Working to Strengthen Democracy in Cameroon

Voting taking place in the recent presidential election in Cameroon.

Secretary-General Don McKinnon said the Commonwealth will continue its engagement with the Government and people of Cameroon to strengthen democracy.

Mr McKinnon made this point at the opening of the 9th Meeting of Law Ministers and Attorneys-General of Small Commonwealth Jurisdictions at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, UK, on 21 October 2004.

He was commenting on a report by the 16-member Commonwealth Observer Group headed by former Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark which had witnessed the 11 October 2004 presidential election in Cameroon.

The Group's report, released on 21 October, states: "In a number of key areas, the electoral process lacked the necessary credibility. In particular, we are concerned that many people who wished to vote were not on the Voters' Register, so were denied the right to vote.

"However, even given the serious deficiency in the management of the register, we believe that the intention of those who voted was reflected in the result."

The Group observed the pre-election period, including campaigning, rallies and media coverage, and witnessed the polling, counting of votes and collation of results.

The Group also made a number of recommendations, emphasising four in particular -- that there must be compliance with the law; there should be an independent election management body; the state and the ruling party need to be completely separate; and that election management and the work of the political parties must be separate.

The Secretary-General said: "We will continue to support the strengthening of democracy in Cameroon by co-operating with other international partners and by promoting the awareness of the growing body of best practice by African election management bodies."

He welcomed the Observer Group Report as "objective, balanced and constructive".

See Also: Cameroon Presidential Election - 11 October 2004 - Report of the Commonwealth Observer Group