Paul Biya has received 53.66% of the votes cast in Cameroon\u2019s October 12 presidential election, according to official results<\/p>\n
Cameroon\u2019s incumbent president, Paul Biya, has been officially declared the winner of the Central African country\u2019s recent election, securing a new seven-year term that will keep him in office until he is nearly 100.
\nThe Constitutional Council announced Monday that Biya won 53.66% of the vote in the October 12 election, while his main challenger, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, obtained 35.19%.
\nTchiroma declared himself the winner two days after polls closed, citing internal tallies that he said put him ahead of Biya. The opposition Front for the National Salvation of Cameroon party leader \u2013 who formerly served as transport and communication minister \u2013 resigned from government in June to challenge the veteran politician.
\nAt least four people were killed in the coastal city of Douala on Sunday when opposition supporters defied protest bans and clashed with security forces on the eve of the official announcement of the election results, accusing authorities of rigging the vote.
\nThe unrest continued on Monday, with Tchiroma reporting that two people were killed when snipers opened fire on a crowd gathered outside his residence in the northern city of Garoua. A local journalist also told the BBC that \u201ca number of people\u201d were shot dead near the opposition leader\u2019s home.<\/p>\n
Biya, 92, has ruled since 1982, making him the world\u2019s oldest leader and Africa\u2019s second longest-serving head of state after Equatorial Guinea\u2019s Teodoro Obiang Nguema. He is the second man to lead Cameroon since it gained independence from France in 1960. He removed presidential term limits in 2008, paving the way for his continued rule.
\nIn his post-victory statement, the president noted \u201cthe weight of the responsibility\u201d entrusted to him and called for unity in building a peaceful and prosperous Cameroon.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
African state\u2019s opposition leader declares election victory<\/p>\n
\u201cMy first thoughts are with all those who have unnecessarily lost their lives, as well with their families, as a result of the post-election violence,\u201d Biya stated.<\/p>\n
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Biya\u2019s controversial eighth-term win has been marked by mass disqualifications and legal challenges, with the final ballot cut to 12 names from an initial 83 candidates. Voter turnout was 58% of the 8.2 million registered voters in a nation of 29 million. The Constitutional Council has reportedly rejected ten petitions alleging electoral malpractice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Paul Biya has received 53.66% of the votes cast in Cameroon\u2019s October 12 presidential election, according to official results Cameroon\u2019s incumbent president, Paul Biya, has been officially declared the winner…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21307,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t