2025 Presidential Election: MRC Official Dismisses The Necessity For Opposition Parties To Form A Coalition

Celestin Djamen insist that ATP is the only opposition alliance for the 2025 presidential election

Justin Noah, the Deputy Secretary General of MRC Party of Prof Maurice Kamto, has embarrassingly dismissed the necessity, and thus the importance of the several calls for opposition parties in Cameroon to come together and form a coalition or an alliance, so as to possibly win the crucial 2025 presidential election.  Worst still, Noah claims that it is the Biya regime that is manipulating public opinion, with the false impression that an opposition party cannot alone win the presidential election.

The MRC official was speaking during a political debate over Info TV in Yaounde on Sunday, August 25, 2024. It should be noted that the Moderator of the programme, senior journalist, Parfait Ayissi, had  in his introduction of the topic in the debate programme, noted that  so far two opposition alliances or coalitions have been created ahead of the 2025  presidential elections. The two known, opposition coalitions being: ‘Alliance Politique pour le Changement’, APC, that is, the Political Alliance for Change (in Cameroon) which has an Interim National Coordinator, Hon Jean Michel Nintcheu of FCC Party, and ‘Alliance pour une Transition Politique’, ATP, that is the  Alliance for a  Peaceful Transition (in Cameroon) which  is an initiative of Prof Olivier Bile, of ‘Les Liberateurs’ party.

 Djamen Says There Is Only One Political Alliance

But the National President of the relatively new political party, APAR, Celestin Djamen, who is a former militant of both SDF and MRC parties, strongly disagreed with the moderator that two opposition coalitions or alliances have been created in Cameroon, ahead of the 2025 presidential election. He insisted that Hon Jean Michel’s Political Alliance for Change is in reality not a political alliance, but rather a platform created to mobilise support for the candidature of Prof Maurice Kamto , who is the National President of MRC, for the 2025 presidential election. He argued that APC as the platform is commonly cannot thus be called an alliance.

Djamen whose party, APAR, is a member of  Alliance for a Peaceful Transition commonly known as ATP, said ATP it is the only real alliance of opposition parties that exist in Cameroon today, and that membership of the alliance has increased from eight when they held their last press conference, to 14 members today.  He said members of ATP have already prepared and adopted a manifesto, and are now focused on selecting their candidate for the 2025 presidential election.

Djamen also bashed the  National President of MRC, Prof Maurice Kamto, whom he said is somebody that is too full of himself, is self –centered, and cannot support the candidature of another candidate for the presidential election, and  as well thinks that everybody is supposed to line up behind him. Djamen said he was not surprised that MRC has not gone in for an alliance, but rather for a platform with the mission to rally support for Kamto’s candidature.

Justin Noah Tries To Reject Allegation Against Kamto

In was in his reaction that the senior official of MRC, Justin Noah, tried to downplay the importance of an opposition coalition for the 2025 presidential election. He said that it is the regime that is manipulating the public to think that no opposition party can win the presidential election in Cameroon alone, and that the opposition must form an alliance if they have to win. The claim made by Noah can certainly not be accepted by political observers and analysts.  The interpretation of his declaration means that the Biya or CPDM regime instead encourages the opposition to create a coalition at the presidential election, whereas in reality the regime’s strategy and wishes have always been that the opposition should go in for a presidential election in disperse ranks, so as to split or disperse their votes, which plays to the advantage of the ruling party.

Meanwhile Noah also tried to reject the allegation that the National President of his party, Prof Maurice Kamto, is somebody that cannot accept to support the candidature of another opposition candidate for the presidential election. He said at the 2018 presidential election for example, Kamto approached a number of opposition candidates for them to form a bloc, but the others refused.

Kamto Betrayed Himself

But the truth is that the strategy of Kamto and his MRC at the 2018 presidential election was instead to get the other opposition presidential candidates, to withdraw their candidatures and support him. Kamto went around his campaign saying that he supported the idea of an opposition bloc, but at the same time putting on jersey No. 9, and holding a ball, claiming that he was the one to score the kick and score the decisive penalty to give the opposition a victory at the election. This meant that he had declared himself as the candidate of the opposition.

Kamto also betrayed himself in an interview with Equinoxe Tv. When Kamto was asked during the two weeks official campaign period as to if it could be possible for him to withdraw his candidature for the presidential election, and support another candidate, he said it could not be possible. He noted that he was designated candidate for the 2018 presidential election by the congress of his party, MRC.  He said for him to withdraw his candidature, it meant that the party’s congress had to be convened, for him to inform the party  as well as seek authorization to withdrawal his candidature. That simply meant that it could not be possible for him to withdraw his candidature to support another opposition candidate. Yet Kamto expected other candidates like Hon Joshua Nambangi Osih who was also designated candidate by the convention of his party, SDF, to withdraw for him.

Elimbi Lobe Hits Blasts APT And APC

Meanwhile another former SDF militant and a well -known controversial political figure in the country, Abel Elimbe Lobe, of movement known as Kawtal, was also one of the panelists in the political discussion or debate over Info TV in Yaounde. In his typical characteristic of always blaming the opposition, Elimby Lobe blasted both two opposition coalitions, ATP and APC, as jokers. Claiming that he is for a united opposition at the 2025 presidential election, Elimby tore the Alliance for a Peaceful Transition in Cameroon to bits, stating that only two of the 14 political parties that Djamen boasted are onboard the alliance, have councilors, and thus qualify to send in a candidate for the presidential election. The two parties are PCRN (Cabral Libii) and ‘Paiti UNIVERS’ of Prof Prosper Nkou Mvondo.

But even so, Elimbi Lobe said PCRN is in a serious crisis over leadership and ownership. He ridiculed ‘Parti UNIVERS’ as a party that has only two councilors in the whole country.  He noted that the other 12 parties in ATP, which included Celestin Djamen’s APAR, are parties without a single councilor anywhere, and thus parties that exist more in name. To Elimbi Lobe thus, the Alliance for a Peaceful Transition as it stands today is not a political force that can make any headway in a presidential election. Elimby Lobe advised Celestin Djamen to forget about ATP and instead take his APAR closer to their former party, the SDF. An advice, that Djamen waved aside.

Neither MRC Nor FCC Has A Councilor Or MP

As to the Political Alliance for Change, Elimby Lobe recalled that Maurice Kamto’s MRC boycotted the last legislative and municipal council elections in the country, and so have no MP or councilor. He noted that though the MRC is making a lot of noise about the 2025 presidential election, the party  does not qualify to send in a candidate for the  election, especially with the postponement of the legislative and municipal elections that were initially due to hold in February 2025, to 2026.

Elimbi also ridiculed Hon Jean Nintcheu and his FCC party. He said after Nintcheu was dismissed from the SDF last year, he went and revived his old party that he fused into the SDF back in 1996. He said Nintcheu’s party has no MP or councilor, even though he is an MP, for he was voted MP on the platform of the SDF. Elimby said NIntcheu’s party just like MRC of Maurice Kamto, is without an MP or councilor that can qualify it to send in a candidate for the 2025 presidential election. It should be noted that Maurice Kamto will only be able to run for the 2025 presidential election on the ticket of a political party that has at least one MP or councilor.

Coalition Of Opposition Parties Has Advantages

Meanwhile speaking during the panel discussion that got so heated, a Political Scientist, Prof Mathias Owona Nguini, who is a consultant of the Tv programme, asserted that there are advantages for the opposition at the presidential election in a country, when opposition parties constitute a bloc at the election. He however said for such a coalition to be able to make a headway it should be solid, or should have parties with large followings, and should not just be a coalition in name.

The Political Scientist  said when political parties form a coalition for the presidential election, they bring together their votes and thus increase  their chances of winning,  while when they go in for the election in disperse ranks, they disperse their votes to the advantage of the ruling party. Prof Owona Nguini cited as example of the case of a solid opposition coalition, Union for Change, which designated Ni John Fru Ndi, the National Chairman of the SDF, as the coalition’s candidate for the 1992 presidential election. He noted that it was the only time that a group of opposition parties and civil society organisations succeeded to create a serious or a solid coalition for a presidential election in the country. He pointed out since then, a number of attempts by the opposition to create a serious coalition at presidential elections, have not worked.