Regional elections in Cameroon will take place at the end of the week, on Sunday 6 December. A historic vote with indirect voting rights: even if they are provided for in the 1996 Constitution, this will certainly be the first time that regional councils are set up with regional presidents. This is the last step in the decentralization introduced by the government. But in Yaoundé, the capital, few people follow a race that seems to have been decided in advance. Report on the Melen market.
With our special correspondent in Yaoundé, Jeanne Richard
In a restaurant in the Melen market, men sit in front of the skewers. One of them is elected to the municipal council. On Sunday, December 6, he will vote in regional elections. “I’m among the big voters,” he said.
He speaks of a new system that is closer to the people, although the Rassemblement Démocratique dupeuple Camerounais (RDPC), the ruling party, is almost guaranteed to win all regions: “With decentralization, there is a local government that has to deal with. The central government is there just to describe. I do not think that the central power will continue to hold the reins. ”
► See also: Cameroon: regional elections, a response to the expectations of the English-speaking regions?
“It’s a facade democracy”
But two young people sitting in front of a store sum up the general feeling. “I’m not interested in telling you. My neighbors are not either,” says one of them. The other adds: “Most people do not even know what it is. Few are interested in political issues.”
Not far away, a man leaning against a door explains: “There is only one party in Cameroon. When other parties try to develop, they are “noticed” in a way. So the election is in fact only affecting one party. There is no match, no choice. It is a facade democracy. ”
Without political openness, without objective debate, he does not believe that true decentralization is possible.
.
