View source for 2004 Cameroonian presidential election

{{Short description|none}}
{{Infobox election
|election_name = 2004 Cameroonian presidential election
|country = Cameroon
|type = presidential
|ongoing = no
|previous_election = 1997 Cameroonian presidential election
|previous_year = 1997
|next_election = 2011 Cameroonian presidential election
|next_year = 2011
|election_date = 11 October 2004
|registered = 4,657,748
|turnout = 82.23%
|nominee1 = '''[[Paul Biya]]'''
|image1 = Paul Biya 2014.png
|party1 = Cameroon People's Democratic Movement
|popular_vote1 = '''2,665,359'''
|percentage1 = '''70.92%'''
|nominee2 = [[John Fru Ndi]]
|image2 = GedFruNdi.JPG
|party2 = Social Democratic Front (Cameroon)
|popular_vote2 = 654,066 
|percentage2 = 17.40%
|title = President
|before_election = Paul Biya
|before_party = Cameroon People's Democratic Movement
|after_election = Paul Biya
|after_party = Cameroon People's Democratic Movement
}}{{Politics of Cameroon}}

Presidential elections were held in [[Cameroon]] on 11 October 2004. Incumbent [[List of heads of state of Cameroon|President]] [[Paul Biya]] was easily re-elected in an election which the opposition claimed had seen widespread [[electoral fraud]].

==Background==
Biya came to power in 1982 and by 2004 had ruled Cameroon for 22 years.<ref name=claim>{{cite news | first = Michael | last = Peel | title = Poll fraud claim by Cameroon opposition | newspaper = [[Financial Times]] | page = 8 | date = 2004-10-12 }}</ref> [[Multi-party system|Multi-party democracy]] was introduced for the [[1992 Cameroonian presidential election|1992 election]] but Biya was accused of rigging the election to ensure victory.<ref name=claim/> The [[1997 Cameroonian presidential election|last presidential election in 1997]] saw Biya re-elected with 93% of the vote after opposition parties boycotted the election.<ref name=landslide>{{cite news| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3746686.stm | title = Landslide win for Cameroon leader | accessdate = 2009-12-18 | date = 2004-10-15 | work = [[BBC News Online]]}}</ref> The expectation before the 2004 election was that Biya would be re-elected to another term of office, with no chance that anyone else would be able or allowed to defeat him.<ref name=frustration>{{cite news| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3373255.stm | title = Frustration threatens Cameroon calm | accessdate = 2009-12-15 | date = 2004-01-07 | work = [[BBC News Online]]}}</ref><ref name=eye>{{cite news| url = http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=86&art_id=qw1095444541417B256 | title = Cameroon opposition fails to see eye to eye | accessdate = 2009-12-18 | date = 2004-09-18 | newspaper = [[The Independent]]}}</ref>

==Candidates==
After announcing that the presidential election would be held on 11 October,<ref name=foes>{{cite news| url = http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L12398222.htm | title = Old Cameroon foes battle again as election nears | accessdate = 2009-12-18 | date = 2004-09-12 | work = [[Reuters]]}}</ref> Biya confirmed on 16 September that he would stand for re-election.<ref name=term>{{cite news| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3661838.stm | title = Cameroon leader seeks a new term | accessdate = 2009-12-15 | date = 2004-09-16 | work = [[BBC News Online]]}}</ref> Before his announcement there had been calls from groups such as university lecturers and over 100 former [[Association football|footballers]] for him to stand again.<ref name=players>{{cite news| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3631442.stm | title = Cameroon players back president | accessdate = 2009-12-15 | date = 2004-09-06 | work = [[BBC News Online]]}}</ref>

Biya was opposed by 15 other candidates after the opposition failed to agree on a single candidate.<ref name=claim/> A 10-party coalition nominated [[Adamou Ndam Njoya]] for the election, but his candidacy was rejected by the veteran opposition politician [[John Fru Ndi]] who decided to stand as well.<ref name=divide>{{cite news| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3665270.stm | title = Cameroon leader's 'divide and rule' | accessdate = 2009-12-15 | date = 2004-09-17 | work = [[BBC News Online]]}}</ref> Fru Nidi said that he should have been selected instead of Njoya as Fru Nidi's [[Social Democratic Front (Cameroon)|Social Democratic Front]] had more elected members.<ref name=divide/> Fru Ndi was an [[English language|anglophone]] from western Cameroon who had stood in the 1992 election, while Adamou Ndam Njoya was a Muslim [[francophone]] from northern Cameroon.<ref name=months>{{cite news | title = International: Come back in six months; Cameroon | newspaper = [[The Economist]] | page = 67 | date = 2004-10-16 }}</ref>

There were also reports that Biya backed some of the candidates so they could act as [[Spoiler effect|spoilers]].<ref name=divide/><ref name=months/>

==Campaign==
Biya initially did not campaign in the election and only made his first campaign stop within the last week before polling day.<ref name=relaxed>{{cite news | first = Michael | last = Peel | title = Ruler of Cameroon can afford to take relaxed attitude to re- election: President Paul Biya, who has run the oil-rich African country since 1982, looks highly unlikely to lose his job. | newspaper = [[Financial Times]] | page = 14 | date = 2004-10-07 }}</ref><ref name=reluctant>{{cite news| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3727452.stm | title = Cameroon's reluctant campaigner | accessdate = 2009-12-19 | date = 2004-10-09 | work = [[BBC News Online]]}}</ref> Biya described his opponents as inexperienced and said that he was only person who could prevent anarchy in Cameroon.<ref name=relaxed/><ref name=reluctant/> He also pledged to improve education, health and women's rights, as well as [[Decentralisation|decentralising]] and developing industry and tourism.<ref name=relaxed/> One of Biya's campaign slogans was "Free [[mosquito net]]s for pregnant mothers" but there was significant scepticism over the pledges made by Biya after the failure to achieve ones made in previous elections.<ref name=months/>

The opposition candidates said that the government had mismanaged the economy and failed to address widespread poverty.<ref name=relaxed/> John Fru Ndi attracted the most supporters to his rallies of any of the opposition candidates, with up to 30,000 attending his rally in [[Douala]].<ref name=reluctant/> He pledged to restore previous wage scales for workers, to reduce corruption and poverty, scrap fees at university and remove taxation from small businesses.<ref name=reluctant/>

==Conduct==
Opposition candidates criticised the election as having seen significant amounts of multiple voting and that security forces had harassed opposition agents at [[polling station]]s.<ref name=claim/> They described the election as having been rigged and appealed to the [[Supreme Court of Cameroon|Supreme Court]] to annul the results.<ref name=fair>{{cite news| url = http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=86&art_id=qw1097794260869C565 | title = 'Cameroon election fair and transparent' | accessdate = 2009-12-18 | date = 2004-10-15 | newspaper = [[The Independent]]}}</ref> However most [[Election monitoring|international observers]] said that despite some shortcomings the election was mainly satisfactory.<ref name=wins>{{cite news| url = http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=86&art_id=qw1097844660533B256 | title = Cameroon's president wins landslide | accessdate = 2009-12-18 | date = 2004-10-15 | newspaper = [[The Independent]]}}</ref> These included a group of former [[United States Congress|United States congressmen]] who called the election "fair and transparent"; however, the [[International Federation of Human Rights Leagues]] dissented and said that the election had seen many irregularities.<ref name=fair/>

==Results==
On 25 October 2004 the Supreme Court confirmed the results and rejected the complaints from the opposition.<ref name=confirmed>{{cite news| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3952567.stm | title = Cameroon leader's win confirmed | accessdate = 2009-12-19 | date = 2004-10-25 | work = [[BBC News Online]]}}</ref> The final results saw Biya secure 70.9% of the vote against 17.4% for his nearest rival John Fru Ndi.<ref name=confirmed/>

{{Election results
|cand1=[[Paul Biya]]|party1=[[Cameroon People's Democratic Movement]]|votes1=2665359
|cand2=[[John Fru Ndi]]|party2=[[Social Democratic Front (Cameroon)|Social Democratic Front]]|votes2=654066
|cand3=[[Adamou Ndam Njoya]]|party3=[[Cameroon Democratic Union]]|votes3=168318
|cand4=[[Garga Haman Adji]]|party4=[[Alliance for Democracy and Development (Cameroon)|Alliance for Democracy and Development]]|votes4=140372
|cand5=Justin Mouafo|party5=Nationalism of Cameroonian Patriots|votes5=14915
|cand6=Yondo Mandengue Black|party6=Social Movement for New Democracy|votes6=13601
|cand7=Anicet Ekane|party7=Social Movement for New Democracy|votes7=13290
|cand8=Fritz Pierre Ngo|party8=Cameroon Ecological Movement|votes8=13122
|cand9=Jean Michel Tekam|party9=Party of Social Democracy|votes9=12785
|cand10=Victorin Hameni Bieuleu|party10=Union of Democratic Forces|votes10=11920
|cand11=Boniface Forbin|party11=Justice and Development Party|votes11=10542
|cand12=Djeukam Tchameni|party12=Movement for Democracy and Interdependence|votes12=10539
|cand13=[[Jean-Jacques Ekindi]]|party13=[[Progressive Movement (Cameroon)|Progressive Movement]]|votes13=10158
|cand14=Hubert Kamgang|party14=Union of African Populations|votes14=7508
|cand15=George Dobgima Nyamndi|party15=Social Liberal Congress|votes15=6730
|cand16=Gustave Essaka|party16=Cameroon Integral Democracy|votes16=4996
|invalid=72051
|electorate=4657748
|source=[http://africanelections.tripod.com/cm.html African Elections Database]
}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Cameroonian elections}}

[[Category:2004 elections in Africa|Cameroon]]
[[Category:Presidential elections in Cameroon]]
[[Category:2004 in Cameroon|President]]
[[Category:October 2004 events in Africa|Cameroon]]