Elections
Opposition parties were legalized in 1990. In the elections to the National Assembly on 1 March 1992, the RDPC/CPDM won 88 of the 180 seats; the National Union for Democracy and Progress (UNDP), 68 seats; the Union of Cameroonian Populations (UPC), 18 seats; and the Movement for the Defense of the Republic (MDR), 6 seats. The RDPC/CPDM and the MDR formed a coalition.
In the presidential election of 11 October 1992, the voting was split -- RDPC/CPDM 40%; Social Democratic Front (SDF), 36%; and UNDP 18%. The SDF accused Biya of stealing the election, but Biya was reelected to his post as head of the RDCP/CPDM in October 1995.
In the May 1997 National Assembly elections, the RDPC/CPDM took 109 seats, the SDF 43, the UNDP 13, the UDC 5, others 3, and cancelled constituencies 7. The opposition, backed by international observers, declared the legislative elections highly flawed, and based on their perception of misconduct, the main opposition parties boycotted the presidential elections of October later that year.
In the June and September 2002 National Assembly elections, the RDPC/CPDM took 149 seats, the SDF 22, the UDC 5, the UPC 3, and the UNDP 1. Voting irregularities in 9 constituencies (17 seats) in the June elections led to the subsequent by-elections in September for those seats. Nineteen of the SDF's seats came from the English-speaking northwest province. The biggest loser in the election was the UNDP: it had won 68 seats in 1992 and 13 seats in 1997. Observers attributed the party's poor showing to its participation in the RDPC/CPDM-led government.
Read more about this topic: Cameroon National Union
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