Adamou Ndam Njoya, CDU National Chairman
Cameroonians could see a strong and united opposition coalition front against incumbent Biya in the next presidential election if a lobby for such by four opposition political parties under the banner of the Republican Pact, comes to fruition.
The Republican Pact is a breakaway faction of the famous G7, a group of seven opposition political parties that came together in a botched effort to challenge and unseat President Paul Biya during the 2011 presidential election.
When the coalition fell short of its objectives (not winning the election), a thing which was blamed on the greed of some of the opposition leaders, three of the parties, namely; the Cameroon Democratic Union, CDU, of Adamou Ndam Njoya, the Alliance of Progressive Forces, APF, headed by Barrister Ben Muna at the time and PADDEC of Jean de Dieu Momo, decided on May 12, 2012 in Foumban, to form what they called the Republican Pact. The Pact now says it wants other opposition parties to join forces with it so as to mount a united front come 2018.
Addressing a press conference in Yaounde Tuesday, Alice Sadjio, chairperson of the APF and Ndam Njoya of the CDU, on behalf of the other Republican Pact members, urged all major political parties yearning for genuine change of leadership in Cameroon to join in so that a possible opposition coalition could see the light of day.
Observers believe the other opposition parties the APF chair was referring to are the Social Democratic Front, SDF, of John Fru Ndi, the Cameroon Renaissance Movement, MRC, of Maurice Kamto and the Popular Action Party, PAP, of Ayah Paul, which are seen by Cameroonians as strong.
Sadjio sounded optimistic that more political parties would join them ahead of the next presidential polls, congratulating the chairman of the Union for Fraternity and Progress, UFP, Olivier Bile on his decision to be part of the Pact. Bile was officially presented to the public as the newest member of the Pact on the occasion.
The optimism notwithstanding, Sadjio regretted that in the past, such coalitions have failed to create palpable impact because of the egotistic tendencies of some of the opposition leaders.
She used the opportunity to reiterate the principles on which the Pact stands for. She said apart from working to engender change through peaceful transition at the ballot box, they are also guided by the principles of honesty, integrity, abnegation, service and sacrifice.
Corroborating Sadjio, Ndam Njoya, who was presidential candidate of the Pact at the 2011 presidential polls, asserted that the Pact will make greater impact in subsequent elections if forces are united and if greedy interests are not allowed to triumph over national preoccupations.
Bile, on his part, reaffirmed his desire to see power change from the current “oligarchy” to the hands of those who can see to it that the yearnings and aspirations of the common citizenry are met.
Meanwhile, members of the Pact also used the press confab to express their disapproval of the penal code bill, which they described as “unpopular” and sensitive to “trivialities.”
Ndam Njoya, Bile and Sadjio, who each took turns to speak on the subject, were unanimous that the code, which was finally adopted by members of parliament early this month, is fraught with controversial provisions.
They regretted also that the so called consultations that government purports to have done prior to the drafting of the code were not broad based. And this was the position of several other groupings that expressed discontent with the bill at the time it was undergoing vetting in parliament.
