Cameroon’s ruling party wins sweeping victory in regionals elections

The ruling Cameroon’s People Democratic Movement (CPDM) won a sweeping victory in the first-ever regional elections held last Sunday, according to provisional results released by regional supervisory commissions on Wednesday.

   Fourteen political parties contested in the elections and CPDM won the majority of the 700 councilors voted in 58 divisional headquarters of the country.

   “The trends based on the echoes from the 10 regions are that our party is doing quite well. After all that is not surprising because, out of the more than 10,000 (municipal) councilors who voted, CPDM constituted more than 90 per cent of the voters.” Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, senior communication official of the party and a former minister told Xinhua on phone.

   “What we will do with the victory is that we will continue to push for a decentralised Cameroon where citizens are now direct participants in the making of decisions concerning the country at all levels,” Ngolle added.

   According to Cameroon Electoral Code, political parties have the right to file petitions on partial or total cancellation of the election operations in competent courts of law, after which final results will be proclaimed.

   The elections took place on Sunday, with authorities expressing satisfaction with the conduct of the polls, despite interruptions from armed separatists in the country’s restive English-speaking regions.

   Regional council which is the assembly for the affairs of the region will be effectively established in the 10 regions of the country in the days ahead, according to the electoral body Elections Cameroon (ELECAM).

   Cameroon has made the elections a cornerstone of the decentralisation process. -Xinhua