YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) — Cameroon’s opposition candidate Issa Tchiroma Bakary claimed victory early Tuesday in the Oct. 12 presidential election, urging President Paul Biya, who has been in power for over four decades, to concede.
“Our victory is clear, it must be respected,” Tchiroma said in a video statement on Facebook, calling on Biya to “accept the truth of the ballot box” or “plunge the country into turmoil.”
Elections Cameroon, the independent body in charge of overseeing the poll, and the constitutional court have not yet announced any results. Official results are expected at the latest by Oct. 26.
Biya’s Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement party rejected Tchiroma’s claim on Tuesday.
Gregoire Owona, the deputy secretary-general of the CPDM, said the opposition candidate did not win and does not have the results from the polling stations.
Tchiroma said he will share a detailed report of the votes by region in the coming days.
Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji warned last week that any unauthorized release of results would be deemed “high treason,” saying only the Constitutional Council can declare a winner.
The 76-year-old opposition candidate was a government spokesperson and minister of employment under Biya but quit the government last year to launch his presidential run. His campaign drew large crowds and backing from a coalition of opposition parties and civic groups.
Analysts have predicted a victory for Biya, 92, as the opposition remained divided and his strongest rival was barred from running in August. Eleven opposition candidates were on the ballot for the Oct. 12 election.
Biya is the world’s oldest president. He has been in power since 1982, nearly half his lifetime, making him Cameroon’s second president since independence from France in 1960.
During Biya’s decades in power, the Central African nation of nearly 30 million people has struggled with challenges from a deadly secessionist movement in the west and chronic corruption that has stifled development despite rich natural resources like oil and minerals.
Around 8 million voters were eligible to vote in Cameroon’s election, which uses a single-round electoral system that awards the presidency to the candidate with the most votes.
During the last presidential election in 2018, the opposition leader Maurice Kamto claimed victory a day after the vote. He was later arrested, leading to protests and dozens of his supporters being detained.
Biya cruised to victory with over 70% in an election marred by irregularities and a low turnout.
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Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal.
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