Election Day

Today was election day in Cameroon. All over the country elections for parliamentary seats and mayoral offices were held.

Since elections here have occasionally gotten ugly in the past, Peace Corps had us under strict orders to stay at our posts and sit tight for the weekend. Since I had to come to Yaoundé for mid-service medical, I came early and have been hanging out at the Case de Passage next to the Peace corps office in the capital.

The day has been quiet. All the stores were closed and the streets were empty. I went with a visiting former volunteer to visit friends and we passed a number of polling places, most of which were empty. Most people don't seem to be bothering to vote, presumably because the winners have probably already been decided.

Chatting with some Cameroonians, I learned that they don't vote for individual candidates but instead the vote for political parties, who then select the candidates after they have one. Cameroon has a multi-party system, but the ruling party of President H. Paul Biya, combined with smaller, allied parties, always seems to win a majority, presumably because they are doing such a bang-up job of running the country.

Most of us volunteers just stayed inside today. I spent the morning watching Three's Company DVDs and the afternoon hanging out with the afore-mentioned volunteer and her Cameroonian friends. Had some pretty good grilled fish for lunch. Mmmm ... grilled fish ...