Stop the pretence! Boycott parliament!!

(This article was written on August 10, 2007, when the author observed that the opposition would not make any difference in Parliament as the ruling CPDM party was not ready to democratise the Cameroon. It was published on this medium at that time and, today, it is as relevant as it was then, given the on-goings in Parliament.)

There has been quite a lot of useless talk about the way forward following the July 22 general elections that were dogged by massive fraud and irregularities that gave the ruling CPDM party an overwhelming majority in the National Assembly and the Municipal Councils.

CPDM spin doctors and incorrigible apologists argue that their pyrrhic victory is the result of their party's political programme and the inability of the opposition parties to put a united front, strong enough to wrest power from the entrenched oligarchy.

Cameroonians are a strange lot; a confused set of people, so confused that one cannot help believing that they truly deserve the kind of Government they have got. The question as to which way forward after the unparalleled electoral fraud of July 22 has elicited varying responses such as the need for the opposition to form alliances, the need for an independent electoral commission and the need to overcome voter apathy. How all these constitute a way forward beats my imagination.

How these selling-after-the market suggestions constitute a pointer to a way forward remains a mystery to those who have not been initiated into the convoluted pathways of Cameroon politics.

Some self-appointed defenders of the status quo have attributed the CPDM stolen victory to that party's political programme and the opposition's lack of an attractive political platform. If this is not a case of either selective exposure or selective perception, I wonder what else it could be.The CPDM has offered a high sounding programme called Grand Ambitions, which has left the populace in a famine of great expectations.

They have shifted from fighting poverty to the slogan of poverty reduction. Their much-trumpeted fight against corruption has not only lost steam but has fizzled down to shadow boxing.

Their understanding of political decentralisation has been translated into administrative decongestion; hence the illegal and haphazard creation by Presidential fiat of numerous sub-divisions and special electoral constituencies soon after the electorate was convened for the July 22 merry-go-round.

Decentralisation means the devolution of power from the centre to the periphery of the political centre and not the crude carvings of non-viable administrative units. Gerrymandering is not a synonym for decentralisation. The frontline opposition parties have, ever since the restoration of multi-party politics in the early 1990s, come up with solid and desirable programmes adapted to the aspirations of their followership.

These programmes include a truly independent electoral commission, the reform of the constitution to put in place a two-round presidential election, the endorsement of independent candidatures for general and Presidential elections, the vigorous pursuit of embezzlers of public funds and the repatriation and restitution of same and the upgrading of the standard of living by ensuring a more equitable distribution of the commonwealth.

The opposition has never, and may never, have the chance to concretise these objectives because, the electoral fraud machinery of the ruling junta has always short-changed them at every electoral jamboree since 1992. Perhaps the deepest pitfall of the opposition is their naïve persistency in believing that any meaningful change can be achieved through the ballot box.

This naivety of the opposition, which has failed over the last decade and a half to achieve a level political playground, has reinforced the widely held opinion that their continued participation in electoral exercises is motivated by personal pecuniary gains. Why would they want to continue lending credence to a diabolical circus show when it is clear that every step the electorate has taken to the ballot box has resulted in two steps away from the democratic culture?

Cancelling the July 22 elections would have been a logical way forward. But, alas, that option is a dead letter. Petitioning the Supreme Court as the opposition has done to seek redress can only amount to a cosmetic surgical operation that provides work for idle spin doctors who can only be too happy to fulfill their role of eye servants.

Imploring the international community to stand witness to the electoral sham of July 22 is tantamount to begging a stranger to mourn for your dead. The international community, the majority of whose electoral monitoring institutions had refrained from observing the elections, the outcome of which were predictable, are tired of midwifing the political miscarriages that have become the trademark of Cameroon.

The responsibility to cause change lies squarely on the doorsteps of national political actors, not the international community. The international community can only act or react in consequence of internal action and so long as the opposition are contented with giving credibility to the regime by dancing to the tune of the pipers and their paymaster, then we may just as well go on shuffling and smiling and stop grumbling.

If the opposition truly wants to erase the image of their role as self-seeking clowns of Biya's circus, clowns who are merely interested in lining their pockets with the spoils of aborted democracy, they must put an end to all the pretence and relinquish the demeaning number of seats that the oligarchy has grudgingly accorded them. Let the National Assembly be seen for what it truly is - a one-party affair. The moral, trade and investment sanctions that would inevitably result from such a move remains the only hope for bringing the regime back to its senses.

Philanthropists have argued that international trade and investment sanctions resulting from a total withdrawal of legitimacy from the ruling junta can only be harmful to the ordinary citizen. That is sheer propaganda, because, international aid and foreign investments have hardly been of any benefit to the people of Cameroon, who, for the past two decades, have been called upon to roll up their sleeves and face up to hard times till they drop dead, while gangsters are feeding fat on the sweat of slave labour.

If opposition leaders think they can also ride on the backs of their gullible followers, then, it is up to that followership to take their destiny into their hands, swing the club of people's power and ensure that none of their Parliamentary aspirants take up a seat at the National Assembly under the pretext that they would create a storm in Parliament. A storm by 16 members out of 180 is a storm in a teacup.