Cameroon’s President Paul Biya Wins Eighth Term in Presidential Election
Cameroon’s President Paul Biya, 92, has been re-elected for an eighth term, receiving 53.7 percent of the vote, the Constitutional Council confirmed on Monday. Former government minister and opposition candidate Issa Tchiroma Bakary came second with 35.2 percent. Two days after the October 12 election, Tchiroma had claimed victory and called for demonstrations. Violence erupted on Sunday in Douala, the country’s economic capital, where clashes between security forces and opposition supporters left four people dead, according to the regional governor. Protesters reported that security personnel initially used tear gas before resorting to live ammunition. Since the election, Tchiroma’s supporters, who claim he actually won 54.8 percent of the vote to Biya’s 31.3 percent, have taken to the streets to assert his alleged victory. Most analysts had expected Biya, the world’s oldest serving head of state, to win another seven-year term, amid a political system critics say has been increasingly manipulated. Biya, only the second president since Cameroon gained independence from France in 1960, has retained power through strict control over politics, suppression of opposition, economic inequality, and ongoing separatist violence.
