Submitted by Robbie Corey-Boulet and Amanineh Blaise Atabong
Paulius Biya, a 92 -year -old President Paul Biya, said in July, in July, in Yaounde (Reuters) in July, he said he had been “many and persistent” calls to continue, but this year’s election cycle also showed minor appeals to give up.
First of all came Catholic Archbishop Samuel, who passed through the French radio last Christmas and say that Biya was not “realistic” to continue working.
Then there were two members of the cabinet from the Cameroon voting rich in the wealthy northern regions, which both openly challenged Biya’s eligibility to lead.
Finally, the president’s daughter, Brenda Biya, 27, said last month that her father “forced too many people to suffer” and urged the Cameroon to vote for him.
Later, she recovered, but the post continues to circulate widely among the Biya destroyers.
Despite this criticism, as well as many security and economic challenges, the world’s oldest head of state has a great chance of victory when October 12th. Central African countries visit cocoa and oil production to surveys.
Analysts say it is complicated by factors that have already helped him to maintain it in power for more than four decades: established care system, flawed electoral institutions, faithful army and divided opposition.
“The President managed to implement faithfulness to him and the system … Very few people in the ruling system want to lift their heads above the parapet” to challenge him, said Arrey NTU, a senior senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, Conflict Prevention Organization.
“As for the president, there is no more independent thinking. It’s just a single row story: the president is, he can run again, everything.”
The fear of health over the campaign
Since 1982 Took over the position of president from his one -time mentor Ahmadou Ahidjo, whom he retreated and forced exile, has taken over the position of president.
1984 He experienced a coup attempt and a strict challenge during the first multi -sized elections in the Cameroon in 1992, when 40% of the votes won, only 3 percentage points more than a runner.
2008 Biya signed a constitutional amendment to abolish the boundary of the Presidency of two.
2011 and 2018 In the election, he won conveniently in the election, rejecting his opponents’ complaints about the voting filling and intimidation.
This time the biggest obstacle in Biya can be his own health, which has long been a source of speculation, including last year when he disappeared from public opinion for 42 days.
The government rejected health problems as a “pure fantasy”, although last year it also banned public discussion on the subject.
Cameroons continue to catch daily with poor access to basic amenities from roads and water to electricity and waste management.
Doubt about voting in good faith arose
However, these vulnerabilities can be compensated by its government’s ability to control how the elections are taking place.
In July The court considered the nomination of the Biya’s main competitor Maurice Kam, which in 2018 Took second place, saying that the party he registered to represent is already supporting another candidate.
The Human Rights Watch said the step “is a concern about the reliability of the election process”.
The bunch was condemned in 2018. The election score as fraudulent and was arrested in 2019. In January, after the leadership of the protests, which the security forces scattered with live bullets.
He faced the uprising of the uprising in the war court, which he said could have been executed, although he was released in 2019. October
The arrest or arrest threat for a long time helped the opposition to maintain weak. Cameroon officials say they are just implementing the law of the country.
Fear of legal problems about speaking goes beyond the political class, said Raoli Sumo Tayo, a senior researcher at the Pretoria Institute of Security Studies.
“When you take a taxi chamber, you don’t know exactly who the driver is. People are afraid to talk,” he said, describing the perceived intelligence agents everywhere.
“Everyone in Cameroon wants their children to grow up, and so many people are silent, and it enables the regime.”
(Robbie Corey-Boulet Notifications in Dakar and Amineh Blaise Atabong Yaounde)