The Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement has officially invested her militants for the upcoming twin municipal and legislative elections built for September 30, 2013.
In accordance with the provisions of circular N° 03/RDPC/PN of July 5, 2013 of the party’s national president on the investiture of CPDM candidates for legislative and municipal elections, the list of candidates mandated to vie for office in the 360 councils and 180 seats at the National Assembly was submitted to Elections Cameroon on Wednesday July 16, 2013. “The aspects which guided our choice stemmed from the circular of the national president”, says a member of the central supervisory commission charged with the selection of candidates. The commission was keen on law related criteria as well as party related imperatives. For instance, all candidates for both elections had to be at least 23 years of age on election day, they needed to be able to read and write in English or French, all lists had to take into consideration the various sociological components of the division, minority groups, gender issues as well as the overall respect of conditions spelt out by the law. From a strictly CPDM perspective, all candidates invested needed to meet seven criteria namely: the political history of the candidate, the experience and commitment of the militant concerned, his/her contribution to the activities of the party as well as the spirit of discipline showcased so far, lists of services rendered to the party, the candidate’s status, morality, credibility and competence together with his/her loyalty towards state institutions and respect for the ideals of unity and national integration. “It must be noted that these measures were put in place to prevent adventurers and impostors from making their way into municipal executives and parliament through money and influence peddling”, says a senior CPDM official.Every application file had to contain up-to-date documents indicated by the circular. For legislative elections, the documents required by law were: three copies of a legally signed declaration of candidature, a signed affidavit, a copy of the candidate’s birth certificate signed not more than three months ago, a certificate of non conviction signed not more than three months ago by a competent judicial authority, a tax certificate, a certificate of nationality, an attestation of registration on the electoral register, an original receipt for payment of a caution (FCFA 1,000,000) collectively paid into the public treasury by the substantive and alternate candidates after their investiture by the party. As well, seven party related documents had to feature in the application file. That is: a signed statement of oath indicating that the person concerned can only be candidate for a legislative position, curriculum vitae, a photocopy of the membership card, proof of party contributions since 2007, a proof of house ownership in the division or in the special constituency as well as the list of services rendered to the party.The application files of municipal councilors had to be made up of documents inspired by national laws and roles of the CPDM. In this regard, legal documents included: three copies of a declaration of candidature containing a legalized signature, a sworn declaration, a copy of the candidate’s birth certificate signed not more than three months ago, a certificate of non conviction signed not more than three months ago by a competent judicial authority, a tax certificate, a certificate of nationality, an attestation of registration on electoral registers as well as an attestation of residence in the council area. Meantime, recent media reports across Cameroon reveal an apparent frustration in the hearts and minds of militants who were not invested by the party. A couple of reasons prevented them from obtaining the party’s investiture. Firstly, all applicants could not be invested, given that hundreds of thousands of militants vied for a limited number of positions. Secondly, lists which did not respect gender issues were sidelined.
MANYANYE IKOME
