Cameroon opposition leader declares victory in presidential election | Cameroon

Cameroonian opposition leader Issa Tchiroma Bakary declared himself the winner of the October 12 presidential election and called on President Paul Biya to accept the end of his 43-year rule.

“Our victory is clear, it must be respected,” Tchiroma said in a video statement on Facebook with the national flag in the background, before directly addressing the 92-year-old Biya: “We call on the ruling regime to show greatness and honor the fact of the ballot box with a long-awaited gesture: that congratulatory phone call that will demonstrate the political maturity of our nation and the future strength of our democracy.”

Cameroon’s electoral commission, Elecam, has not yet announced the results, which are expected by October 26 at the latest after they are approved by the constitutional council.

Supporters of both sides are claiming victory based on images circulating on social media of blackboards and sheets of paper tallying the results. Although the publication of tallies from individual polling stations is allowed, it is illegal to announce the overall result of the vote before the constitutional council. “This is the red line that should not be crossed,” district administration minister Paul Atanga Nji said at a press conference on Sunday.

The election, in which nine opposition candidates participated, was held in a single-round format, where the candidate with the most votes won. More than 8 million citizens were eligible to vote, but actual turnout is unknown. Some of the other candidates have already congratulated Tchiroma.

Tchiroma, 76, a longtime Biya ally and former government spokesman, resigned in June, breaking ranks and emerging as the main opposition candidate. He heads the Cameroon National Liberation Front (FSNC) and is supported by the Union for Change, a coalition of opposition parties.

“A country cannot exist in the service of one man,” Tchiroma wrote in an open letter announcing his candidacy. “He must live in the service of his people.”

Maurice Kamto, the opposition rival in the 2018 presidential election, declared himself the winner the day after the vote. He was later arrested. Rallies of his supporters were dispersed with tear gas and water cannons, and dozens of people were detained. Some are still in prison.

Biya is only the second head of state to lead Cameroon since its independence from France in 1960. He ruled with an iron fist, suppressing all political and armed opposition and clinging to power despite social unrest, economic inequality and separatist violence.

Tchiroma’s election manifesto promised a three-to-five-year transition period to rebuild the country he said Biya had destroyed.

The incumbent has been ruling the country in absentia for years, partly from Switzerland, where he and his wife, Chantal, are regular visitors. There are reports that presidential decrees are regularly signed on behalf of Biya by the presidency’s secretary-general, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh.

Born in Garoua in northern Cameroon, Tchiroma rose to the ministry after being jailed for his alleged involvement in the failed coup against Biya in 1984. In a pre-election interview, Tchiroma said he had never met the president face to face in two decades as a minister.

Agence France-Presse contributed to this report