Cintia A. , Lebledparle.com
According to the CRM, Erik Essousse, the Director General of Elections, has committed a serious breach of the electoral law, specifically Article 80. The opposition party points out that ELECAM announced the display of “national electoral lists” at communal branches on December 30, rather than publishing “the national electoral list” as mandated. As a result, the CRM leader calls for adherence to the law and the proper publication of the national electoral list.
In response to this legal violation, the CRM party, which came second in the 2018 presidential election, has announced that it has referred the matter to two competent authorities capable of compelling ELECAM’s director general to adhere to the law.
The first body is the Constitutional Council
The political group submitted a request to the Constitutional Council, the body responsible for “ensuring the regularity of presidential, parliamentary, and referendum elections and announcing the results.” The CRM is urging the council, chaired by Clément Atangana, to address the violation of Article 80 of the Electoral Code and compel the Chief Electoral Officer to publish the national electoral list. According to CRM’s president Maurice Kamto, “the publication of the electoral roll is neither legally nor practically optional for the Chief Electoral Officer. It is a legal and political necessity that serves as a cornerstone of electoral democracy.”
Elecam’s Electoral Council
The second action involved referring the matter to the Electoral Council, a body within Elections Cameroon. The CRM raised concerns before this council about the shortcomings observed during the 2024 electoral roll revision operations. The party is urging the 18-member council to compel the Director General of Elections to urgently publish the complete national electoral roll. They are also requesting that the full list be made available to voters in digital format on ELECAM’s official website and displayed in its entirety in paper form.
According to the president of the CRM, the failure to publish the electoral list in 2018 resulted in victory being awarded to a candidate based on an electoral roll known only to ELECAM and a “fraudulent turnout,” where the number of voters exceeded the number of registered voters. The party’s legal action seeks to guarantee the transparency of the electoral register to ensure the proper conduct of the elections scheduled for next October.
