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Yaounde, Cameroon Africa(Cameroon News) -

Cameroonian diaspora after a great deal of trails and tribulations finally get the right to vote abroad.

Cameroonian citizens living abroad have now been given the right to vote. A new law that was passed by Parliament and sanctioned by the President has brought smiles to their faces, although there are lots of members of the diaspora who feel that more needs to be done.

Until the recent law, Cameroonian citizens residing outside the country were not permitted to cast their votes. They had to go back to Cameroon every time elections were held so as to cast their votes. The story is no longer true. Following a decision by Parliament earlier this month, President Paul Biya sanctioned, on 13 July, a law providing voting rights to Cameroonian residents outside the country during presidential polls and referendums.

For many Cameroonians living beyond their national borders, it is a huge breath of releif: “The electoral apartheid is over in Cameroon”, rejoices Pierre Mila Assouté, an opposition member living in France. According to him, “the fortress of denial of citizenship on the basis of residence has fallen.

The decision to include the disapora in the electoral process is a major political stride in the country that will solidify the next president’s credibility”. The same sense of fulfillment is voiced by Macaire Lemdja, who also resides in France. Lemdja adds, however, that it is “a timid first step towards satisfying the demands of this portion of the Cameroonian population”, as, according to him, this legislation “calls for many others”.

Criticism

For others from the diaspora, the new law is being touted as a sort of “a work in progress”. CODE (Collectif des Organisations Démocratiques et Partiotiques de la Diaspora), an organisation of Cameroonians staying in Europe,feels that there is cause for concern. CODE is apprehensive that Cameroonians living outside will not be able to cast their vote at the presidential elections next October, due to the very short gap between the sanctioning of the law and the elections.

“The voting right granted to the Cameroonian diaspora is unlikely to be practically enforced by October 2011”, the organisation indicates. In fact, it will be difficult for Cameroonian authorities to make all the necessary arrangements. Moreover, President Paul Biya hasnot signed the regulatory texts which, according to the legislation, “specify (…) the terms for the implementation of the present law”.

Another point that is being a sore spot in the minds of the diaspora is that Cameroonians who have dual citizenship are not being granted the permission to vote. For a lot of practical reasons and other advantages that they have, most Cameroonians have taken the citizenship of the countries in which they reside.

Yet, dual citizenship is not accepted by Cameroonian law. “Ninety percent of our compatriots living abroad have a dual citizenship, which therefore automatically excludes them for the voting process”, CODE indicates. There are also illegal immigrants. According to Jean Blaise Gweth, a Cameroonian citizen living in France, only 10% of his compatriots would stand to gain advantage from this new voting right.

At such a juncture and with so much of criticism it would be quite same to doubt the credibility of the government and President who has sanctioned the aforesaid legislation. Though all the five major political parties accepted this decision which was being requested incessantly by the opposition there are lots of eyebrows raising on the law as to whether it was deliberate decision from the government to appease the opposition. Critics opine that the law has been designed to ensure that though it is passed not many of the diaspora would get to benefit from it.