OPPOSITION CULTURE


and formed the Association for the Reconstruction of Cameroon through the Sovereign National Conference (ARC-CNS) and it was within this structure that the candidate of the Union for Change was prepared for the 1992 Presidential Election. After the elections the political climate underwent a metamorphosis. Many political parties and personalities that had clamoured for change began to see the possibility that change might come only in the far distant future. It appeared more than ever that the SDF could bring about a change much sooner. Genuine opposition parties dissolved to join the SDF and the other parties either gave up or joined the presidential majority. It is the reason that we only have seven parties in the National Assembly and three in the Senate.


Articulated political programmes Parallel with field activity, basic Party platforms were being fashioned out. The first document produced was the devolution of powers, a translation of the party’s slogan of “Power to the People”. This document outlined the basic tenets of local government in a decentralized State, and was distributed and read throughout the country. By the end of 1991, elections


were looming. The SDF published its own version of an electoral code in both French and English, which was also distributed. At its Bafoussam convention of 1993, the SDF adopted the Federal system of Government for Cameroon. The National Executive Committee was charged with working out the details and not long it resolved on a four state structure and a federal capital territory. The constitutional details were worked out and the federal constitutional proposal was made public. At its Maroua convention of 1995,


the first report of the committee on the economy was presented and adopted and at the Buea convention of November 1996, the Party’s economic programme commonly referred to as NESPROG was adopted and made public. By 1997,


fraudulent activity at elections had reached its peak. The government invited the SDF for dialogue with the view of coaxing it to join the government. The SDF preferred to discuss the creation of a neutral organ for the conduct of elections and produced a model law on national elections. These are the ways and means by


which the SDF has endeavoured to establish an opposition culture outside Parliament, all without resorting to armed struggle. Throughout its endeavours it maintained a close relationship with the private press, and worked hard to free it from the oppression of the government in power.


Parliamentary strategy and social democratic legality. The SDF gained 43 out of the 180 seats in the National Assembly in President Paul Biya’s regime after the May parliamentary elections in 1997. Suffice it to say that when we took up those seats, the Party adopted a twin strategy: the introduction of Social Democratic legality within the institutional framework of Parliament and the training of its relatively few Parliamentarians to improve on their efficiency. This simply means that while playing the role of a parliamentary opposition, its Parliamentarians strive to inject into every piece of legislation, amendments that implement social democratic values. These two functions are exercised at two different stages of the legislative process. In plenary sittings: During plenary


sittings, debates from the SDF Parliamentarians are centred on the articulation of the Party’s ideological positions in respect of every sphere of the nation’s activity. This consists in presenting what the SDF would do if it came to power. During debate, they have always seized the opportunity to bring to light issues that are of national concern. It is a fundamental attribute of


a multi-party Parliament that the position of the opposition is made clear on every issue of national concern. This constitutes an essential


component of the opposition culture. The SDF believes that it has successfully enshrined this aspect in the Parliament of Cameroon. In Committees: In committees,


within certain narrow but clearly defined limits, SDF Parliamentarians have introduced new legislation through a very gradual step-by-step progression. Amendment of Bills and the tabling of Private Members’ Bills are normally an opposition culture in a multi-party Parliament, but experience by SDF Parliamentarians has shown that these were not or sparingly tabled by their predecessors in the Parliament of Cameroon. Parliamentary cooperation:


Another strategy adopted by the SDF in Parliament has consisted in attempting to lead the other parties of the opposition to a common course of action. The SDF has maintained some considerable measure of cooperation with the other opposition parties, and even though they do not often actively participate in their various methods of forcing the hand of the majority in plenary sittings to permit free debate, they have invariably shown sympathy. Today, a course of opposition culture is traceable in Parliament.


Education and training The SDF discovered the importance of training early on and set out to seek sources. Informal education through seminars thus began as soon as the Party got on its feet. The Party adopted a policy to send members to every international conference, seminar and Human Rights Fora to which it was invited. The conduct of training seminars


within Cameroon gained ground immediately after the 1996 local elections when the Party became involved in the management of councils. In this regard, the Friedrich Ebert foundation of Germany, the Jean Jaures Foundation of France and the Westminster foundation of the United Kingdom have been very instrumental. Educating members of the SDF


has been carried out through regular field activity often under the auspices


of the education and propaganda department of the Party. The Chairperson of the Party


has made a point to tour the country from time to time not to campaign, but to educate the masses on social democratic values. During these tours basic tenets of social democracy are disseminated.


Conclusion It has been a long struggle in striving to build an opposition culture in Cameroon. Despite the resultant political culture, the spectre of monolithism still persists and the challenge to create an opposition culture is one that continues to be ongoing.


Endnotes


1. I used the appellations “French-speaking” and “English-speaking” in an attempt to avoid the emotional attributes conveyed respectively by the expressions “La République du Cam- eroon” and “Southern Cameroons”, which are the proper appellations for the two entities that make up present-day Cameroon. 2. These seats were won from the North and Bamoun regions: the “Movement Démocratic Camerounais”(MDC) of Andre Mbida had 20 seats won within the centre and east and , those who won nine seats from the West Region transformed themselves into a political party known as “Union Bamilike”, the group of Soppo Priso and Charles Assalé which won nine seats converted into a political party known as “Mou- vement d’Action Nationale Camerounaise”. 3. The Ordinance instituted the reign of Terror in Cameroon. Ahidjo was tried and sentenced to death under the Ordinance and he died abroad as a fugitive. It was repealed only in 1990 follow- ing the launching of the SDF. 4. Johnson, The Cameroon Federation, p260 5. An accord had been signed between Ahidjo and Foncha to the effect that neither party could recruit members from the citizens of each federated state living in the other. 6. It is only about March 1991 that the SDF was accorded legal recognition. 7. In fact the government had decided to ridi- cule the whole concept of formation of political parties and actually promoted and formed many in order to dilute the opposition. 8. This was a meeting convened by govern- ment to resolve the political issues but with the hidden agenda to stop the ghost towns.


The Parliamentarian | 2014: Issue Three - Cameroon | 11


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