NAC CONFIRMS FRU NDI AS THE SDF CANDIDATE FOR THE 2011 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

Sunday, 04 September 2011 11:59

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Those who might have been expecting something new from the Social Democratic Front (SDF) would have been left disappointed after the National Advisory Council (NAC) of the party nominated and confirmed John Fru Ndi as the party’s presidential candidate on Saturday 3^rd of September.  Some party cadre who opposed the move believe his nomination by NAC is in gross violation of the party’s constitution which stipulates that all presidential candidates for the party shall be elected at the party’s national convention prior to all presidential elections, and the electorates at the convention shall be  party delegates from the different constituencies across the country.

The Cameroon polls attempts to contact the party secretariat yesterday to seek some clarifications were unsuccessful.  So Fru Ndi and the current party leadership is expected to explain to their electorates the reasoning behind such a move, since it risk to further tarnish the party’s  already strained image. Prior to the NAC meeting, many had been expecting a fierce and an interesting battle for the SDF flag bearer at the upcoming elections, given that one of its MPs Simon Fobi Nchinda had publicly expressed his interest to contest for the leadership of the party at the level of the convention.  It is not known whether the NAC decision was a negotiated move or a pure manoeuvre to outsmart the ambitious MP.  We have not had any words yet from Simon Fobi regarding the NAC decision; however it is a known fact that any SDF militant who has dared challenged or nursed ambitions to challenge the current party leadership has always found him or herself at odds with Fru and his loyalist.

The few who have argued in favour of the NAC decision cite to the urgency of the situation and that a convention was not a viable option given the time frame and the dead line to declare party candidates. However, sceptics and critics of the move have suggested that it was a well orchestrated plan by Fru Ndi who kept postponing the party’s convention. The said convention was planned for June and then July and then was postponed indefinitely.

The party leadership has faced enormous criticism in the recent past, especially with the indecisive nature of those in control. A case in hand is the inconsistent messages they kept sending out to the public regarding the registration on the electoral list. Many SDF militants had ignored calls to get themselves registered for the elections following the silence of the party leadership who had not supported the registration idea since it was launched, based on their stance that the electoral body ELECAM was not competent and transparent enough to organise free and fair elections in Cameroon.

Despite repeated advise to the party leadership that the idea of keeping their electorates in limbo could be politically costly to the party, the leadership stood its ground and ignored all calls, only to make a U-turn at the very last minute; giving most SDF militants just less than three weeks to get themselves register before the electoral register was closed.  When the party called its militant to go and register, many didn’t take the call seriously and are therefore not on the electoral register.  So Fru Ndi’s campaigned journey will be a tough one since it is expected that he will be challenged on the confused leadership he has exerted in the recent past.

Four obvious questions the Cameroon Polls will be interested to have answers to are:

1.       Why did the party wait until the last minute to make the U-turn?

2.       How constitutional is the NAC decision to nominate and confirm the party’s presidential candidate?

3.       What is the SDF hoping to achieve in the upcoming elections and what is their new strategy?

4.       Why has the SDF ignored calls by concerned Cameroonians to form a solid opposition front with other political parties?

Cameroonians will feel betrayed by the current leadership if full and complete answers cannot be provided to the above questions.