorded The Post newspaper on 3 September 2004, and which we reproduce here below. T [68] The Post: Your party has just joined the coalition of opposition parties. How did this happen? Dr Nyamndi: Yes, the Social Liberal Congress, SLC, formally joined the National Coalition for Reconciliation and Reconstruction on August 9, 2004. It was not an easy decision to take, both for the Party and for its leadership. We realized that the country’s sympathy was centred on a certain number of parties which were seen to be working in the genuine interest of the country. We thought that if we had to make a useful contribution to the ongoing struggle, the Coalition was where such a contribution could be made. Why didn’t you join the Presidential Majority? Politics has to do with choices and your choice is determined by the interest you pursue at any given moment. The Presidential Majority is pursuing the fight for a better future for Cameroon in its own way. We are not within the logic of mutual exclusion. If the Coalition and the Presidential Majority can each in its own separate way work for the betterment of Cameroon, why not? We are not in an “either or” situation. We are rather interested in ensuring that wherever we are, the interest of Cameroon is uppermost in our considerations. In political arrangements like that there is something like give and take. What is it that you negotiated for? To be frank with you, we did not join the Coalition with the view to making gains for the Party. We joined the Coalition because we were convinced that the interest of this country could be best preserved, best protected, best taken care of, by the Coalition. If your decision to contribute to the well-being of the country is taken in terms of how the [69] struggle will benefit your party, then your considerations are definitely not genuine. You know we place Cameroon first. Before joining the Coalition you had a goal or target. What’s this goal or target? As I just said, if we have a goal, it is ensuring that the socio-economic situation of our country takes a qualitative leap. Now, how that leap comes about is what all of us, my colleagues and I, are bent on examining. We should not place our individual interest before the common good. The Coalition would have designated its candidate before now. Cameroonians would have had time to assess him. It can’t just come up with a candidate say a month to the election and expect him to be endorsed. Yes, you are right. The question of the single candidate is crucial not only to the survival of the Coalition but indeed to the interest of the...