This archive report was first published on 2 December 2019.
Cameroon is on the brink of a major crisis as two leading opposition parties, the Social Democratic Front (SDF) and the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC), have threatened to boycott the February 2020 municipal and legislative elections.
The SDF, which boycotted the opening of parliament over the conflict earlier this month, said it would not take part in the polls if peace was not achieved before the elections.
According to Joshua Osih, the SDF's vice chairman, 'If peace does not return to the NWSW by February 2020, the SDF will withdraw from the twin elections.'
The MRC, led by Maurice Kamto, has also called for the boycott of the February 9 elections over weak electoral laws and the anglophone crisis.
Prof Kamto said, 'Given the current electoral system, it is impossible to contest the result of the February 9, 2020 elections. If someone rigs or someone who could not even have been a candidate wins, you cannot contest the result and win.'
The government has warned that anyone propagating hate speech and defying authority in the run-up to the elections will face the full force of the law.
However, the opposition parties are not backing down, with Prof Kamto's arrest and jailing in January for leading 'unauthorised protests against the results of the October 2018 presidential poll' still fresh in their minds.
Mr Atanga Nji, the Territorial Administration minister, warned that such belligerence would not be condoned this time round.
The conflict in the English-speaking South West and North West regions of the country has been ongoing since 2017, resulting in over 3,000 deaths and 500,000 displaced.
The International Community fears that a massive boycott of the parliamentary and municipal elections would deny the ruling CPDM legitimacy and foment chaos.
