Assessing Cameroon’s Elections Against International Standards and Good Practices on Democracy and Human Rights

Abstract

Elections are highly relevant for the democratic and human rights credentials of every country. Over the past three decades, Cameroon has conducted several multiparty elections, which have been managed by a plethora of different electoral institutions and under different legal regimes. These elections have been highly contested and disputed, both in courts and in the streets through protests and demonstrations. This chapter assesses Cameroon’s normative and institutional frameworks on elections against minimum international standards and acceptable practices on democracy and human rights. It argues that multiparty elections in Cameroon have been incessantly deficient and defective in guaranteeing genuine, free and fair elections and in fostering democratic and human rights practices. Consequently, the prospect of using the ballot box as a vehicle for democratic development has increasingly become limited, thereby shattering the optimism that was triggered by the return to pluralistic democracy in 1990. Changing this dynamic and enabling Cameroon to conduct future elections that meet internationally accepted standards would require a drastic electoral system reform.