The visiting UN Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs and Focal Point for Elections, Lynn Pascoe yesterday, February 28, assured Cameroon’s elections stakeholders that the United Nations Organisation was working to improve the electoral system in the country. Lynn Pascoe accompanied by the Deputy Director of Elections Assistance Division at the UN, Tadjoudine Ali Diabacté and the UN Political Affairs Officer, Roselyn Akombe, had separate working sessions with officials of Cameroon’s elections governing institution, Elections Cameroon (ELECAM) and leaders of the five political parties represented at the National Assembly.
After the working session with officials of Elections Cameroon led by the Director General of Elections, Mohaman Sani Tanimou, the Focal Point for Elections at the UN told journalists that they had frank discussions as each of the parties stated its points of view. “I made it clear that the UN’s role is supportive to help in the electoral process which the people of Cameroon feel is fair”, Lynn Pascoe said. He specified that, “It is not the job of the UN to monitor and observe elections. Our job is to work in the early processes to help make the technical parts of the election work well”. The working session enabled the UN officials to know how far ELECAM had gone in preparing for the upcoming presidential election. The UN has provided the software to ensure the credibility of the electoral process from registration of voters to the publication of partial results, supported the training of ELECAM officials and Tadjoudine Ali Diabacté in October 2009 and November 2010 led UN missions that had discussions with Cameroon’s elections stakeholders.
The Director General of Elections at ELECAM, Mohaman Sani Tanimou disclosed that he briefed the UN team on what ELECAM has accomplished since two years. He equally presented ELECAM’s programme of action and the progress of the ongoing voter registration. Statistics from ELECAM show that as at February 20, over 955,000 new voters had already enrolled in the electoral register. The number adds to the over five million registered voters in the 2007 twin council and legislative elections.
Political Parties
The UN Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs and Focal Point for Elections, early in the afternoon, had a working session with representatives of the five political parties represented at the National Assembly. The parties include the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM), Social Democratic Front (SDF), National Union for Democracy and Progress (NUDP), Cameroon Democratic Union (CDU) and the Progressive Movement (MP). The UN Under Secretary General said they discussed a whole range of issues concerning elections and the UN assistance to improve on the electoral system in Cameroon. Talking to journalists after the working session, the Chairman of the opposition Social Democratic Front, John Fru Ndi said they presented their grievances, and problems to the UN team. He said the exchanges were frank since the party representatives were addressing one person and concluded that, “The UN official told us that they are working. I want to see the results of that work”.
