Cameroon: one candidate for opposition; To beat President Paul Biya in the coming elections planned for October, Cameroon's opposition parties are taking a cue from Kenya by forming a coalition and fielding one presidential candidate. It promises to be a battle royal. Tansa Musa reports from Yaounde.

"Coalition", the speakers bellow one after another as they mount the rostrum. "Action," the crowd roars back. "Coalition," they repeat, "Action," the crowd responds. "Coaaaalition," for a third time, "Action now!" the crowd applauds amid deafening noise from drums and trumpets.

The speakers, nine in all, are leaders of different political parties who have now come together in the Coalition for National Reconciliation and Reconstruction (CNRR), Cameroon's major political alliance.

Since March, they have been holding countrywide rallies such as this one, preaching one message: That after 22 years in power, the time has come for President Paul Biya and his ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM) to relinquish power and bring in new blood at the top level of national affairs.

"The coalition is the last hope for real freedom and true democracy," says Adamu Ndam Njoya, leader of the Cameroon Democratic Union (CDU). "It is the last hope to bring change to our beloved country. And change must come. Democracy must win so that the Republic can live." The crowd loved it.

Other speakers emphasised the point: "The coalition is a dream team that has come to chase away the lion [Biya called himself the "Lion Man" during the campaign for the 1992 presidential election]. Twenty-two years is too much. A new day is dawning for Cameroon and Cameroonians," said Jean Pahai of the Progressive Party of Cameroon (PPC).

Taking the cue from Kenya's rainbow coalition, Cameroon's opposition parties have decided to join forces to fight the "Lion Man". John Fru Ndi's Social Democratic Front (SDF) and the CDU, the country's main opposition parties, formed the CNNR last November. Since then they have been joined by seven other parties. "Since 1992, much water has gone down the bridge and we have learnt our lessons," concedes the CDU's Ndam Njoya.

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Among the many concerns on its agenda, the CNRR says it observes with regret "the resolve of the CPDM regime to maintain our country in a 'de facto' monolithic dispensation, especially through preventing, by all means, the holding of free and fair elections, which constitute the best democratic avenue for the resolution of the problem of every society".

If elected, the coalition plans to create a three-year transitional administration which would carry out a wide-range of political, administrative and economic reforms. They also intend to modify the constitution to limit the powers of the president and ensure effective separation of powers.

They say they will replace the current seven-year presidential term of office with a five-year term renewable only once. They propose a two-round presidential election and the appointment of a prime minister from the majority group in parliament.

Concerning the legislative arm, instead of the multi-candidate constituency system that operates today, the coalition will institute single-candidate constituencies with a two-round majority vote for a five-year renewable mandate and carry out a more objective and equitable delimitation of constituencies.

In other political reforms, the coalition says it will set up a national independent elections commission which shall carry out all elections operations from registration of voters to the proclamation of results, computerise the electoral process, lower the voting age from 20 to 18, and extend the vote to Cameroonians in the diaspora.

They promise to guarantee freedom of expression and of the press, the full participation of the private media in public debate and the neutrality of the military in political affairs. As the October elections approach, they are keen to present a single presidential candidate who they say shall, if they come to power, implement the transitional programme. But whoever the candidate will be, he or she will not be able to run for the subsequent presidential election.

Currently, the CNRR has attracted nine political parties (including SDF) and a number of independent personalities to its fold. Advanced negotiations are on for more to join. Among them are the Movement for Liberation and Democracy in Cameroon (MLDC), the Progressive Party of Cameroon (PPC), the Movement for Democracy and Progress (MDP), and one of the two factions of the Union des Populations du Cameroun (UPC) headed by the former minister for scientific research, Henri Hogbe Nlend.

For now things seem to be working out well for the coalition. But its greatest test will come when the members sit down to select the single candidate for the presidential election.