At 10 am July 13, 2018 the incumbent President of Cameroon Paul Biya declared his candidacy for the next presidential elections in a post using his Twitter handle @PR_ Paul_BIYA.
“Dear compatriots in Cameroon and the in the Diaspora , Aware of the challenges we must take up together to ensure a more united , stable and prosperous Cameroon, I am willing to respond positively to your overwhelming calls, I will stand as Your Candidate in the upcoming presidential election,” he tweeted.
He used popular hastags #237vote (Cameroon’s country code) #Paul Biya, #Cameroun and #Cameroon.
The country’s presidential elections are billed for October 7, 2018 following a decree from the office of the President last July 9th. The Cameroon Electoral Code gives the hopefuls 10 days to declare their candidacy. President Biya did not wait until July 19, 2018 to declare his intentions to seek reelection.
Hitherto, calls, asking him to seek another term have been flooding his desk from the ranks of his ruling party, CPDM where he is the National President, and automatically the party’s nominee, according to the Basic Texts and By-laws.
Parties like FSNC of the current Communicator Minister Tchiroma Bakary, UDP of Lawan Bako and others also begged him to stand again in 2018. Traditional rulers across the country through their mouthpieces called on the President Paul Biya to seek another term.
At the General Secretariat of the Central Committee of the CPDM, Motions of Supports from home and abroad came in, all calling for the Head of State Paul Biya to stand again because according to the signatories, he is “The Man of the Situation” to brave the challenges facing Cameroon – stability, unity and development of Cameroon.
by Jude Viban in Yaounde