Cintia A. , Lebledparle.com
ELECAM’s failure to publish the “national electoral list” by the December 30th deadline 2024 in accordance with the Electoral Code has led to a legal dispute between the body in charge of elections in Cameroon and the CRM , in case that will be presented next week for resolution. In a letter dated 17 January 2025 and addressed to the President of the CRM S/C lawyer Hippolyte MELI, the institution headed by Clément Atangana, responsible for ensuring the regularity of elections, officially notified the party of the scheduled hearing date. “I have the honour to inform you that the hearing relating to your petition of 08 January 2025 will take place on Tuesday 21 January 2025 at 11am, in the room of the said Council, located in the hall of the Yaounde Congress Palace“, it reads.
In a press release, the CRM, citing Article 48 of the Constitution of the Republic, and paragraph 2 of Article 3 Law No. 2012-015 of 21 December 2012 on the Organisation and Functioning of the Constitutional Council, announced that it had referred the matter to this body for the purpose of noting the failure of the Director General of ELECAM to publish the national electoral roll by the 30 December 2024 deadline.
In flagrante delicto violation of the electoral code
For the CRM, Erik Essousse, the Director General of Elections has seriously violated the electoral law, in particular Article 80. Indeed, as the opposition political group points out, it was on 30th December 2024 that ELECAM announced the publication of the “national electoral lists” in Elecam’s communal offices. However, the electoral code obliges it to publish “the national electoral list” latest 30th December. Hence the denunciation by the leader of the CRM, who insists on the publication of the national electoral list as required by law.
With ten months ahead of the presidential election, the CRM is determined. Often accused of being influenced by the Biya regime, which allegedly uses its power to control the organisation’s members, ELECAM must explain the facts of which it is accused at the upcoming hearing. The institution’s credibility is on the line in an already tense pre-electoral context, as the nation prepares for the upcoming polls
