2004 Cameroonian presidential election

Fourth re-election of Paul Biya 2004 Cameroonian presidential election Cameroon presidential no 1997 Cameroonian presidential election 1997 2011 Cameroonian presidential election 2011 11 October 2004 4,657,748 82.23% ( 0.87pp) Paul Biya Paul Biya, 16-9-2002.jpg Cameroon People's Democratic Movement 2,665,359 70.92% John Fru Ndi GedFruNdi.JPG Social Democratic Front (Cameroon) 654,066 17.40% President Paul Biya Cameroon People's Democratic Movement Paul Biya Cameroon People's Democratic Movement Presidential elections were held in Cameroon on 11 October 2004. Incumbent President Paul Biya was easily re-elected in an election which the opposition claimed had seen widespread electoral fraud. Background Biya came to power in 1982 and by 2004 had ruled Cameroon for 22 years. Michael Peel Poll fraud claim by Cameroon opposition Financial Times 8 2004-10-12 Multi-party democracy was introduced for the 1992 election but Biya was accused of rigging the election to ensure victory. The last presidential election in 1997 saw Biya re-elected with 93% of the vote after opposition parties boycotted the election. https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3746686.stm Landslide win for Cameroon leader 2009-12-18 2004-10-15 BBC News Online The expectation before the 2004 election was that Biya would be re-elected to another term of office, with no chance that anyone else would be able or allowed to defeat him. https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3373255.stm Frustration threatens Cameroon calm 2009-12-15 2004-01-07 BBC News Online http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=86&art_id=qw1095444541417B256 Cameroon opposition fails to see eye to eye 2009-12-18 2004-09-18 The Independent Candidates After announcing that the presidential election would be held on 11 October, http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L12398222.htm Old Cameroon foes battle again as election nears 2009-12-18 2004-09-12 Reuters Biya confirmed on 16 September that he would stand for re-election. https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3661838.stm Cameroon leader seeks a new term 2009-12-15 2004-09-16 BBC News Online Before his announcement there had been calls from groups such as university lecturers and over 100 former footballers for him to stand again. https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3631442.stm Cameroon players back president 2009-12-15 2004-09-06 BBC News Online Biya was opposed by 15 other candidates after the opposition failed to agree on a single candidate. A 10-party coalition nominated Adamou Ndam Njoya for the election, but his candidacy was rejected by the veteran opposition politician John Fru Ndi who decided to stand as well. https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3665270.stm Cameroon leader's 'divide and rule' 2009-12-15 2004-09-17 BBC News Online Fru Nidi said that he should have been selected instead of Njoya as Fru Nidi's Social Democratic Front had more elected members. Fru Ndi was an anglophone from western Cameroon who had stood in the 1992 election, while Adamou Ndam Njoya was a Muslim francophone from northern Cameroon. International: Come back in six months; Cameroon The Economist 67 2004-10-16 There were also reports that Biya backed some of the candidates so they could act as spoilers. Campaign Biya initially did not campaign in the election and only made his first campaign stop within the last week before polling day. Michael Peel Ruler of Cameroon can afford to take relaxed attitude to re- election: President Paul Biya, who has run the oil-rich African country since 1982, looks highly unlikely to lose his job. Financial Times 14 2004-10-07 https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3727452.stm Cameroon's reluctant campaigner 2009-12-19 2004-10-09 BBC News Online Biya described his opponents as inexperienced and said that he was only person who could prevent anarchy in Cameroon. He also pledged to improve education, health and women's rights, as well as decentralising and developing industry and tourism. One of Biya's campaign slogans was "Free mosquito nets for pregnant mothers" but there was significant scepticism over the pledges made by Biya after the failure to achieve ones made in previous elections. The opposition candidates said that the government had mismanaged the economy and failed to address widespread poverty. John Fru Ndi attracted the most supporters to his rallies of any of the opposition candidates, with up to 30,000 attending his rally in Douala. He pledged to restore previous wage scales for workers, to reduce corruption and poverty, scrap fees at university and remove taxation from small businesses. Conduct Opposition candidates criticised the election as having seen significant amounts of multiple voting and that security forces had harassed opposition agents at polling stations. They described the election as having been rigged and appealed to the Supreme Court to annul the results. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=86&art_id=qw1097794260869C565 'Cameroon election fair and transparent' 2009-12-18 2004-10-15 The Independent However most international observers said that despite some shortcomings the election was mainly satisfactory. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=86&art_id=qw1097844660533B256 Cameroon's president wins landslide 2009-12-18 2004-10-15 The Independent These included a group of former United States congressmen who called the election "fair and transparent"; however, the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues dissented and said that the election had seen many irregularities. Results On 25 October 2004 the Supreme Court confirmed the results and rejected the complaints from the opposition. https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3952567.stm Cameroon leader's win confirmed 2009-12-19 2004-10-25 BBC News Online The final results saw Biya secure 70.9% of the vote against 17.4% for his nearest rival John Fru Ndi. Paul Biya Cameroon People's Democratic Movement 2665359 John Fru Ndi Social Democratic Front 654066 Adamou Ndam Njoya Cameroon Democratic Union 168318 Garga Haman Adji Alliance for Democracy and Development 140372 Justin Mouafo Nationalism of Cameroonian Patriots 14915 Yondo Mandengue Black Social Movement for New Democracy 13601 Anicet Ekane Social Movement for New Democracy 13290 Fritz Pierre Ngo Cameroon Ecological Movement 13122 Jean Michel Tekam Party of Social Democracy 12785 Victorin Hameni Bieuleu Union of Democratic Forces 11920 Boniface Forbin Justice and Development Party 10542 Djeukam Tchameni Movement for Democracy and Interdependence 10539 Jean-Jacques Ekindi Progressive Movement 10158 Hubert Kamgang Union of African Populations 7508 George Dobgima Nyamndi Social Liberal Congress 6730 Gustave Essaka Cameroon Integral Democracy 4996 72051 4657748 African Elections Database References Cameroon Category:Presidential elections in Cameroon President Cameroon