Issa Tchiroma Bakary said it was a new impetus of the President of the Republic to the legal rationalisation and modernisation process of the country’s electoral system, with a view to further enhance transparency, regularity and sincerity of the various elections. He said the code strengthened the independence of Elections Cameroon (ELECAM) and its cardinal role. The administration, he said, has effectively withdrawn from the organisation and management of elections by transferring to ELECAM all the operational missions.
Biometric System
Talking about the introduction of biometric registration in the announced recompilation of the electoral register, the Minister said, it will ensure a reliable and accessible electoral registry which could be subjected to control. The biometric system will further ease and harmonise the method of identifying voters. It will not only provide a reliable voters registry, but will solve the problem of double registration and other complaints raised during previous elections.
The Minister also lauded the institution of a period to correct and control voters’ register which is from September to December every year; the extension of the deadlines for convening of voters to the polls; submission of candidates’ nomination papers and the distribution of voters’ cards. He described this as the logical clarification of the electoral calendar and rational preparation and organisation of elections.
Increase in Deposits
The Communication Minister said the increase was intended to give more credibility to the electoral game, because it is “sometime characterised by the increasing submission of whimsical candidacies void of any political interest.”
Answering Claims
The Minister used the occasion to react to the claims of many political actors that their proposals made during consultations with the Prime Minister were not taken into consideration in the electoral code. He said, “ claims relating to the reduction of the presidential mandate, for instance, to the re-eligibility of the President of the Republic, to the voting system, voting age, or to the harmonisation of the voting mandate could not be solved or even debated in an electoral law because the Constitution has already dealt with these issues.”
